Launch Roundup: Starliners crewed debut, new rocket variant, and more
Starlink missions

Date:
Tue, 07 May 2024 22:10:46 +0000

Description:
This week will see the maiden launches of two new spacecraft: Boeings crewed Starliner spacecraft The post Launch Roundup: Starliners crewed debut, new rocket variant, and more Starlink missions appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

This week will see the maiden launches of two new spacecraft: Boeings crewed Starliner spacecraft and the first Chang Zheng 6C rocket from China. The launch of Starliners Crewed Flight Test (CFT) mission will be the first
crewed launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since the Apollo era,
as well as the 100th overall mission for the United Launch Alliances Atlas V rocket.

Whats more, the first Chang Zheng 6C, a dual-engine variant of the Chang
Zheng 6 (CZ-6) rocket developed and launched by China, launched approximately an hour after Starliner was initially due to take to the skies on Monday, May 6. Another Chang Zheng 3B (CZ-3B) is set to follow later midweek. Other flights this week include up to four more Starlink missions from SpaceX launching from both coasts of the US.



The week was originally expected to begin with four of the six planned launches, including the two maiden flights, launching within a 24-hour
period. Following scrub of Starliners first attempt on Monday, the highly anticipated flight was rescheduled for Friday, May 10, after Launch Director Tom Heter III made the decision not to proceed with launch under an abundance of caution.

The Starliner CFT mission will set new milestones beyond being the first crewed launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since Apollo 7 in 1968 and the first from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 41. CFT will also be the first time an Atlas will carry a crewed spacecraft into space, on which astronaut Suni Williams will also become the first woman to fly on a maiden flight of a new orbital vehicle. Stage separation during the launch of the WorldView Legion 1 mission shortly before SpaceX makes its 300th successful deployment of a payload into orbit since AMOS-6. (Credit: SpaceX)

One Starlink mission launched on Monday, with two more scheduled for
Wednesday and possibly another on Sunday. Three of these are for the Group 6 shell and will launch from the east coast, with the other batch headed into the Group 8 shell from Vandenberg on the west coast. SpaceX will close this week with the chance for up to six Falcon 9 missions having launched in just the first 12 days of May, with more Starlink missions and missions for the National Reconnaissance Office and the European and Japanese Space Agencies being prepared for launches later in the month. If this pace is maintained, the company could exceed the 12 launches per month seen in March and April.

The company continues to reach milestones, with last weeks WorldView Legion mission scoring the 300th successful deployment of payload into orbit since the AMOS-6 pad anomaly in September 2016, as well as the recovery of a
fairing half from a record 16th flight. In an updated animation at the end of its livestream for the Gaileo L12 mission, the company noted that it had recovered 430 fairings to date and counting.



Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-57

This mission was switched with Group 6-56 over the weekend and was the first of the two to launch this week. Falcon 9 launched on Monday, May 6, at 2:14
PM EDT (18:14 UTC) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Booster B1069 landed downrange on the autonomous spaceport droneship Just Read the Instructions . This was the boosters 15th flight, having previously supported seven other missions to this Group 6 shell, as well as earlier Starlink groups: Hotbird 13F, OneWeb 15, SES-18/19, and its maiden launch carrying the CRS-24 cargo mission to the International Space Station.

As the week began, the total number of Starlink satellites launched stood at 6,327, to which this mission adds 23. Currently, 5,919 are in operation, and 408 have deorbited.

Chang Zheng 6C | Haiwangxing 01 and others

This is the second CZ-6 mission of the year, but the maiden flight for the 6C variant of the rocket. The more powerful CZ-6A version has most recently launched satellites into Sun-synchronous orbits for the Yaogan-40 and Yunhai
3 satellite constellations.

