Launch Roundup: Starship and Ariane 6 set to launch after scrubs – NASASpaceflight.com
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Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket and the Curie kickstage are also anticipated to fly along with Arianespace’s Ariane 6 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.Ariane 6 kicks off the week by launching high-resolution reconnaissance satellites for the French Space Agency, followed by Starship’s eighth flight. Following that, Falcon 9’s week begins with the Starlink Group 12-21 launch, adding more capability to the internet system. Then, the SPHEREx & PUNCH mission will head to space to enhance our understanding of the Big Bang and observe the Sun’s corona. Next on the manifest is Starlink Group 12-16, and then Starlink Group 11-7. Finally, Transporter-13 will deliver at least 40 payloads from various providers to a Sun-synchronous orbit, and Electron is expected to finish the week taking iQPS’s SAR satellites to low-Earth orbit.Ariane 62 | CSO-3Arianespace is launching Ariane 6 to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) on March 6 at 13:24 UTC after the initial launch attempt on March 3 was scrubbed due to “further operations needed on a ground means interfacing with the launcher.” Ariane 62 will carry the CSO-3 high-resolution reconnaissance satellite into an 800 km SSO from pad ELA-4 at the Guiana Space Center.(1/2) Flight VA263: Postponement of the launchDue to further operations needed on a ground means interfacing with the launcher, the launch is postponed.The new launch date will be announced following the completion of these operations.— Arianespace (@Arianespace) March 3, 2025CSO-3 will be deployed around 66 minutes into flight and will complete the CSO constellation for the MUSIS program. These satellites were planned to be flown on Soyuz but changed providers due to geopolitical challenges. This mission will be Arianespace’s 300th mission of all time and the first of an expected five in 2025.The Ariane 6 flying this mission is of the “62” variant, meaning two strap-on solid rocket boosters will be attached to the core stage. Ariane 6’s liquid stages utilize liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which are burned through the first stage Vulcain 2.1 engine and the second stage Vinci engine. The rocket flew for the first time on July 9, 2024. This will be its second mission.Starship | Flight 8The eighth flight test of Starship is expected to launch on March 6 at 5:30 PM CST (23:30 UTC) from SpaceX’s launch site in Starbase, Texas, after an attempt on March 3 was scrubbed due to subpar pressure in the Raptor engines. This flight is expected to achieve many of the same goals set for the precluded seventh flight, with some minor differences.Flight 8 will begin with a successful launch off of Orbital Launch Pad A at Starbase, during which Super Heavy will ignite 33 Raptor engines. Then, at T+ 2:40 minutes, Booster 15 and Ship 34 will separate via hotstaging, and Super Heavy will return to Starbase to attempt to be caught by the catch tower for the third time. Ship 34 will continue to fly to a suborbital trajectory, releasing four Starlink simulators while coasting in space. This will be the first time a Starship will attempt to release any payload to space. Ship 34 will later relight a single Raptor engine for reentry and attempt to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.For more information on Flight 8, upgrades from Flight 7, and more, read NSF’s dedicated launch article.Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 12-21The first Starlink mission of this week is scheduled to launch on March 7 at 12:05 AM EST (5:05 UTC) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) at SpaceX’s Falcon launch site, Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40). This mission will place 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO) at 284 by 294-km inclined by 43 degrees. 13 of the 21 satellites will be equipped with Direct-to-Cell capabilities.The booster for this mission is currently unknown, but it will land on one of SpaceX’s autonomous droneships, A Shortfall of Gravitas, stationed on the east coast. This droneship will likely be positioned about 600 km downrange in the Atlantic Ocean, where it will recover the booster.Falcon 9 | SPHEREx & PUNCHSpaceX is set to launch two significant NASA science missions into SSO, allowing for a more detailed study of our solar system and the universe than ever before. The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission will examine the broader aspects of the universe to help address many unknowns in astrophysics, and the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will investigate solar winds ejected from the Sun’s corona.Falcon 9 will launch these two telescopes from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base on March 7 at 7:09 PM PST (3:09 UTC on March 8). Falcon booster B1088 will carry the telescopes to a 700 km SSO. Following liftoff, the first stage is expected to land at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4), which would complete its third mission.SPHEREx space observatory after environmental testing (Credit: NASA)One of SPHEREx’s main objectives is to investigate “cosmic inflation” — a phenomenon that occurred less than a second after the Big Bang and is responsible for the universe’s expansion into a flat plane