Weekly Dose of Space (17/11-23/11)

Welcome back to Weekly Dose of Space! This week once again had seven orbital launches occur, with the majority being Falcon 9. News this week had the Artemis II SLS vehicle begin stacking, China sharing new looks at its crewed lunar landing spacecraft, and the Artemis Accords gaining another member. As always, we'll also look ahead to what the worldwide launch schedule might look like next week.

SpaceX

This week at Starbase began on November 17th when Ship 31 and Booster 13 performed a propellant loading test on the launch pad, partially filling both vehicle liquid methane and liquid oxygen tanks. The following day, the 18th, equipment was moved out of the launch site and back to the production site, ahead of the sixth flight test.

November 19th had the sixth flight test occur at 22:00 pm Universal Coordinated Time, having both Ship 31 and Booster 13 leave the launch site for the final time. Both vehicles splashed down at sea after tower catch criteria were unfulfilled.

After the flight test on November 20th, Ship 26 was moved into one of the high bays where teams began scrapping the vehicle. Ship 26 was a unique vehicle as it had no flaps or thermal protection tiles, in the past year the vehicle was believed to have been used for experimental testing on Suborbital Pad A, Suborbital Pad B, and performing the first static fire at the Massey's test site.

In the days following the sixth flight test, SpaceX teams have been evaluating data and inspecting the launch site ahead of testing for Booster 14 for the seventh flight test in the coming months.

Launches This Week

November 17th - Falcon 9 with Optus-X

A Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, in Florida, carrying the secretive Optus-X to a geostationary transfer orbit. Supporting this launch was B1077, flying for the sixteenth time, and landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.

November 18th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 9-12

A batch of twenty Starlink satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 4E, in California. Booster B1071 was supporting this launch for its twentieth flight, and landing downrange on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.

November 18th - Falcon 9 with GSAT-20

The Indian GSAT-20 communications satellite was delivered to geostationary transfer orbit by a Falcon 9 flying from Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida. Supporting the launch of GSAT-20 was booster B1073, flying for the nineteenth time and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read the Instructions' downrange.

November 19th - Starship-Super Heavy for flight test six

As mentioned earlier, SpaceX performed the sixth flight test of its Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle from the company's launch site in south Texas. Ship 31 successfully landed in the Indian Ocean following reentry and Booster 13 splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico after tower catch criteria were not met. More details about this flight are available here.

November 21st - Soyuz 2.1a with MS-29

A Soyuz 2.1a lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the Progress MS-29 cargo resupply spacecraft into low Earth orbit. After launch the spacecraft began to chase down the International Space Station in order to deliver fresh supplies.

November 21st - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-66

Another Falcon 9 delivered a batch of twenty-four Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40. Supporting this launch was booster B1069, flying for the twentieth time, and landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' downrange.

November 22nd - New Shepard for NS-28

Blue Origin conducted its ninth human spaceflight mission onboard New Shepard carrying Emily Calandrelli, Sharon Hagle, Marc Hagle, Austin Litteral, James (J.D.) Russell, and Henry (Hank) Wolfond above the Kármán line. The booster supporting this mission, New Shepard-4, was flying for the twelfth time while the capsule, R.S.S. First Step, was flying for the eleventh time.

In Other Space News

Stacking of Artemis II SLS begins!

NASA announced on November 20th that it had begun the stacking of the Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle that will be used for the Artemis II mission, scheduled to begin in September 2025. Stacking is expected to take approximately four months, from the first solid rocket booster segments to the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage.

The first step of stacking the SLS vehicle is placing the aft solid rocket booster segments onto Mobile Launcher 1, which has just begun inside NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After this, eight more solid rocket booster segments will be stacked too for two five-segment solid rocket boosters. Once both boosters are stacked, the liquid-fueled core stage will be placed between them, followed by the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, and finally the Orion spacecraft.

