Plus: Artemis 2 rolls to the launch pad
| By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: double trouble for Chinese launches, Artemis 2 rolls to the pad, Shenzhou-20 makes a safe return and more.
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| | | | | | Top Stories
China suffered two launch failures less than 12 hours apart on Friday. A Long March 3B lifted off at 11:55 a.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Hours later, though, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said the rocket's payload, the Shijian-32 satellite, was lost because of a problem with the rocket's third stage. The failure is the first full failure of a Long March 3B launch since the loss of the Palapa-N1/Nusantara-2 satellite for Indonesia in April 2020, which also involved the third stage. Galactic Energy launched its first Ceres-2 rocket at 11:08 p.m. Eastern from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The company later said the launch failed but provided few details. The solid-fuel Ceres-2 is a larger version of the company's Ceres-1 vehicle. [SpaceNews]
Artemis 2 rolled out to the pad Saturday ahead of a launch that could take place as soon as early February. The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft emerged from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center shortly after 7 a.m. Eastern atop its mobile launch platform, arriving at Launch Complex 39B nearly 12 hours later. The vehicle will now undergo final tests, including a wet dress rehearsal. NASA officials said they will not set a launch date for Artemis 2, the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since 1972, until after that countdown test, but argued that a launch in a Feb. 6-11 window was still feasible. [SpaceNews]
The owner of a Spanish military communications satellite has written off the spacecraft after it was hit by a "space particle." Indra Group announced Friday that engineers concluded the SpainSat NG 2 spacecraft could not carry out its mission after being hit by a millimeter-sized object while moving to its final geostationary orbit. That impact, on a "vital part" of the satellite, caused unrecoverable damage. Indra said the loss of the spacecraft will be covered by insurance and the company plans to start a procurement for a replacement satellite. [SpaceNews]
China's main space contractor performed a static fire test of a new reusable Long March rocket Friday. The Long March 12B booster fired its main engines on a launch pad at the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone within the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. That test could clear the way for a launch in the near future, although CASC did not disclose details about the test or future plans. The Long March 12B is described as a 4-meter-diameter rocket powered by kerosene and liquid oxygen rockets, with a first stage designed to land and be reused. It was developed in parallel with the Long March 12A, which uses methane rather than kerosene fuel; that rocket made its first flight last December but the booster failed to land. [SpaceNews]
Isar Aerospace is gearing up for the second flight of its Spectrum rocket this week. The company said Friday it is planning for a launch no earlier than Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway. The rocket will be carrying five cubesats and one hosted payload. The first Spectrum launched from the same spaceport last March but suffered a loss of attitude control that caused it to crash shortly after liftoff. [SpaceNews]
Eutelsat signed a contract with French startup MaiaSpace for future OneWeb launches. The companies said Friday that they signed a multi-launch agreement for flying OneWeb replenishment satellites on MaiaSpace's rocket starting as soon as 2027. Eutelsat said the contract is designed to diversify its launch options for deploying the 440 OneWeb replacement satellites it has ordered from Airbus. MaiaSpace is developing a rocket capable of placing several tons into orbit but has yet to attempt a launch. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | Other News
An uncrewed Shenzhou spacecraft that suffered damage while in orbit successfully returned Sunday night. The Shenzhou-20 capsule landed in Inner Mongolia at 8:34 p.m. Eastern after undocking from the Tiangong space station. Shenzhou-20 was to return with its three-person crew in November, but inspections revealed damage to a window caused by a micrometeoroid or orbital debris impact. The Shenzhou-20 crew instead returned on the recently launched Shenzhou-21 spacecraft, and China launched an uncrewed Shenzhou-22 spacecraft to replace it. The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft was in good condition after landing, Chinese officials said. [Xinhua]
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Sunday evening. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 6:31 p.m. Eastern, placing 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX pushed back the launch from earlier in the afternoon because of weather conditions at the launch site. [Spaceflight Now]
SpaceX also launched a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office Friday night. A Falcon 9 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:39 p.m. Eastern on the NROL-105 mission. The NRO said the launch was the 12th in its proliferated architecture of reconnaissance satellites. [Space.com]
China launched more Guowang satellites early Monday. An expendable Long March 12 lifted off from the Wenchang spaceport at 2:48 a.m. Eastern, carrying the 19th set of satellites for the Guowang megaconstellation. [Xinhua]
China has published coordinated papers outlining dual missions to the solar system's edge, suggesting the long-studied project is nearing formal approval. The lead paper in a series published in a Chinese journal outlines a pair of missions to the head and tail of the heliosphere and the boundaries of the solar system. The missions would launch in 2032 and 2033 on separate Long March 5 rockets, using Jupiter gravity assists to go to the outer solar system. The publication of the papers suggests the mission concept is nearing official approval. [SpaceNews]
The White House has resubmitted the nomination of Matt Anderson to be NASA's deputy administrator. The Trump administration nominated Anderson last May to the position, but the Senate did not act on the nomination and returned the nomination to the White House at the end of its first session in early January. Anderson is a former Air Force officer and an executive with the Space Force Association. The Senate also returned the White House's nominee to be NASA chief financial officer, Greg Autry, but Autry said earlier this month he asked the administration not to renominate him. [SpaceNews]
The four Crew-11 astronauts returned to Houston Friday. The four crewmembers returned to Earth early Thursday, more than a month ahead of schedule, because of a medical condition with one of the four. The astronauts stayed overnight at a San Diego hospital and were discharged as planned Friday, all of them in stable condition. NASA has not revealed any details about the medical condition that caused the early return. The four will participate in a NASA press conference on Wednesday. [NASA]
| | | | | | | FROM SPACENEWS |  | | Managing an orbital economy as space grows more congested: In this episode of Space Minds, host David Ariosto talks with Chiara Manfletti, the CEO of Neuraspace and a professor of space mobility and propulsion at the Technical University of Munich. They discuss space debris, orbital logistics and managing a new orbital economy through new initiatives in Europe and around the world. Watch or listen now.
| | | | | | The Week Ahead
Tuesday:
Tuesday-Thursday:
Wednesday:
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Andøya, Norway: Scheduled launch of an Isar Aerospace Spectrum rocket on a second test flight at 3 p.m. Eastern.
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Washington: SpaceNews and the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center host "Discovery Series: Space Force 2040 and the Future Fight" featuring Space Force Gen. Shawn Bratton at 6 p.m. Eastern.
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Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 9:43 p.m. Eastern.
Thursday: -
West Texas: Scheduled launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard on the NS-38 suborbital mission at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
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McLean, Va.: The Intelligence and National Security Alliance hosts a leadership dinner with Gen. Shawn Bratton.
Sunday:
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Chinese Coastal Waters: Anticipated launch of a Jielong 3 rocket carrying an undisclosed payload at 1:30 a.m. Eastern.
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Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 10:17 a.m. Eastern.
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