{"id":23895,"date":"2025-01-06T22:11:07","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T14:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-roundup-new-glenn-scrubs-spacex-launches-national-reconnaissance-mission\/"},"modified":"2025-01-06T22:11:07","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T14:11:07","slug":"launch-roundup-new-glenn-scrubs-spacex-launches-national-reconnaissance-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-roundup-new-glenn-scrubs-spacex-launches-national-reconnaissance-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch Roundup: New Glenn scrubs, SpaceX launches national reconnaissance mission"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first full week of 2025 \u2013 and the first part of next week \u2013 featured a full lineup of launches from the United States and China, though Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn scrubbed on its first launch attempt and Starlink Flight 7 moved into the middle of next week. The year\u2019s first Starlink launch, which successfully flew on Jan. 6, was followed by an additional Starlink flight on a Falcon 9 on Jan. 8.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s first launch of 2025, from Xichang, successfully flew on Monday, Jan. 6, and a Falcon 9 launch for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from California launched on Thursday, Jan. 9. Starlink 12-12 launched on Friday, Jan. 10, while Starlink 12-4 is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 13. Starship Flight 7 is scheduled to launch from Starbase in south Texas no earlier than Wednesday, Jan. 15.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"\ud83d\ude80SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Starlink 6-71\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UlqcJPWwf0o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink 6-71<\/p>\n<p>The first Starlink launch of 2025 launched on Monday, Jan. 6, at 3:43 PM EST (20:43 UTC) from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. Launch occurred at the very end of a four-hour window that ended at 3:44 PM EST (20:44 UTC) after concerns about weather earlier in the day.<\/p>\n<p>The booster, B1077, flew on a southeast trajectory with a batch of 24 Starlink v2-Mini broadband communication satellites. Following launch, B1077 landed atop SpaceX\u2019s <em>Just Read the Instructions <\/em>autonomous droneship in the Atlantic. The launch\u2019s timing depended on how quickly SpaceX could turn around SLC-40 after it hosted the launch of the Thuraya 4-NGS mission on Jan. 3.<\/p>\n<p>This flight was the second SpaceX and Falcon 9 launch of 2025. SpaceX achieved 132 Falcon 9, 134 Falcon family, and 138 total launches in 2024, and the company looks to improve on those numbers in 2025. 131 of the 132 Falcon 9 launches last year were successful, with the outlier being the Starlink 9-3 flight in July, and the brief enforced cessation of launches kept SpaceX from meeting its target of 148 flights.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-89730\" class=\"size-full wp-image-89730\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/86B73740-962B-4C18-B2B9-66E5BF8C30C1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/86B73740-962B-4C18-B2B9-66E5BF8C30C1.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/86B73740-962B-4C18-B2B9-66E5BF8C30C1-350x233.jpeg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/86B73740-962B-4C18-B2B9-66E5BF8C30C1-525x350.jpeg 525w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/86B73740-962B-4C18-B2B9-66E5BF8C30C1-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/86B73740-962B-4C18-B2B9-66E5BF8C30C1-585x390.jpeg 585w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/86B73740-962B-4C18-B2B9-66E5BF8C30C1-263x175.jpeg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-89730\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">CZ-3B\/E at the pad. (Credit: CASC)<\/p>\n<p>Chang Zheng 3B\/E | Unknown Payload<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s first launch of 2025 happened at 20:00 UTC on Monday, Jan. 6, just before Starlink 6-71\u2019s flight. A Chang Zheng (CZ) 3B\/E rocket flew the Shijian-25 refueling and life extension demonstrator mission to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) from Launch Complex 3 (LC-3) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in China.<\/p>\n<p>The CZ-3B\/E is a version of the ICBM-derived family of CZ-2, CZ-3, and CZ-4 launch vehicles. This version uses three stages and four strap-on boosters attached to the first stage. All stages and boosters on the 56 m tall rocket, except for the third stage, use storable but highly toxic liquid hypergolic propellants, while the third stage uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The rocket can place up to 5,500 kg into GTO and has launched communications satellites and the Chang\u2019e-3 lander \u2014 the first Chinese lunar lander \u2014 and its Yutu rover to the Moon.<\/p>\n<p>This flight was the 90th overall launch of the CZ-3B\/E and the first of this year. The CZ-3B and other variants of the family that use hypergolic propellants and inland launch sites are still in use. However, new additions to the Chang Zheng family use safer, less toxic propellants and utilize coastal launch sites like Hainan Island.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103654\" class=\"wp-image-103654 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/22-Starlink-satellites-deployed-SpaceX-Starlink-Group-10-8-from-SLC-40.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/22-Starlink-satellites-deployed-SpaceX-Starlink-Group-10-8-from-SLC-40.