As July turns to August, launch activity will resume following the return of the Falcon 9 to flight. In addition to the Falcon 9, ULA’s Atlas V and Rocket Lab’s Electron were also preparing to conduct missions to orbit. The USSF-51 flight from Florida and the “Owl for One, One for Owl” from New Zealand will be followed by Starlink 10-6 and CRS NG-21 aboard Falcon 9 vehicles from Florida.
After just six flights in July due to the Starlink 9-3 failure, SpaceX hopes to return to its industry-leading flight pace with two flights in the first three days of August. Though its goal of 148 flights in 2024 might be out of reach, requiring 15 launches per month for the rest of the year, the company still expects to easily surpass the 2023 flight record, while Electron is closing in on double-digit flights later this year.
On Tuesday, July 30, a ULA Atlas V 551, AV-101, successfully lifted off from Pad 41 of Cape Canaveral Space Station (CCSFS) with the USSF-51 payload for the United States Space Force. The launch occurred at the beginning of the five-hour launch window, which lasted from 6:45 AM EDT (10:45 UTC) to 11:45 AM EDT (15:45 UTC), with mission success declared seven hours later.
The USSF-51 payload was scheduled to fly aboard a Vulcan Centaur rocket but was switched to the Atlas V at ULA’s request. While Vulcan began 2024 with a successful first flight, another flight is needed to certify that system can carry national security payloads. This flight used an eastward trajectory, which is the one typically used by satellites heading into geostationary orbit.
ULA's launch readiness review is underway to continue preparations for Tuesday's launch. #AtlasV with the #USSF51 mission for @DODSpaceForceDawn liftoff will take place at 6:45 a.m. EDT (10:45 UTC). The anticipated weather forecast is 80% favorable.
Live Updates and Webcast: https://t.co/HvvsExVAKR photo.twitter.com/6YDZxY2Nvh
— ULA (@ulalaunch) July 26, 2024
This flight was just the second Atlas V 551 launch of 2024 and the fourth launch for ULA, which is also planning a certification flight for Vulcan later this year. The USSF-51 flight marks the 100th national security mission flown by ULA during its 18-year existence, using Delta II, Delta IV, and Atlas V family rockets. This flight was the final national security launch for the Atlas family.
The most powerful of the Atlas V family, Model 551 of the Atlas V spacecraft features a 17-foot (5-meter) fairing, five solid rocket boosters, and the Centaur single-engine upper stage. Following USSF-51, there are only nine Model 551 flights remaining, all but one of which are to launch Project Kuiper satellites for Amazon. The remainder of the Atlas V flight manifest is for six operational Starliner missions to the International Space Station.
The patch for the mission “Owl for One, One for Owl.” (Credit: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab Electron | Owl for one, one for owl
On Friday, August 2 at 16:15 UTC, Rocket Lab will again attempt to launch the “Owl for One, One for Owl” mission from its private launch pad and firing range on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, with a Synspective satellite on board. The flight had been delayed from Tuesday, July 30 due to inclement weather at Mahia.
The flight is scheduled to take off from one of two LC-1 pads and will launch its fifth StriX satellite for the Japanese Earth observation company. No recovery attempt has been announced for this vehicle, although some Electron flights have tested the first stage's recovery capability.
The Electron rocket will carry the StriX constellation satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit, and the launch stage will perform a maneuver during the mid-mission phase to shield the satellite from solar radiation. StriX satellites use synthetic aperture radar to observe the Earth’s surface even through clouds and in day and night conditions, and these satellites are designed to detect millimeter-level changes in the Earth’s surface.
This is the first of two planned StriX launches for Synspective, and Rocket Lab has already launched five Synspective satellites into orbit. This flight is Rocket Lab’s 51st overall launch and the ninth of 2024 for the company, which had stated a goal of launching as many as two dozen flights this year. A flight for Capella Space was supposed to be Electron’s ninth flight in 2024, but the customer requested a delay, so the Synspective flight became Rocket Lab’s next.
Starlink v2 Mini satellites before encapsulation. (Credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX Falcon 9 | Starlink 10-6
Starlink flight 10-6 is scheduled for a four-hour, 43-minute flight period from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center on Friday, August 2. This period begins at 12:19 AM EDT (04:19 UTC) and ends at 5:02 AM EDT (09:02 UTC). A batch of Starlink v2 Mini satellites will fly on a northeasterly trajectory, as has been standard practice with many Starlink flights from Florida this year.
The booster rocket for this flight is currently unknown, as is the drone that is scheduled to perform the recovery operations. However, with A lack of seriousness supporting the recovery of Starlink 10-4, it is likely that Just read the instructions This will be the marine resource that will support the landing of this rocket. The unmanned ship will be stationed in the Atlantic off the Carolinas for this flight.
Starlink 10-6 will be the 73rd Falcon 9 launch and the 74th for the Falcon family in 2024 if the current schedule remains in place. The flight will also be SpaceX’s first August launch as the company prepares to convert Pad 39A to support the Crew-9 flight, which is set to take place on August 18. Because Pad 39A will need to support Crew-9 and Polaris Dawn, SLC-40 at CCSFS and SLC-4E in California will support the bulk of the Falcon 9 manifest this month.
Cygnus NG-21 mission patch. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)
The second Falcon 9 flight scheduled for this week is a cargo mission to the ISS, but it does not include SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft. Northrop Grumman has purchased three SpaceX launches to support its Cygnus cargo operations while the Antares 330 is being developed.
The freighter Cygnus SS Francis R. “Dick” ScobeeThe Falcon 9, named for the commander of the ill-fated 1986 space shuttle STS-51L mission, is scheduled to fly on the second of three launches that Northrop Grumman has acquired. Launch is scheduled for Saturday, August 3, at 11:28 AM EDT (15:28 UTC) from SLC-40 at CCSFS, and Falcon 9 will launch on a northeasterly trajectory inclined at 51.64 degrees to the Equator to match the Station’s orbit around Earth. The booster for this launch is not currently known, but it will perform a return-to-launch maneuver for a landing on pad LZ-1 at CCSFS.
Photograph of STS-41C mission pilot and STS-51L mission commander Dick Scobee. (Credit: NASA)
The NG-21 spacecraft, carrying 3,750 kilograms of supplies and experiments for the Expedition 71 crew aboard the ISS, will be placed into a 245 by 245 kilometer low Earth orbit. The spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with the Station on Sunday, August 4. The NG-21 Cygnus will be captured and docked to the ISS by the Canadarm2 robotic arm, after which it will be offloaded. During its stay aboard the ISS, Cygnus will be capable of reboost maneuvers.
Spartan Francis R. “Dick” Scobee The spacecraft will be loaded with a selection of experiments for the crew to perform. These include an experiment to study colloidal gels, which are used in many products, stem cell research, vascular tissue, high-speed transmission of ultra-high-resolution imaging data, an ultra-high-resolution spherical camera, and mycelial fungal growth in microgravity.
NG-21 will be the 360th Falcon 9 mission, as well as the 74th Falcon 9 flight in 2024. SpaceX had aimed to conduct 148 Falcon 9 missions this year, but will need 15 flights per month from now on to accomplish that goal. Regardless of whether they hit this goal, SpaceX is set to conduct more than 100 flights this year for the same type of orbital rocket, something it hasn’t done in any other year.
(Main image: Falcon 9 lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40. Credit: SpaceX)
(tags to translate)Atlas
