Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week had five launches taking place, with Falcon 9 performing the majority. News this week saw a new crew arriving onboard the International Space Sation, Northrop Grumman completing a satellite life extension mission, and the Artemis Accords gaining its fifty-fourth signatory. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

Launches This Week

A Falcon 9 carried twenty-eight Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Booster B1078 supported this mission for its nineteenth flight, with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.

Falcon 9 lifting off for the Starlink Group 6-72 mission. ©SpaceX
Falcon 9 lifting off for the Starlink Group 6-72 mission. ©SpaceX

Another Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California, carrying twenty-seven Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. B1093 supported this launch, for its first flight along with a landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' downrange.

Falcon 9 during first-stage flight for the Starlink Group 11-11 mission. ©SpaceX
Falcon 9 during first-stage flight for the Starlink Group 11-11 mission. ©SpaceX

April 8th - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-27

The Soyuz MS-27 mission lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome atop of a Soyuz 2.1a, carrying the spacecraft toward the International Space Station. Onboard were NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.

April 10th - Long March 3B/E with TJSW-17

A Long March 3B/E blasted off from Launch Complex 3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the TJSW-17 satellite toward a geostationary transfer orbit. The spacecraft is expected to perform testing and verification for multi-band high-speed throughput communications technologies as well as providing communications, radio, television, and data transmission services.

The Long March 3B/E vehicle lifting off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on April 10th.
The Long March 3B/E vehicle lifting off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on April 10th.

April 12th - Falcon 9 with NROL-192

A batch of Starshield satellites, the military version of Starlink, was delivered to low Earth orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E. Supporting this mission was booster B1071, for its twenty-fourth flight with a landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

Falcon 9 booster B1071 landing on 'Of Course I Still Love You', via SpaceX on Twitter.

In Other Space News

Soyuz MS-27 crew arrives at ISS

Soyuz 2.1a lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the Soyuz MS-27 mission. ©Joel Kowsky/NASA
Soyuz 2.1a lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the Soyuz MS-27 mission. ©Joel Kowsky/NASA

On April 8th at 05:47 am Universal Coordinated Time, the Soyuz MS-27 mission blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station. A few hours later at 08:57 am the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the Prichal module, on the Russian segment of the station.

The crew of the Soyuz MS-27 are Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky as well as NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim. Ryzhikov is flying to the station for the third time, while Zubritsky and Kim are heading to space for the first time.

At present, the Soyuz MS-27 mission is planned to last into early December for a return to Earth eight months from now. NASA stated that throughout Kim's stay onboard, he will conduct scientific research in technology development, Earth science, biology, and human research, among others.

Northrop Grumman completes life extension mission

Intelsat's IS-901 satellite seen by Northrop Grumman's MEV-1 spacecraft. ©Northrop Grumman
Intelsat's IS-901 satellite seen by Northrop Grumman's MEV-1 spacecraft. ©Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman shared on April 9th that its Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) has successfully undocked with Intelsat’s IS-901 satellite after completing its lift extension service mission. The company claims that this was the first undocking between two commercial spacecraft in geosynchronous earth orbit.

Additionally, Northrop shared a few key points: MEV-1 provided five years of life-extension services to IS-901, allowing Intelsat to operate the satellite beyond its design life; in 2020, MEV-1 successfully proved docking with IS-901 was possible in the GEO graveyard orbit and brought IS-901 back into operation in GEO; and with life-extension services complete, MEV-1 released the IS-901 satellite back into the GEO graveyard and is relocating to the next servicing mission. Speaking on the feat, Northrop's President of Space Logistics Robert Hauge stated:

“The first-of-its-kind technology that extended a satellite’s life is paving the way for an entire infrastructure of future on-orbit satellite servicing missions for a variety of customers. We are continuing to invest in next-generation capabilities to deliver the most technologically advanced servicing capabilities to support and maintain new and existing space-based assets.”

With the moving of IS-901 to a graveyard orbit, Northrop Grumman has replicated a feat performed by China between December 2021 and January 2022. Northrop however had a complaint active satellite to work with, whereas China didn't.

Bangladesh signs Artemis Accords

NASA announced on April 8th that Bangladesh has signed onto the U.S.-led Artemis Accords, in the country's capital city of Dhaka. Signing on behalf of the country was Ashraf Uddin, Secretary of Defense for Bangladesh, at the U.S. embassy. Following the signing, the Secretary of Defense stated:

“Bangladesh’s commitment to the Artemis Accords will enhance the country’s engagement with NASA and the international community,” – “By signing the accords, Bangladesh builds upon an important foundation for the open, responsible and peaceful exploration of space.”

With the signing, Bangladesh becomes the fifty-fourth signatory and joins Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Chile, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ukraine, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Israel, Romania, Bahrain, Singapore, Colombia, France, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Rwanda, the Czech Republic, Spain, Ecuador, India, Argentina, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Angola, Belgium, Greece, Uruguay, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Lithuania, Peru, Slovakia, Armenia, Estonia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Austria, Thailand, Liechtenstein, and Finland.

What to Expect Next Week

Twenty-one Starlink satellites are planned to be launched atop a Falcon 9 flying from Launch Complex 39A.

Another twenty-seven Starlink satellites are planning to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 atop of a Falcon 9.

April 14th - New Shepard for NS-31

Blue Origin is planning to launch New Shepard from its West Texas launch site for a short suborbital flight. Six passengers are planned to be on board and are Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez.

April 16th - Minotaur IV with NROL-174

A Minotaur IV rocket, derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile, is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 8, in California, carrying a U.S. military payload possibly weighing up to 1,837 kilograms.

Another batch of Starlink satellites are expected to launch atop of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40.