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/22-Starlink-satellites-deployed-SpaceX-Starlink-Group-10-8-from-SLC-40-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/22-Starlink-satellites-deployed-SpaceX-Starlink-Group-10-8-from-SLC-40-622x350.jpg 622w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/22-Starlink-satellites-deployed-SpaceX-Starlink-Group-10-8-from-SLC-40-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/22-Starlink-satellites-deployed-SpaceX-Starlink-Group-10-8-from-SLC-40-1170x658.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-103654\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">22 Starlink satellites deployed during the Starlink Group 10-8 mission from SLC-40. (Credit: SpaceX)<\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink 12-11<\/p>\n<p>The second Starlink launch of the year and the week was also the first flight from the Kennedy Space Center and Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) in 2025. The Starlink 12-11 mission launched on Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 10:24 AM EST (15:24 UTC), at the start of a four-hour-long window that lasted until 2:24 PM EST (19:24 UTC).<\/p>\n<p>The booster, B1086-3, flew on a southeast trajectory with 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites. These were a mix of regular Starlink satellites and the slightly larger Direct-to-Cell variant. Booster landing successfully took place on <em>A Shortfall of Gravitas <\/em>in the Atlantic.<\/p>\n<p>This flight was the third SpaceX flight of 2025 as the company works to equal or exceed last year\u2019s pace. B1086 previously flew the GOES-19 and Starlink 12-5 missions.<\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | NROL-153<\/p>\n<p>The first NRO flight of 2025 and the first launch of the year from Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) happened on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 7:53 PM PST (03:53 UTC Friday, Jan. 10) from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at VSFB on the California coast. The launch window lasted 90 minutes and closed at 8:49 PM PST (04:49 UTC Jan. 10).<\/p>\n<p>The booster, B1071-22, flew on a southeast trajectory down the California coast. Landing on <em>Of Course I Still Love You<\/em> was successful. The payload for this mission was a batch of Starshield reconnaissance satellites for a constellation operating on a principle similar to Starlink. B1071 started its career with the NROL-87 flight and all of its missions have flown out of VSFB.<\/p>\n<p>A constellation of distributed reconnaissance satellites would enable more robust coverage than relying on a single large satellite that could fail or become disabled. SpaceX and Northrop Grumman built the satellites for this NRO constellation. This launch was the fourth SpaceX flight of 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103425\" class=\"size-full wp-image-103425\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Falcon-9-stands-ready-at-SLC-40-Credit-SpaceX-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Falcon-9-stands-ready-at-SLC-40-Credit-SpaceX-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Falcon-9-stands-ready-at-SLC-40-Credit-SpaceX-350x162.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Falcon-9-stands-ready-at-SLC-40-Credit-SpaceX-630x291.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Falcon-9-stands-ready-at-SLC-40-Credit-SpaceX-768x354.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Falcon-9-stands-ready-at-SLC-40-Credit-SpaceX-1920x886.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Falcon-9-stands-ready-at-SLC-40-Credit-SpaceX-1170x540.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-103425\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Falcon 9 stands ready at SLC-40. (Credit: SpaceX)<\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink 12-12<\/p>\n<p>The third Starlink launch of 2025 happened on Friday, Jan. 10, at 2:11 PM EST (19:11 UTC) from SLC-40 at CCSFS. Launch successfully occurred near the end of a four-hour launch window lasting until 2:27 PM EST (19:27 UTC).<\/p>\n<p>The booster, B1067-25, flew a southeast trajectory and landed on <em>Just Read the Instructions <\/em>in the Atlantic. Falcon 9 launched a batch of 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites, with eight regular Starlink satellites and 13 of the slightly larger Direct-to-Cell version.<\/p>\n<p>The Starlink 12-12 mission was the fifth Falcon 9 and SpaceX launch of the year, with over half of January left. This also set a new record for the number of times a booster has flown, matching Space Shuttle <em>Endeavour\u2019s<\/em> number of space flights. B1067 started its career with the CRS-22 flight.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-104235\" class=\"size-full wp-image-104235\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_5145.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"571\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_5145.png 1080w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_5145-350x185.png 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_5145-630x333.png 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_5145-768x406.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-104235\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Jielong 3 launch vehicle being prepared for flight. (Credit: CASC)<\/p>\n<p>Jielong 3 | CentiSpace-1<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese company Chinarocket successfully launched a Jielong 3 rocket from an offshore platform in the Yellow Sea off China\u2019s east coast. Launch occurred on Monday, Jan. 13 at 03:00 UTC from the <em>Dongfang Hangtiangang&nbsp;<\/em>launch platform three nautical miles offshore from the city of Haiyang.