Weekly Dose of Space (6/9-12/9)

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had just four launches occurring globally, with half performed by SpaceX. News from the week has new investment for a spaceport in the United Kingdom and quality problems within China's space projects. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

September 6th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-24

Twenty-seven Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Supporting this launch was booster B1088 for its eighteenth flight, landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

September 10th - Long March 4B with six Yaogan satellites

A Long March 4B departed from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to head for low Earth orbit, carrying Yaogan-53-01, -02, -03 and Yaogan-56-01, -02, -03. The six new remote sensing spacecraft are tasked with supporting agricultural yield estimation, land and resource census, disaster prevention planning efforts, and scientific experiments.

September 10th - Falcon 9 with USSF-153

Falcon 9 flew from Space Launch Complex 4E and into low Earth orbit to deliver a batch of U.S. military satellites. Booster B1081 supported this launch for its twenty-seventh flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

September 11th - Electron for 'Happily Ever Faster'

Rocket Lab performed a confidential Electron mission, dubbed 'Happily Ever Faster', into low Earth orbit, carrying a payload for an undisclosed customer. A single spacecraft was catalogued following the launch.

In Other Space News

SaxaVord Spaceport to receive 60 million Pounds in investment

Operators of the SaxaVord Spaceport, facing north on the Shetland Islands of Scotland, announced on September 8th that they will receive 60 million Pound Sterling through a public-private investment, subject to final approvals. Half of it is coming from the government of the United Kingdom.

That investment is set to support the completion of site infrastructure ahead of a first orbital launch in the near future. Additionally, the new money will allow for the establishment of two more launch pads and a second integration facility, used to prepare launch vehicles and their payloads for flight.

Commenting on the incoming investment, Chief Executive Officer Scott Hammond shared:

"This is a hugely significant vote of confidence in SaxaVord and in the UK’s determination to establish its own launch capability. [...] This government investment, which will unlock a matching amount of private investment, will help us take the next step–establishing regular launch operations from the UK and building a sustainable commercial spaceport for the long term. We are building the spaceport for the thousandth as much as the first launch, creating a safe, secure and trusted home for our client launch providers for many years to come."

SaxaVord Spaceport's current licence allows it to enable thirty rocket launches per year. A first launch from the site is set to be a suborbital mission of HyImpulse's hybrid propellant SR75, carrying short microgravity experiments. Sometime this year, the RFA One launch vehicle will aim to reach orbit if an undisclosed issue is resolved in time.

Chinese space projects face 'severe quality challenge'

Following a pair of significant rocket failures, the breakup of two spacecraft, and the delay of a major mission, the Party Group at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation stated that they have found a 'severe quality challenge' to be present in various space projects, without naming any directly.

In response to their findings, staff across the Corporation are being educated to ensure the ‘thorough resolution’ of quality issues that have occurred this year, in a way that will also resolve unseen deeper problems. Along with the education, it was said that the Party Group will ‘strictly enforce discipline and rules, strictly enforce work conduct, strictly enforce quality requirements, strictly pursue rectification and improvement’.

The push to improve quality control is the second taking place in China within a year. After Shenzhou-20 was struck by orbital debris, the China Manned Space Agency chose staff members to report on possible issues that could jeopardize human safety.

What to Expect Next Week

September 13th - Falcon 9 with three O3b mPOWER satellites

SES will have three Boeing-made O3b mPOWER satellites delivered to medium Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida.

September 15th - Vega-C with Sentinel-3C & FLEX

Europe's Vega-C will fly from the Guiana Space Centre and into sun-synchronous orbit to deliver the Sentinel-3C Earth observation satellite for the Copernicus Programme as well as the Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) for the European Space Agency.

September 15th - Zhuque-2E with Qianfan satellites

LandSpace's Zhuque-2E is preparing to fly from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and into polar orbit, likely with a batch of Qianfan connectivity satellites.

September 15th - Gravity-1 with Qianfan satellites

Orienspace will launch its Gravity-1 rocket for the fourth time, again from the East China Sea and into polar orbit, also likely with a set of Qianfan satellites.

September 16th - Falcon 9 with USSF-259

Another Falcon 9 will fly from Space Launch Complex 4E to deliver a group of U.S. military satellites into Earth orbit.

September 16th - Soyuz 2.1b with Progress MS-35

Roscosmos will resupply the International Space Station with the launch of the Progress MS-35 cargo mission atop of a Soyuz 2.1b from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

September 17th - Long March 12 with connectivity satellites

Satellites for either the Qianfan or GuoWang connectivity constellation will be placed into low Earth orbit by a Long March 12 flying from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site.

September 17th - Kuaizhou-11 with unnanouced payloads

ExPace's Kuaizhou-11 is set to fly from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center towards low Earth orbit, carrying payloads that are yet to be announced.

September 19th - Long March 2D with Earth imaging satellites

A set of Earth imaging satellites belonging to PIESAT are expected to be delivered into a polar orbit via a Long March 2D from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

NET September 18th - Starship-Super Heavy's fourteenth flight test

SpaceX is working to launch another flight test of its fully-reusable Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle from Starbase, Texas, possibly into low Earth orbit for the first time.