Previous Spaceflight Launches
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Atlas V 401 | Landsat 9
United Launch Alliance | USAVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Sept. 27, 2021, 6:12 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission: Earth Science
Landsat 9 is a partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to continue the Landsat program's critical role in monitoring, understanding and managing the land resources needed to sustain human life. Landsat 9, like Landsat 8, has a higher imaging capacity than past Landsats, allowing more valuable data to be added to the Landsat global land archive. Its operational orbit is a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 705 km for a mission lifetime of at least 5 years.
Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Long March 3B/E | Shiyan 10
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | CHNXichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Sept. 27, 2021, 8:20 a.m.
Kuaizhou-1A | Jilin-1-02D
ExPace | CHNJiuquan, People's Republic of China
Sept. 27, 2021, 6:19 a.m.
Long March 7 | Tianzhou-3
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | CHNWenchang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Sept. 20, 2021, 7:10 a.m.
Hapith I | Test Flight
TiSPACE | TWNWhalers Way Orbital Launch Complex, South Australia
Sept. 16, 2021, 6:39 a.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission: Test Flight
The first Hapith I launch will be testing TiSPACE's hybrid rocket engine technology in preparation for the future Hapith V launch vehicle. Targeting 250 km altitude, the test launch campaign will also support of the development of the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex in South Australia, operated by Southern Launch.
Suborbital
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Inspiration4
SpaceX | USAKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Sept. 16, 2021, 12:02 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission: Human Exploration
Inspiration4 is the world’s first all-commercial astronaut mission to orbit. Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, is donating the three seats alongside him aboard Dragon to individuals from the general public - Medical Officer Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and pediatric cancer survivor; Mission Specialist Chris Sembroski, an Air Force veteran and aerospace data engineer; and Mission Pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist, entrepreneur, and trained pilot. The Inspiration4 crew received commercial astronaut training by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, orbital mechanics, operating in microgravity, zero gravity, and other forms of stress testing. They will go through emergency preparedness training, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial and full mission simulations. The Crew Dragon spacecraft will remain in a 575 km high orbit for three days before reentering Earth's atmosphere for a soft water landing off the coast of Florida. During their multi-day journey in orbit, the Inspiration4 crew will conduct scientific research designed to advance human health on Earth and during future long-duration spaceflights. For this mission, Crew Dragon is configured to feature an observation dome in place of docking port to provide views to the crew.
Low Earth Orbit Inspiration4 B1062 - Flight Proven ( ) Just Read the Instructions
Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M | OneWeb 10
Progress Rocket Space Center | RUSBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Sept. 14, 2021, 6:07 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission: Communications
A batch of 34 satellites for the OneWeb satellite constellation, which is intended to provide global Internet broadband service for individual consumers. The constellation is planned to have around 648 microsatellites (of which 60 are spares), around 150 kg each, operating in Ku-band from low Earth orbit.
Polar Orbit
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 2-1
SpaceX | USAVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Sept. 14, 2021, 3:55 a.m.
Soyuz 2.1v | Razbeg 1 (Kosmos 2551)
Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation | RUSPlesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation
Sept. 9, 2021, 7:59 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
The Russian Razbeg 1 is small military satellite optical reconnaissance satellite. It was built by NPP VNIIEM. It is likely the same satellite identified in earlier reports as Zvesda. The 250 kg satellite was reportedly inspired by the US American commercial Earth imaging satellites of the SkySat 1 series. It features a camera built by the Belarusian company OAO Peleng with a maximum ground resolution of 0.9 meters in panchromatic mode.
Sun-Synchronous OrbitLong March 3B | ChinaSat 9B
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | CHNXichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Sept. 9, 2021, 11:50 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
Zhongxing-9B (ChinaSat 9B) is a Chinese communications satellite, that will replace the Zhongxing-9A satellite in orbit. The latter was launched in 2017, but the CZ-3B launch vehicle suffered a partial failure, and the satellite had to burn a large amount of fuel to reach its nominal orbit. ZX-9B will be used to retransmit television to the Chinese, as well as to provide television communications with Chinese islands, and ships sailing near the coast. The satellite will also be used to broadcast the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in 8K.
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