<\/p>\n<p>The launch track was southeast, taking 10 CentiSpace-1 small satellites to a near-polar orbit. These orbits can be used by Earth science and observation spacecraft, but the CentiSpace satellites provide global navigation satellite system signals augmentation services.<\/p>\n<p>The Jielong 3 vehicle, a 31 meter tall rocket capable of carrying up to 1,500 kg to a sun-synchronous orbit, is a four stage vehicle using solid rocket motors for propulsion. This was the first Jielong 3 flight of the year and the fifth overall for the vehicle. It was also the second flight for China this year as the Chinese space sector works to make large strides in its capability in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-102902\" class=\"wp-image-102902 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1364\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468-350x233.jpeg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468-526x350.jpeg 526w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468-1920x1279.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468-1170x779.jpeg 1170w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468-585x390.jpeg 585w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_0468-263x175.jpeg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-102902\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first flight-worthy New Glenn first stage, So You\u2019re Telling Me There\u2019s A Chance, starts its rollout to LC-36 for testing. (Credit: Blue Origin)<\/p>\n<p>New Glenn | Blue Ring Pathfinder<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin\u2019s long-awaited New Glenn heavy-lift rocket, which started in the early 2010s before being formally announced in 2016, is finally on the launch pad at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at the CCSFS being prepared for its debut flight.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin, founded by Amazon creator and billionaire Jeff Bezos in 2000, developed the two-stage New Glenn as its first orbital-class rocket, following its New Shepard suborbital human launch vehicle. New Glenn, named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, was scheduled to launch on Monday, Jan. 13 during a three-hour window that started at 1:00 AM EST (06:00 UTC).<\/p>\n<p>The launch time kept being pushed back and the flight was eventually scrubbed. The scrub was called less than an hour before the New Glenn launch window ended, and Blue Origin posted on X that they needed to scrub to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue which would take them outside their launch window. They are revisiting when they can schedule the next launch attempt.<\/p>\n<p>New Glenn will carry the DarkSky-1 Blue Ring Pathfinder, a prototype of Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Ring platform. The Blue Ring platform is designed to refuel satellites, transport them to different orbits, and host payloads. It can also act as a satellite bus or a \u201cspace tug\u201d and is launch vehicle agnostic, though New Glenn is expected to fly Blue Ring missions in the future.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 970px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=Bubbinski&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1874887804989100543&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasaspaceflight.com%2F2025%2F01%2Flaunch-roundup-010625%2F&amp;sessionId=79e9ea4f65fd9f20ba515903b7fb32276c37825a&amp;siteScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"1874887804989100543\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The 57 m tall booster stage, Glenn Stage 1 (GS1), known as <em>\u201c<\/em><em>So You\u2019re Telling Me There\u2019s a Chance\u201d <\/em>or GS1-SN001, will attempt to land on Blue Origin\u2019s Landing Platform Vessel 1 (LPV1) named <em>Jacklyn<\/em> after Jeff Bezos\u2019 mother. The GS1 stage, equipped with seven BE-4 engines using methane and liquid oxygen as propellants, will use all seven engines during launch and up to three during landing. The stage will also use fins and thrusters to guide its path to <em>Jacklyn<\/em>, which will be out in the Atlantic hundreds of kilometers off the Florida coast.<\/p>\n<p>The 23 m tall Glenn Stage 2 (GS2), equipped with two BE-3U engines using liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants, will send the Blue Ring prototype into a medium-Earth orbit. GS2 is not reusable, though Blue Origin has worked on a project called \u201cJarvis\u201d in the past that was a concept to enable full reuse of both stages of the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>This flight was originally scheduled for October 2024 with NASA\u2019s ESCAPADE Mars payload, but New Glenn was not expected to be ready for its maiden flight by October. The ESCAPADE flight has since been moved to a later date, and the results of this flight will determine the cadence Blue Origin achieves with New Glenn in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Wait Is Over: Blue Origin's New Glenn Takes Center Stage\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4qfT1BMnh30?