Concerns had been held about Orion's heat shield after erosion was disclosed following the Artemis I mission. With the beginning of stacking, Stephen Clark, for Ars Technica, believes that it bodes well for the conclusion of the investigation into the heat shield erosion, which NASA has still not disclosed the root cause of.

China shares new look at lunar landing spacecraft

On November 21st the China Manned Space Agency shared new images of its Lanyue (揽月) lunar lander and Mengzhou (梦舟) crew capsule via the release of a promotional video for the Sixth Manned Spaceflight Academic Conference, in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province.

Few details were shared about the vehicles in the video itself but a report from the Xinhua News Agency afterward stated that production and ground prototyping is currently underway. Also stated by Xinhua was that necessary production and test facilities have been completed.

China Manned Space Agency's promotional video also included a plan for a three-day lunar surface excursion utilizing a lunar rover, which will most likely be the conventional surface mission time after initial landings. China's rovers, like the Apollo program's lunar rovers, will be folded up during transit to the surface and then unfolded while hanging from a small crane.

Denmark signs Artemis Accords

Denmark has become the forty-eighth nation to join the U.S.-led Artemis Accords following a signing ceremony in the country's capital, Copenhagen, on November 13th. Christina Egelund, Minister of Higher Education and Science, signed on behalf of the nation. After signing, Christina Egelund said the following:

“With the Artemis program, the United States is leading the way back to the moon, and Denmark wants to strengthen the strategic partnership with the United States and other partners for the benefit of both science and industry,” – “The signing of the Accords is in line with the Danish government’s upcoming strategy for space research and innovation. As part of the strategy, Denmark seeks to strengthen ties with our allies such as the United States. Space holds great potential, and we want – in cooperation with other countries – to advance scientific breakthroughs and influence the development and use of the space sector in the future.”

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also stated the following on behalf of the United States:

“We welcome Denmark’s signing of the Artemis Accords today,” – “Denmark, as a founding member of the European Space Agency (ESA), has contributed to space exploration for decades, including collaborating with NASA on Mars exploration. Denmark’s signing of the Artemis Accords will further international cooperation and the peaceful exploration of space.”

With the signing, Denmark 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, and the Dominican Republic.

What to Expect Next Week

Starbase

SpaceX has not yet announced when they will be targeting the launch of Starship-Super Heavy's seventh flight test. The seventh flight test is expected to utilize Booster 14 and Ship 33, the first 'Block 2' Starship upper-stage. Both vehicles still need to complete static fire tests while SpaceX seeks regulatory approval, likely pushing the seventh flight toward the end of December or into 2025.

November 24th - HASTE with Leidos-2

Rocket Lab is believed to be conducting a HASTE launch from Launch Complex 2, in Virginia, on behalf of Leidos and Dynetics. HASTE, Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, is a suborbital version of the company's Electron launch vehicle.

November 24th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 9-13

SpaceX is expecting to launch a Falcon 9 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E.

November 24th - Long March 2C with a to-be-announced payload

A Long March 2C is expected to launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying a currently unannounced payload to orbit.

November 25th - Electron for 'Ice AIS Baby'

Electron is expected to launch five Internet of Things satellites to low Earth orbit, from Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula, on behalf of the French company Kinéis.

November 25th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 12-1

Another Falcon 9 is expected to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.

November 26th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-76

Yet another batch of Starlink satellites will be delivered to low Earth orbit atop of a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A.

November 27th - Zhuque-2E for its maiden flight

Chinese launch company LandSpace is planning to conduct the first flight of its improved Zhuque-2E launch vehicle, built off of the company's Zhuque-2 vehicle, which was the first methane-powered rocket to reach space and orbit. This launch will take place from Launch Area 96 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, payloads onboard are currently unknown and possibly will be delivered to a polar orbit.

November 27th - Soyuz 2.1b with a to-be-announced payload

A Soyuz 2.1b is expected to launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying an unannounced payload to orbit.