Weekly Rocket Report

12/09/2024-12/15/2024

Ricky Whitmore

Space Writer

Hello all and welcome back to the Weekly Rocket Report with yours truly.  We had a really slow week this week so this article will be short. 

The week of launches did not get started until early Thursday morning.  A Long March 2D/YZ-3 launched a test system of the High Speed Laser Diamond Constellation.  The 5 satellites are a test bed for a new low earth orbit communication constellation. 

The second launch came Friday afternoon with a Falcon 9 launching Starlink Group 11-2.  The first stage booster landed down range on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” and the second stage vaulted the 22 Starlink satellites into orbit. 

Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 11-2. Photo Credit: SpaceX

The final launch of the week was another suborbital Electron launch.  Similar to the last one there was extremely little information about the launch from Wallops Island, with no official updates from Rocket Lab or NASA’s Wallops Facility outside of the range closures for aircraft. 

There you have it folks, as a said a very short week.  We were supposed to get the second launch of KAIROS this week, but they had a couple of scrubs the launch date has been pushed into next week.  KAIROS will join a host of Falcons and another Electrons so next weeks article should be longer!  

As always feel free to write to me at rickyew2112@gmail.com, or find me on X @Rickyew2112

Sic Itur Ad Astra

(Thus They Journey to the Stars)