Weekly Dose of Space (10/5-16/5)
Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had six launches occurring worldwide, with two resupply missions to the crewed space stations in low Earth orbit. News of the week had an update for Artemis III and the Qianfan constellation resuming routine deployments. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.
May 11th - Long March 7 with Tianzhou-10
From the Wenchang Space Launch Site, the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft was sent into low Earth orbit to head toward the Tiangong Space Station, arriving just over five hours after launch. The spacecraft has 6,300 kilograms of consumables, experiments, and propellants, alongside a new spacesuit, as its cargo.
May 12th - Falcon 9 with NROL-172
SpaceX's Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 4E, in Florida, carrying a batch of satellites into Earth orbit on behalf of the U.S. military. This launch was supported by booster B1097 for its ninth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.
May 12th - Long March 6A with Qianfan Polar Group 09
A Long March 6A blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center to deliver a group of eighteen Qianfan connectivity satellites, the eighth overall, into a near-polar orbit. Those satellites should begin providing space-based internet services later this year, with a total of 144 spacecraft in orbit to do so.
May 14th - Zhuque-2E for a test flight
LandSpace flew an upgraded version of its Zhuque-2E launch vehicle from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, featuring a lengthened first-stage and the use of subcooled propellants. This launch had a 2,800-kilogram mass simulator carried by the second-stage to and from a 900-kilometer polar orbit.
May 15th - Kinetica-1 with five satellites
Another launch from Jiuquan had CAS Space's Kinetica-1 placing five satellites into sun-synchronous orbit on behalf of customers. Those satellites were:
- Chengdu's Taijing-3-05A and Taijing-3-05B Earth observation satellites.
- Wuhan's Tianyi-50 X-band synthetic aperture radar spacecraft.
- Changguang Satellite Technology Co Ltd's Jilin-1 Gaofen-05D55 Earth imaging satellite.
- And the Tianyan-27 experimental spacecraft from Shanghai Xuntian Qianhe Space Technology Co Ltd.
May 15th - Falcon 9 with CRS-34
SpaceX sent the C209 Cargo Dragon V2 spacecraft towards the International Space Station via a launch atop of Falcon 9, from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida, to deliver new supplies. Booste B1096 supported this launch for its sixth mission, touching down at Landing Zone 40 back in Florida.
Falcon 9 launches the CRS-34 mission to the @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/kXV4C09NHs
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 16, 2026
In Other Space News
Artemis III to take place in low Earth orbit
NASA shared its first update about the now-Earth-orbiting Artemis III mission on May 13th, set to take place in late 2027. Since announcing changes to the mission, and later ones to land on the Moon, the space agency has been reluctant to answer if the Space Launch System rocket will fly with the final Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, but in the recent update, it was shared that:
"NASA will use a spacer without propulsion capabilities as a representation of the overall upper stage dimensions. The spacer will maintain the same overall dimensions and interface connection points as the upper stage between the Orion stage adapter and launch vehicle stage adapter."
It was added that the design and fabrication of the spacer has made 'rapid' progress at the Marshall Space Flight Center, with the barrel, the upper ring, and the lower ring being prepared for welding.
Due to the use of a spacer, the Artemis III mission will have to reside in low Earth orbit due to the propulsion capabilities of the Orion spacecraft, as the Space Launch System can only place the spacecraft into an almost-orbit without the upper-stage. In orbit, the Orion spacecraft will perform tests with lunar landers from both or either Blue Origin or SpaceX. It is unclear if those landers will be boardable by astronauts, as NASA is still planning much of the mission.
Shanghai-backed Qianfan constellation resuming routine deployments
During this week, the eighth group of Qianfan space-based internet connectivity satellites was delivered into low Earth orbit by a Long March 6A. A month earlier a previous group was also launched. Both launches are indicative of a return to regular deployments following issues throughout 2025.
Issues in 2025 saw many satellites drifting away from their targeted orbital plane and falling short of their operational orbit. Analysis using ground-based telescopes later revealed that some of those satellites were tumbling. Out of safety and avoidance of international complaints, launches were halted.
A return to space group was launched in October 2025 to prove out fixes to issues, with a several-week-long observation period to verify them. With the successful verification, satellite groups, fixed and new, were sent to launch sites for deployment this year.
Additionally, another group of satellites is currently awaiting launch atop of a Long March 8 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, as part of a large batch order that was put on hold last year.
What to Expect Next Week
May 17th - Long March 8 with a Qianfan Group
A group of eighteen Qianfan satellites are set to launch into low Earth orbit from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site via a Long March 8.
May 19th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-42
Falcon 9 will deliver another batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.
May 19th - Vega-C with SMILE
From French Guiana, a Vega-C rocket will fly into Earth orbit to deliver the Sino-European SMILE spacecraft to begin its space weather mission and study of Earth's magnetosphere.
May 20th - Starship-Super Heavy for its twelfth flight test
SpaceX is preparing to perform Starship-Super Heavy's twelfth flight test from its second launch pad in Starbase, Texas, with Ship 39 and Booster 19 splashing down after launch.
May 20th - Falcon 9 with Globalsat 2-R
A Falcon 9 will place nine satellites into low Earth orbit on behalf of Globalstar to expand its space-based mobile communications network.
May 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-31
More Starlink satellites are going to be launched into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40.
