The week of Oct. 23 through Oct. 29 has been a big one for low-Earth orbit (LEO) with all but one flight headed to already existing constellations. This includes two Falcon 9 launches on opposite sides of the country, one Russian Soyuz 2.1b launch, and two different launches planned out of China, one involving humans.<\/p>\n
Two Chinese launches started the week, with the first being a Chang Zheng 2D which flew from LC-3 at Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Then, a Chang Zheng 2F\/G launched out of LC-90 at the China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, before a Soyuz 2.1b launched out of Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The first Falcon 9 launch of the week launched Starlink satellites on the other side of the world out of SLC-4E at Vandenberg Spaceforce Base (VSFB). Then, on the other side of America, Falcon 9 launched even more Starlink satellites out of SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).<\/p>\n
Late on Friday, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 6-26 mission. This set a new reuse record, as the booster flew for its 18th time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Chang Zheng 2D \u2013 Yaogan 39 Group 04<\/p>\n
China successfully launched more military reconnaissance satellites into LEO on Monday, Oct. 23, at 20:03 UTC out of LC-3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China. While not much information is known about the payload, the Yaogan 39-04A, 39-04B, and 39-04C reconnaissance satellites are in the payload bay. These satellites became the 135th, 136th, and 137th Yaogan class satellites launched by China.<\/p>\n
The Yaogan satellites are believed to be ELINT capable, which means that they use electronic sensors to gather intelligence by locating the radar of ground systems. This capability can give a strategic advantage to military endeavors like jamming any type of electrical signal. <\/p>\n
The satellites were launched using a Chang Zheng 2D, which is one of China\u2019s workhorse rockets. This was its 10th flight of 2023 and its 83rd total launch since its maiden flight on Aug. 2, 1922.<\/p>\n
Space Technology (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n Chang Zheng 2F\/G \u2013 Shenzhou 17<\/p>\n China didn\u2019t stop with only one launch this week. Next up on the list was the Chang Zheng 2F\/G taking three taikonauts to the Tiangong space station in LEO. The launch occurred at 11:14 PM EDT on Oct. 25 (03:14 UTC on Oct. 26) out of LC-90 at the China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and was China\u2019s 12th crewed mission and 17th Shenzhou mission.<\/p>\n