Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had four launches taking place across the globe, with SpaceX performing all but one. News during the week saw Blue Origin detailing new parts of their Florida plans and Amazon preparing to deploy Leo satellites again. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.
October 13th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-25
Twenty-seven Starlink satellites were placed into low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, via a Falcon 9. Supporting their deployment was booster B1088, flying for the twentieth time and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.
October 13th - Falcon 9 with CRS-35
SpaceX began its thirty-fifth resupply mission to the International Space Station with the launch of a Cargo Dragon V2 atop of a Falcon 9 departing Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1096 enabled the launch for its eighth flight, touching down at Landing Zone 40 next to the launch pad afterwards.
October 14th - Zhuque-2E with ten satellites
LandSpace's Zhuque-2E lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center while heading into sun-synchronous orbit to deliver ten customer satellites. Eight of them belonged to ADA Space to grow its Three-Body Computing constellation, currently the world's only operational on-orbit compute system, to twenty satellites. Guangchuan-03 and Guangchuan-04 were secondary payloads onboard, made by Laser Starcom for LandTower, a new LandSpace subsidiary.
October 16th - Falcon 9 with USSF-481
A group of U.S. military spacecraft to be operated by the United States Space Force were brought into Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. For this launch, booster B1081 was utilized for its twenty-eighth flight, being recovered on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.
In Other Space News
Blue Origin further expanding Florida operations
Having announced plans to establish a second launch pad in Florida for New Glenn's larger and more capable variant, known as 9x4, in August, Blue Origin provided further details on its expansion plans across the space coast on October 16th.
Critical to plans for manufacturing and preparing New Glenn 9x4, Blue Origin's launch vehicle manufacturing site is currently undergoing a massive 330 million United States Dollar expansion that will be completed by the summer of 2027. Part of the expansion includes an investment in automated production equipment, stated to be able to make up to one hundred and fifty second-stages per year, while bringing select components in-house. A few miles away, the company's new vertical integration facility is starting to rise into the skyline already.
Off of dry land, Blue Origin revealed that it is working on commissioning two new drone ships to complement 'Jacklyn' for booster recovery operations based out of Port Canaveral. In theory, by operating three ships, the company would be able to receive a recently flown booster, be preparing to recover another, and send another ship out for a future flight simultaneously. No timeline for the delivery of the new drone ships was detailed.
With the new facilities and incoming drone ships, Blue Origin will be able to fly no more than fifty times per year, restricted by government approvals, between Launch Complex 36A and 36B. The company did state that they intend to build additional launch pads in Florida, dictated by what they learn this year and next.
Amazon Leo prepares to resume deployments
No earlier than November 23rd, Amazon plans to have its fourteenth group of Leo space-based internet satellites brought into low Earth orbit via Arianespace's tenth flight of its Ariane 6.
That launch will see 36 satellites within the launch vehicle's payload fairing, with it making use of its four upgraded solid rocket boosters for the second time, which were debuted back in June. It will also be the constellation's fourth time utilizing Ariane 6.
Through no fault of Amazon's own, Leo satellites have been stuck on Earth, with over six hundred awaiting launch. The milestone of the 1000th completed production was reached earlier this month while only 396 have been flown. The last time any satellites were deployed was in late July via an Atlas V.
Amazon had hoped that the upcoming Ariane 6 flight would have been able to fly this month, but a turbopump issue was found during evaluations in August. Meanwhile, other launch vehicles the company booked have been grounded following in-flight anomalies and a launch pad explosion.
What to Expect Next Week
October 19th - Falcon 9 with Bandwagon-5
SpaceX is preparing to perform its fifth mid-inclination rideshare mission into low Earth orbit to deploy a few dozen small customer satellites after liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40.
October 19th - H3 with Martian Moons eXploration
Japan will commence its Martian Moons eXploration mission to Mars' moon Phobos, where it will collect samples, via the launch of its H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center.
October 20th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-15
A batch of Starlink satellites are planned to be brought into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E.
October 21st - Ceres-1S with Xiguang-4-01
Galactic Energy's Ceres-1S is set ot lift off from the Yellow Sea to fly into low Earth orbit to deploy the Xiguang-4-01 remote sensing satellite.
October 21st - Electron for 'We're Not Hawking Around'
Rocket Lab's Electron will launch from the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand to bring three HawkEye 360 into sun-synchronous orbit.
October 22nd - Long March 8A with a group of connectivity satellites
A Long March 8A is preparing to fly from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site to bring either a group of GuoWang or Qianfan satellites into low Earth orbit.
October 23rd - Long March 6A with Yaogan-50-03
From the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, a Long March 6A will fly into a retrograde low Earth orbit to deliver the Yaogan-50-03 remote sensing satellite.
October 23rd - Long March 4B with a to-be-announced payload
A Long March 4B is preparing to fly from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and into low Earth orbit on behalf of a customer that is yet to be revealed.
October 24th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 15-16
Another Falcon 9 will bring more Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit with a launch from Space Launch Complex 4E.
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