Weekly Dose of Space (5/4-11/4)

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had seven launches worldwide, with the majority expanding space-based connectivity mega-constellations. News from the week had the Artemis II crew arriving in Houston following their trip around the Moon, and China preparing its next mission to the lunar surface. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

April 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-35

SpaceX's Falcon 9 delivered twenty-five Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this mission was booster B1103 for its first flight, landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

April 7th - Minotaur-IV with ten satellites

A Minotaur-IV launch vehicle flew for the first time in six years, carrying ten satellites into low Earth orbit, from Space Launch Complex 8 in California. The primary payload was STPSat-7 to test new military space systems, CubeSats launched with it are tasked similarly.

April 7th - Long March 8 with Qianfan Polar Group 07

For the first time in thirteen months, a Long March 8 lifted off from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site to carry eighteen Qianfan space-based internet satellites into a near-polar orbit. With this launch, the constellation has had 126 spacecraft launched out of an approved 15,000.

April 8th - Long March 6A with GuoWang Group 21

Out of the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, a Long March 6A flew into polar orbit to deliver five GuoWang space-based connectivity satellites into space. This launch brought the size of the GuoWang constellation up to 168 satellites out of 13,000.

April 11th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-21

Twenty-five more Starlink satellites were placed into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Booster B1063 supported this launch for its thirty-second mission, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

April 11th - Jielong-3 with a GuoWang test satellite

A Jielong-3 flew into sun-synchronous orbit off of a launch ship in the South China Sea to deliver a single GuoWang test satellite. That satellite is trialing upgrades to the GuoWang constellation, and is the twenty-fifth of its type launched.

April 11th - Falcon 9 with NG-24

A Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carried Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft toward the International Space Station to begin the NG-24 resupply mission, carrying crew consumables and new experiments. Supporting this mission was booster B1094, flying for the seventh time and landing back in Florida at Landing Zone 40.

In Other Space News

Artemis II astronauts return to Houston

At a jubilant press event on April 11th, astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen came home to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, a day after the end of the Artemis II mission. The crew had many beautiful words for the mission and for each other that cannot be done justice in written prose, so we recommend going back and watching the event for anyone who hasn't.

China's next Moon mission arrives at launch site

Chang'e 7, China's next robotic mission to the Moon's surface, arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on April 10th, following a flight from production facilities in Beijing. Several specialized containers were used to transport the spacecraft's orbiter, lander, rover, hopper, and other hardware.

Within Wenchang's spacecraft clean rooms, all major parts of Chang'e 7 will undergo final pre-mission checks and assembly, followed by the fueling of the orbiter, lander, and hopper. Several weeks from today, the spacecraft will be encapsulated inside of a Long March 5's fairing and placed atop of the rocket before rollout ot Launch Complex 101.

At present, the Chang'e 7 mission has an expected launch date within August to send the complete spacecraft stack toward a polar orbit of the Moon. The spacecraft will spend a few weeks in that orbit, scouting its landing site near Shackleton crater, where it will search for water ice and other resources over eight years.

What to Expect Next Week

April 14th - Kinetica-1 with a group of satellites

CAS Space is preparing to launch its Kinetica-1 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, said to be delivering a group of satellites into Earth orbit for a single customer.

April 14th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 10-24

Twenty-nine more Starlink satellites are planned to be placed into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 departing Space Launch Complex 40.

April 15th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-27

Another twenty-five Starlink satellites are set to be delivered from Space Launch Complex 4E to low Earth orbit via Falcon 9.

April 16th - New Glenn with a BlueBird Block-2

Blue Origin is preparing to refly its first recovered New Glenn booster with a mission to low Earth orbit, carrying a BlueBird Block-2 satellite from AST SpaceMobile.

April 17th - Long March 2D with a to-be-annouced payload

From the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, a Long March 2D may fly into sun-synchronous orbit carrying a to-be-revealed payload.

April 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 17-22

Falcon 9 is set to fly again from Space Launch Complex 4E, delivering twenty-five Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.