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid1\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>New Glenn, capable of launching up to 45,000 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO), has contracts for Kuiper, Telesat, and OneWeb constellation launches and several geostationary communication satellites from various customers. Blue Origin hopes to use New Glenn to launch national security payloads and this flight will serve as a certification flight for this purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin also hopes to use New Glenn to launch its Orbital Reef space station and Blue Moon lander while being able to reuse individual GS1 stages up to 25 times, and later, 100 times, to lower launch costs. The company hopes to be competitive with SpaceX in the worldwide launch market while working toward a future where millions of people live and work in space.<\/p>\n<p>Falcon 9 | Starlink 12-4<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX is starting the second full week of 2025 with another Starlink launch. Starlink 12-4 is scheduled to fly from SLC-40 at CCSFS on Monday, Jan. 13 at 9:59 am EST (14:59 UTC). This is at the start of a window that ends at 2:30 PM EST (17:30 UTC).<\/p>\n<p>The booster, which is not yet known, is taking a southeast trajectory with a batch of Starlink satellites. This batch likely includes Direct to Cell as well as regular Starlink v2 Mini spacecraft. Recovery will be aboard a drone ship in the Atlantic.<\/p>\n<p>This flight will be the sixth Falcon 9 launch of 2025 as SpaceX plans to match or exceed last year\u2019s record total of 132 Falcon 9 launches.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103826\" class=\"size-full wp-image-103826\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-525x350.jpg 525w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-585x390.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Ship-33-Six-Engine-Static-Fire-263x175.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-103826\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ship 33, the first Block 2 Starship, conducts a test firing at the Starbase Masseys site. (Credit: BocaChicaGal for NSF)<\/p>\n<p>Starship | Flight 7<\/p>\n<p>The Starship program, fresh off four flights in 2024, is preparing for its first flight of 2025. Starship Flight 7, another suborbital flight at a nearly orbital velocity, is scheduled to launch from Pad A at Starbase, Texas, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 4:00 PM CST (22:00 UTC). Liftoff is currently set for the start of a 98-minute window that ends at 5:38 PM CST (23:38 UTC).<\/p>\n<p>Flight 7, using Booster 14 and Ship 33, will see Starship fly eastward over the Gulf of Mexico out of Starbase. Booster 14 will attempt a catch at Pad A, flying a precise trajectory that will allow it to be captured by the Mechazilla \u201cchopstick\u201d arms on the launch tower. A booster catch attempt succeeded on Flight 5 but was waved off during Flight 6 due to issues with ground equipment.<\/p>\n<p>Once Ship 33 reaches its intended suborbital trajectory, its tasks will include another in-space restart of a Raptor engine and a deployment of ten simulated Starlink v3 satellites from its payload bay. The deployment will use a \u201cPEZ dispenser\u201d to jettison the dummy satellites in succession, and these payloads will enter the atmosphere using the same suborbital trajectory as Ship 33.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-100335\" class=\"wp-image-100335 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/entry.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1684\" height=\"942\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/entry.png 1684w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/entry-350x196.png 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/entry-626x350.png 626w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/entry-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/entry-1170x654.png 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1684px) 100vw, 1684px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-100335\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A then-live view of Ship 29 during atmospheric reentry, provided by SpaceX\u2019s Starlink constellation. (Credit: SpaceX)<\/p>\n<p>Ship 33 will reenter similarly to earlier flights before splashing down in the Indian Ocean. Liftoff is timed to enable a daylight reentry and ocean landing of Ship 33, and many additional cameras and sensors will be installed on the launch vehicle to provide additional views and data. Ship 33 is the first Block 2 Starship, with modifications to the fins, heat shield, and more.<\/p>\n<p>If schedules hold, Flight 7 will be SpaceX\u2019s sixth launch of the year. The company plans to fly up to 25 Starship missions this year. As Starship is a new system, and the second launch pad at Starbase is still some time away from completion, SpaceX\u2019s cadence goal for Starship in 2025 is very ambitious. However, the Starship program will likely exceed last year\u2019s totals and achievements.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Lead image: New Glenn NG1 vehicle on the pad at LC-36. Credit: Max Evans for NSF)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first full week of 2025 \u2013 and the first part of next week \u2013 featured a full lineup of launches from the United States and China, though Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn scrubbed on its first launch attempt and Starlink Flight 7 moved into the middle of next week. The year\u2019s first Starlink launch, which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[509,7862,7907,135,479,773,766,510,675,682,316,1741],"class_list":["post-23895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-origin","tag-chang-zheng","tag-chang-zheng-3b-e","tag-china","tag-falcon-9","tag-lc-36","tag-lc-39a","tag-new-glenn","tag-slc-40","tag-slc-4e","tag-spacex","tag-xichang"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23895"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}