Made by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight, the CZ-6C is a shorter, single-stick version of the CZ-6A, which was introduced in 2022, and a dual-engine variant of the original CZ-6, which has been active since 2015. Using the familiar mix of liquid oxygen and kerosene rocket propellants on both stages, the launcher has a payload capacity of 4,500 kilograms to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and 2,000 kilograms to a 700-kilometer altitude Sun-synchronous orbit. The CZ-6C launch from China last night has been cataloged in a 491 x 504 km x 97.4 deg sun-synch orbit. The rocket stage passed 500 km above the central USA at about 0437 UTC (11:37 pm CDT) and appears to have dumped its remaining fuel at that time, causing a widely seen trail

Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) May 7, 2024



The first stage is powered by two YF-100K engines with a maximum thrust of 2,376 kilonewtons while the second stage has one YF-115 engine with a maximum thrust of 180 kilonewtons. The rocket stands at 43 meters high, with a diameter of 3.35 meters and a total mass of 217 tons. It was transported from the final assembly plant to the Launch Complex (LC) 9A launch pad at Taiyuan in the Shanxi Province using a rocket transport vehicle. Liftoff took place
on Tuesday, May 7, at 03:21 UTC during a 42-minute launch window.

One payload onboard was the Haiwangxing-01 (Neptune-01) satellite, the first of a planned 36-satellite constellation of synthetic aperture radar
satellites that will observe the Earth once per hour. Three other satellites, including the Zhixing-1C radar satellite and two optical imaging satellites, were also deployed. See Also CFT Launch Article Previous Launch Roundup NSF Store Click here to Join L2

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-56

SpaceX has scheduled at least one more launch from LC-39A at the Kennedy
Space Center before the pad is reconfigured for the upcoming Falcon Heavy launch of the GOES-U mission, which is currently targeting a launch on June 25. With pad conversion preparations for Falcon Heavy typically taking 40 to 50 days, it would be tight but not impossible to squeeze another mission in before conversion operations begin.

This Starlink Group 6 launch is scheduled for 10:42 AM EDT (14:42 UTC) on Wednesday, May 8, with a pad turnaround of approximately 10 days following
the launch of the Galileo mission on April 27. Two years ago this week, another Starlink mission set a new turnaround record for this pad at 9 days,
1 hour, and 50 minutes. Weve seen this time reduced further since then, with less than 6 days and 19 hours between Starlink 6-42 and Eutelsat 36D at the end of March.

As with other launches into this Group 6 shell, the mission is expected to carry 23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a 285 by 293-kilometer orbit with a 43-degree inclination. Following launch, Falcon 9 will head southeast,
passing northeast of the Bahamas. The booster has not yet been assigned but will land downrange on the autonomous spaceport droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas . SpaceX passed their 300th successful Falcon 9 booster landing four missions ago during the Starlink 6-53 mission. This would be the 231st consecutive landing for a Falcon booster if successful. Think he caught a big one.

Falcon 9 booster B1067 returns to port aboard drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas earlier this evening following its 19th flight.

@NASASpaceflight

https://t.co/pWsv50gmvY pic.twitter.com/pDp0iBhNNn

Max Evans (@_mgde_) May 4, 2024



The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments, and Aviation recently signed an agreement with SpaceX to allow droneship landings of boosters in the calmer waters east of The Exumas, offering locals and tourists a spectacular view of booster landings. These were initially anticipated to begin with the Group 8 missions after the initial plans to land the first during the Group 7-28 mission were canceled. With Group-8 missions beginning to be launched, these landings in The Exumas are expected to begin soon.

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 8-2

Group 8-2 will be the second mission to launch Starlink v2 Mini satellites into the Group 8 shell, the first of which carried 20 satellites in early April to an initial orbit of 336 by 345 kilometers with a 53-degree inclination. Six of those satellites were the new direct-to-cell variant, and more are anticipated to be launched on this flight.

Liftoff is expected on May 7 at 7:48 PM (02:48 UTC on May 8) from SLC-4E at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The booster, which has not yet been announced, will land on the autonomous spaceport droneship Of Course I Still Love You .

Chang Zheng 3B | Unknown Payload

This is the second mission flying on a CZ-3B this year. This vehicle type previously launched satellites for the Beidou-3 and ChinaSat constellations into medium-Earth and geostationary transfer orbits.

