Hey there,
that's a busy week! Two launches done, four more outstanding, including long-awaited Falcon Heavy Demo launch.
Soyuz launch
Let's begin with todays Soyuz-2.1a launch. The russian rocket lifted a total of 11 satellites into orbit from Vostochny Cosmodrome.
This includes the 5 primary payloads: One Kanopus-V 3 and one Kanopus-V 4 observation satellite by Roscosmos, for improved disaster response, mapping and resource monitoring.
For more information (and for the other payloads) see
https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/01/31/soyuz-11-satellites/ .
F9 GovSat-1 launch
SpaceX launched another rocket, this time for the luxembourgian government.
The GovSat-1 or SES-16, an military communication satellite, was launched on SLC-40 at KSC by flight-proven B1032.
As SpaceX planned to test a new, more aggressive (and fuel efficient) 3-engine landing burn, they decided to not take the risk of damaging the ASDS. Thus they expected a more or less soft landing on water, then the booster tipping over and explode, as it happened to all ever water-landed rockets/booster to this day.
But amazingly, it did NOT explode after touching the see, so now it floats there.
SpaceX can't even destroy a booster!
More information here or here.
If you can't sleep tonight, make sure to watch the launch of the Long March 2D at 07:43 UTC!
Have a nice evening and
Stay assembled!
upcoming launches
| date | window (UTC) | vehicle | manufacturer | payload / mission | location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2 | 07:43 - 08:12 | Long March 2D | CASC | CSES / Zhangheng-1 | JSLC |
| February 3 | 05:00 - 05:20 | SS-520-5 | JAXA | Tricom-1R | USC |
| February 6 | 18:30 - 21:30 | Falcon Heavy | SpaceX | Tesla Roadster | LC 39A, KSC |