{"id":24089,"date":"2024-02-15T19:21:58","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T11:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-roundup-spacex-to-launch-next-iss-crew-rotation-electron-launches-debris-removal-demonstration\/"},"modified":"2024-02-15T19:21:58","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T11:21:58","slug":"launch-roundup-spacex-to-launch-next-iss-crew-rotation-electron-launches-debris-removal-demonstration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-roundup-spacex-to-launch-next-iss-crew-rotation-electron-launches-debris-removal-demonstration\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch next ISS crew rotation; Electron launches debris removal demonstration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite multiple scrubs and delays due to weather violations, SpaceX broke its own cadence record in January with 10 launches and landings in a calendar month. Those weather challenges have prevailed into February. Between these and the pad logistics related to launching the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission, PACE satellite, USSF-124, and an upcoming crewed mission, it currently looks unlikely that the company will repeat this target by the end of February.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, SpaceX continues to set milestones, with Falcon 9\u2019s 300th mission occurring with the launch of the IM-1 on Feb. 15 and booster B1082 achieving SpaceX\u2019s 200th successful landing since the last failed one, during the Starlink Group 7-14 mission. The company almost launched a Falcon 9 from each of its three key launch pads within eight hours on the busy evening of Feb. 14, but the initial attempt of the Starlink Group 7-14 mission was scrubbed while on the pad. Despite this, SpaceX still reset the record for the shortest amount of time between three consecutive launches of Falcon to almost 23 hours when that mission flew the next day.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Two further non-Starlink missions on Falcon 9 are planned from the east coast in the next couple of weeks. The most anticipated of these will be SpaceX\u2019s eighth crew rotation mission to the International Space Station (ISS), carrying commander Matthew Dominick, pilot Michael Barratt, and mission specialists Jeanette Epps and cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin.<\/p>\n

Crew Dragon Endeavour<\/em> is flying for the fifth time on Crew-8. This crew can expect to see cargo arrivals during their stay on the ISS from Northrop Grumman\u2019s Cygnus, SpaceX\u2019s Cargo Dragon, and Sierra Space\u2019s Dream Chaser spaceplane. The astronauts will also get to greet the crew of the Boeing Crew Flight Test during their stay when Starliner arrives in April.<\/p>\n

Also launched on Falcon 9 this week was a new high-throughput communications satellite for Indonesia, which has a 15-year expected lifespan and will strengthen the communications architecture across the archipelago. SpaceX also lofted an additional batch of Starlink satellites into the Group 6 shell.<\/p>\n

\"IM-1\"<\/p>\n

Falcon 9 launches its 300th mission, Intuitive Machine\u2019s IM-1 mission, on Feb. 15. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron launched Astroscale\u2019s ADRAS-J demonstration mission, which plans to make advancements toward the removal of large-scale space debris from low-Earth orbit. In this first phase of the project, the spacecraft will illustrate a safe and methodical approach toward an unresponsive object in orbit (a discarded rocket upper stage), capturing images and other data as it then orientates around the stage, demonstrating that it can maintain a fixed position close by.<\/p>\n

Lastly, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its first Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket since May 2023, delivering the successor to the INSAT-3DR weather research satellite. Sporting a six-channel imager and a 19-channel sounder, the INSAT-3DS will provide meteorological and disaster warning services to India from a geostationary orbit.<\/p>\n

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Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 7-14<\/b><\/p>\n

SpaceX launched another stack of Starlink satellites on Feb. 15 at 1:34 PM PST (21:34 UTC) from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 4E out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Starlink Group 7-14 was carrying a payload of 22 Starlink v2 Mini satellites, headed to an inclined 53-degree orbit on a southeastern trajectory with an expected initial orbit of approximately 286 by 295 kilometers. The satellites will be added to the thousands of active Starlink satellites in orbit, giving internet to people all over the world.<\/p>\n

The booster for this mission was B1082, taking its second flight with this mission. It landed on the Of Course I Still Love You<\/em> autonomous droneship which was stationed 610 kilometers downrange on the west coast, making this SpaceX\u2019s 200th successful landing since the last failed one.  This was the 29th total orbital launch of 2024 and the 300th launch of Falcon 9. <\/p>\n

JAXA\/MHI H3-22 | VEP 4, CE-SAT-1E & TIRSAT<\/p>\n

The second flight of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H3-22 rocket launched on Feb. 17 at 9:22 AM JST (00:22 UTC) from LA-Y2 out of the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. H3 is classified as a medium-lift launch vehicle and uses cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its first and second stages, with two or four optional SRBs.<\/p>\n

This mission used two boosters along with a short payload fairing, taking three payloads into a Sun-synchronous orbit.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n