Liftoff is expected on Thursday, May 9, at 01:50 UTC from pad LC-2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China. Prior to launch, the payload, which could be another pair of Beidou satellites, has not been confirmed. Atlas V and Starliner roll to the pad (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

Atlas V N22 | Starliner CFT

The highly anticipated maiden crewed launch of Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was scheduled to take place on Monday, May 6, at 10:34 PM EDT (02:34 UTC on May 7) from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This first launch attempt was scrubbed due to a problem with a liquid oxygen vent valve on the Centaur second stage of the Atlas V rocket. The second launch attempt is currently expected to take place on Friday, May 10, at 8:55 PM EDT (00:55 on May 11 UTC).

Starliner SC3 Calypso is stacked atop an Atlas V N22 launch vehicle. The 52-meter-tall stack rolled to the pad during the weekend before the first launch attempt. SC3 Calypso is making its second flight into space, having already chalked up two days of flight time on the uncrewed orbital flight
test (OFT-1) mission in December 2019.

This CFT mission will achieve several milestones. It is the first crewed launch of this new vehicle, the first from the pad at SLC-41, and the first from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since the launch of Apollo 7 in 1968. The CST-100 Starliner capsule is stacked atop Atlas V. (Credit:
NASA/Kim Shiflett)

This will also be the 100th mission launched by the Atlas V rocket family,
the first time an Atlas V carries a crewed spacecraft, and the first crewed mission for NASAs Commercial Crew Program that isnt conducted with a SpaceX capsule. The two experienced NASA astronauts onboard are Commander Barry
Butch Willmore and Pilot Sunita Suni Williams, who will become the first
woman to fly on a maiden flight of a new orbital vehicle. Suni named the spacecraft to acknowledge her love of the ocean and in reference to Jacques Cousteaus ship which bore the same name.

The N22 configuration of the Atlas V has no fairings, two side boosters, and two RL-10A engines on the Centaur upper stage. Starliner will separate around 15 minutes after launch, following the jettison of the nosecone ascent cover and aeroskirt. It will then continue the journey towards the International Space Station (ISS) using its own thrusters on the service module.

This will be the first time this capsule has docked with the ISS the SC2 vehicle was previously the only Starliner capsule to do this on the OFT-2 demonstration mission. SC3 Calypso is expected to dock to the forward port of the Stations Harmony module on May 8 at 04:48 UTC and will stay at the
station for around seven days.

Once complete, this mission will certify the vehicle for the regular crew rotation missions to the ISS awarded to SpaceX and Boeing ten years ago as part of the Commercial Crew Program. To date, SpaceX has conducted eight operational crew missions to the ISS under this contract. Starliner will provide the redundancy sought by NASA when they awarded the contract to the two providers. Once certified, NASA will drop to one Crew Dragon launch per year and alternate crew rotations between the two vehicles, although SpaceX will also be flying Dragon for additional private missions such as Axiom-4
and Polaris Dawn.



With a diameter of 4.56 meters, Starliner is a little smaller than the Orion capsule used on Artemis missions and slightly larger than Crew Dragon and the Apollo command module. The capsule will typically carry up to four
astronauts, with a mix of crew and cargo on each flight. All remaining Atlas launches are already allocated ahead of the vehicle being retired in around eight years. Six of these launches are set aside for Starliners missions for NASA to the ISS, as well as Kuiper missions. Starliner could then fly on Vulcan if that vehicle has been certified as human-rated by the time Starliners first six flights on Atlas V are complete.

Boeing Space is already working to prepare the SC2 crew module that flew the OFT-2 mission for the forthcoming Starliner-1 crew mission in 2025. Starliner-1 will stay in orbit for approximately six months. Calypso is then expected to support the second and fourth Starliner crewed missions from 2026 onwards.

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-58

This Starlink Group 6 launch is scheduled for May 12 from SLC-40 at the
CCSFS. As with other launches into the Group 6 shell, this mission is
expected to carry 23 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a 285 by 293-kilometer orbit with a 43-degree inclination. The Falcon 9 will head southeast, passing northeast of the Bahamas. The booster, which has not yet been announced, will land downrange on an autonomous spaceport droneship.

If the order of flights does not change, this would be the 91st orbital
launch attempt worldwide for the year.

(Lead image: Starliner prior to ISS docking on the OFT-2 flight. Credit: Bob Hines/NASA)



The post Launch Roundup: Starliners crewed debut, new rocket variant, and
more Starlink missions appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/05/launch-roundup-05072024/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Science News (1337:1/100)