Another busy week of space activities includes up to five SpaceX launches, including the Polaris Dawn mission, whose private crew will carry out an inspiring mission profile. Other SpaceX missions include three Starlink flights and another set of Starshield satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) for the National Reconnaissance Office. SpaceX has conducted 81 Falcon 9 launches so far this year.
Other launches include Blue Origin’s eighth crewed New Shepard mission, as well as Galactic Energy’s flight of a Gushenxing-1S from the sea on its fourth mission this year.
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 8-6
Launched from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Station (CCSFS), Falcon 9 headed into a 53-degree inclined orbit and carried a batch of Starlink v2 Mini satellites on a northeasterly trajectory. Liftoff occurred on time on Wednesday, August 28 at 3:48 AM EDT (07:48 UTC).
The B1062 rocket flew for the 23rd time after launching missions such as Inspiration4, Ax-1 and many Starlink missions. After having launched the second stage into space, B1062 returned to land on one of SpaceX's autonomous unmanned spacecraft. A lack of seriousness. Immediately after landing, a large fire broke out beneath the rocket's engines and the rocket overturned, resulting in its destruction.
Falcon 9 B1062 completes 23 missions, but unfortunately crashes in ASOG. Prior to this, SpaceX had achieved 267 consecutive successful landings with the Falcon rocket.
Keep in mind that they always expected to lose some thrusters on landing; it was crazy that they had such a run of success. https://t.co/q6pRXA3ktf image.twitter.com/yQySUlamWU
— Chris Bergin – NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 28, 2024
The second stage was successfully launched and the payload was deployed as expected. SpaceX immediately suspended the launch of Starlink 9-5 pending further investigation.
Gushenxing-1S | Unknown payload
A Gushenxing-1S rocket (also known as Ceres 1S) prepares to lift off from the sea at 05:20 UTC on August 29 from the Haiyang spaceport in eastern China's Shandong Province. The vehicle will take off from the converted launch barge Dong Fang Hangtian BandThe payload is unknown at the moment, but could be revealed closer to the launch date. When launched, it will be Gushenxing-1S's fourth mission in 2024 and its 15th mission of all time.
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 9-5
Starlink Group 9-5 will deploy 21 more Starlink v2 Mini satellites for SpaceX’s mega constellation that will deliver internet around the world, 13 of them equipped with Direct-to-Cell capabilities.
Falcon 9 will launch from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) into low Earth orbit. The launch profile for this mission will carry the satellites on a southeasterly trajectory to an orbit with a 53-degree inclination and a deployment altitude of 284 by 294 km.
Following a further delay while the destruction of B1062 was investigated, liftoff is now scheduled for August 28 at 20:41 PDT, the start of a window that will last until 3:12 AM on August 29 (05:41 to 10:12 UTC on August 29). A yet-to-be-unknown booster will carry these satellites on their journey into space before landing on a drone ship. Of course I still love you. The deployment of Starlink satellites into orbit will conclude with SpaceX's 83rd Falcon 9 launch in 2024.
Blue Origin is preparing to launch six more people into suborbital space with New Shepard on August 29 at 8:00 a.m. CDT (1:00 p.m. UTC). The NS4 rocket will lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas and make its 11th flight. After separating from the crew capsule, the rocket will return and land on the north landing pad, followed by the crew capsule landing in the desert.
NS-26 is scheduled to launch Thursday, August 29 from Launch Site One. The launch window opens at 8:00 a.m. CDT/1:00 p.m. UTC. Learn more about the symbolism embedded in the launch #NS26 mission patch: https://t.co/pDVVGzNmmu image.twitter.com/V6gOmGyEpq
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) August 23, 2024
Six crew members will fly on this launch – Nicolina Elrick, Rob Ferl, Eugene Grin, Dr. Eiman Jahangir, Karsen Kitchen, and Ephraim Rabin – all of whom will get the chance to experience space. Some notable achievements are taking place on this flight: Karsen Kitchen will become the youngest woman to cross the Kármán Line, and Rob Ferl will be the first NASA-funded researcher to experiment on a suborbital spacecraft.
This will be Blue Origin's eighth crewed mission on New Shepard. The previous flight, NS-25, had a failure to unfurl one of the parachutes, which did not deploy exactly as expected. Blue Origin issued a statement saying the root cause had been identified and corrective measures had been taken to make the vehicle safer.
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Polaris Dawn
The Polaris Dawn mission will take four private astronauts to the stars in what could be one of the most groundbreaking space missions this year. Heading into orbit on Friday, August 30 after several interruptions, Commander Jared Issacman, Pilot Scott Poteet, and Mission Specialists Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon will spend up to five days in a Crew Dragon spacecraft as they reach the highest altitudes any human has achieved in space since Apollo. The launch window opens at 3:38 AM EDT (07:38 UTC).
He @PolarisProgramNASA's Polaris Dawn mission will be the first crew to perform a spacewalk from Dragon, fly higher in Earth orbit than anyone since the Apollo program and test a laser-based system. @Star Link communications and conduct research to help provide information about human health during… image.twitter.com/RW387QWShY
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 22, 2024
In orbit, the Polaris Dawn crew will conduct multiple research activities including, but not limited to, human health during long-duration spaceflight, Starlink laser communication between spacecraft, and the performance of SpaceX’s new EVA suit during an EVA in which Crew Dragon will have to be completely open to the vacuum of space.
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Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 8-10
Another Starlink mission is scheduled to fly on the last day of August at 1:39 AM EST (05:39 UTC). Starlink Group 8-10 will launch from SLC-40 at CCSFS on an unknown booster rocket at an as-yet-unspecified time.
This mission has 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites on board, 13 of them capable of transmitting directly to the cell. The Falcon 9 will launch into an orbit with a 53-degree inclination on a northeast trajectory.
Falcon 9 will lift off from LC-4E on August 16 for the Transporter 11 mission (Credit: SpaceX)
To round out the week, SpaceX will launch satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office from SLC-4E at VSFB Air Force Base on a southeasterly trajectory. Scheduled for late August, this will be a Starshield-only launch expected to place 21 satellites into a 70-degree inclined orbit.
An unknown booster will launch this mission. This booster will return and land on the unmanned craft. Of course I still love you While the Starshield satellites are put into orbit by the second stage.
Not much information has been revealed about the capabilities of the Starshield satellites due to their involvement in the U.S. government's national defense efforts. The satellites on this flight are believed to carry imaging payloads built by Northrop Grumman.
Main image: Jared Issacman pressing the “space” button as he ascends the LC-39A elevator to Crew Dragon (Credit: Jared Issacman/SpaceX)
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