rather than a perfect sphere. Cosmic inflation also clarifies why pockets of highly dense material could coalesce in some regions of the universe, forming galaxies. Astrophysicists can use the data from SPHEREx to piece together the puzzle of how the universe was formed.SPHEREx will measure the total glow from all galaxies, including those too small or distant for other telescopes to detect easily. This will help astrophysicists better understand the universe’s overall size and density. An additional objective for SPHEREx is to aid in searching for essential building blocks of life within the Milky Way. The telescope is designed to detect frozen oxygen and water molecules in interstellar clouds where stars and planets form. This could help identify regions of the universe that are abundant in these molecules, which are more likely to support life as we know it.After launch, our SPHEREx telescope will map the whole sky and help us answer some big questions about the universe. Watch to learn how SPHEREx’s wide field of view and the ability to measure over 100 colors will give us a big-picture view of the cosmos like none before. pic.twitter.com/8DZvJlev8u— NASA Universe (@NASAUniverse) February 27, 2025The PUNCH mission is comprised of four suitcase-sized small satellites intended to study the Sun’s corona, the formation of solar wind, and solar winds’ effects on the heliosphere. There are several theories on how solar wind is formed, mainly focusing on the expansion of plasma that was heated and given enough energy to break free of the Sun’s gravity and flow along the magnetic fields of the Sun. PUNCH will help confirm this theory and investigate the origins and evolution of solar wind.This mission will also help track coronal mass ejections, which could pose risks to Earth or in-orbit missions. The four satellites will work together to create the most expansive field of view of the sky of any Sun-focused mission, helping broaden our knowledge of the Sun and finding ways to keep future satellites safer from coronal ejections.☀Our Sun creates a solar wind that fills the solar system! NASA will take a PUNCH at solving how solar wind is created with four small satellites. PUNCH will launch as a rideshare with SPHEREx no earlier than Feb. 27! pic.twitter.com/f69HFqmwVz— NASA’s Launch Services Program (@NASA_LSP) February 13, 2025 Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 12-16A Falcon 9 will liftoff from SLC-40 on March 9 at 9:13 AM EST (13:13 UTC) with 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites, 13 having Direct-to-Cell capabilities, on a southeastern trajectory, inclined by 43 degrees.The mission plan is similar to Starlink Group 12-21, which is expected to launch under 57 hours before this mission. This is an incredible turnaround time for SLC-40, as SpaceX is currently reserving Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) for its upcoming Crew-10 crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The booster for this mission is currently unknown, but is expected to land on one of the two east coast droneships downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.Electron/Curie | The Lightning God ReignsRocket Lab is scheduled to launch its third mission of 2025 on Monday, March 10, at 12:00 AM NZDT (00:00 UTC) from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) at the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. The mission, titled “The Lightning God Reigns,” will deploy iQPS’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites into LEO. These satellites are designed to capture high-resolution images of Earth. iQPS aims to have 24 of these satellites in orbit by 2027.This will be the first of eight Electron launches to carry iQPS’s SAR satellites. This collaboration with Rocket Lab will help to fill out the constellation to a total of 36 satellites orbiting Earth.Falcon 9 | Transporter 13Transporter 13 is set to be SpaceX’s final Falcon 9 launch of the week, and is set to liftoff on March 9 at 11:39 PM PST (6:39 UTC on March 10) from SLC-4E. Transporter is a SpaceX rideshare program that facilitates the transportation of payloads from various providers to SSO. Over 40 satellites are anticipated to be deployed during this mission. These missions allow smaller satellite providers to launch satellites into space at a relatively low cost of $300,000 for up to 50 kg to SSO.The booster for this mission is currently unknown. Following launch, the booster will return to the launch site and land at LZ-4, allowing for a more rapid refurbishment before its next mission.(Lead Image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)©2005-2023 – NASASpaceflight.comFebruary 25, 2025February 24, 2025February 21, 2025February 19, 2025February 25, 2025February 24, 2025February 10, 2025January 22, 2025February 21, 2025February 19, 2025February 13, 2025January 21, 2025January 27, 2025December 31, 2024December 30, 2024December 23, 2024January 27, 2025January 14, 2025January 13, 2025December 31, 2024February 24, 2025February 3, 2025December 31, 2024December 27, 2024March 4, 2025February 26, 2025February 23, 2025February 16, 2025March 4, 2025February 26, 2025February 23, 2025February 16, 2025May 18, 2024December 3, 2023April 26, 2023March 28, 2023January 15, 2025December 4, 2024September 12, 2024August 13, 2024
Source: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/03/launch-roundup-030425/
