Busy Schedule to Close Out Record Launch Year

A record launch year shows no sign of slowing down with 14 launches scheduled worldwide in the last 20 days of 2022. There are seven launches scheduled by U.S. launch providers, five by Chinese companies, and a pair of European launches in the weeks ahead.

Orbital launch attempts will total 187 if all scheduled missions are conducted by Dec. 31. It’s possible that some of these flights will be delayed into 2023. China might also add more launches by the end of the year.

Scheduled Orbital Launches
Dec. 12-31, 2022

U.S. LAUNCHES

SpaceX is planning five launches that would raise the company’s total for the year to 61. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is set to make its debut launch from U.S. soil, and ABL Space Systems is hoping to launch its RS1 booster for the first time. Virgin Galactic might also launch from England.

SpaceX Missions

A Falcon 9 is set to launch more than 60 payloads as part of the Transporter-6 mission on Dec. 22.

Transporter 6 Payloads

American companies and agencies are involved in 31 of the 62 payloads aboard. The total includes 27 American satellites, two space tugs, and one spacecraft each done in cooperation with New Zealand and Sweden.

There are 36 CubeSats and two PocketCubes on the launch. Three space tugs and three satellite deployers are also on board.

SpaceX is scheduled to launch its 33rd dedicated Starlink mission of the year on Dec. 17. Elon Musk’s company has launched 1,614 Starlink satellites in 2022, and 3,558 of the broadband spacecraft since February 2018.

Other SpaceX launches scheduled for the weeks ahead include:

• O3b mPOWER FM21 and O3b mPOWER FM22 communications satellites for SES,
• EROS-C3 Earth observation spacecraft for ImageSat of Israel, and
• Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, which is a joint project by NASA and the French space agency CNES.

Electron’s American Debut

U.S. launch provider Rocket Lab is set to conduct the first launch of its Electron rocket from American soil from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) in Virginia on the evening of Dec. 13-14. The booster will carry the Hawk 6A, Hawk 6B and Hawk 6C signal intelligence satellites for HawkEye 360.

Rocket Lab began as a New Zealand company, incorporated in the United States, and has launched 32 previous missions from its spaceport on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. Electron has a record of 29 successes and three failures.

MARS is a spaceport operated by the commonwealth of Virginia at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Northrop Grumman launches Antares and Minotaur rockets from the base on Wallops Island. NASA also launches sounding rockets from the spaceport.

ABL Space Launch

ABL Space is hoping the fifth time is a charm for its RS1 rocket after four unsuccessful launch attempts over the past several weeks from the Pacific Spaceport Complex.

Payloads on this week’s launch are the VariSat-1 and VariSat-1B 6U CubeSats, which will test a HF marine data communications system. The spacecraft are equipped with inter-satellite links.

RS1 is a two-stage booster with a maximum capacity of 1,350 kg (2,976 lb) to low Earth orbit. The rocket is designed to be transported in shipping containers and launched rapidly with minimal set up. ABL plans to charge $12 million per launch.

Virgin Orbit

Virgin Orbit might launch a mission from Spaceport Cornwall in England after Christmas. No specific date has been set for the company’s first launch outside of the United States.

The United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has yet to issue a launch license to Virgin Orbit or for the nine payloads that will be carried by the company’s LauncherOne booster. The rocket will be dropped off the southern coast of Ireland from a modified Boeing 747 jetliner named Cosmic Girl.

Virgin Orbit “Start Me Up” Launch
Mission Payloads

CAA granted a spaceport license to Cornwall Airport Newquay on Nov. 16. The license allowed Virgin Galactic to conduct tests with new ground support equipment and do a launch rehearsal during which the Boeing 747 flew the route it will take for the mission.

While licensing has taken longer than expected, Virgin Orbit is also dealing with a number of technical issues related to launching from Cornwall for the first time. All previous launches have originated from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

CHINESE LAUNCHES

China’s LandSpace Technology Corp. will attempt to launch its Zhuque-2 (ZQ-2) rocket for the first time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Dec. 14. It is not known what payloads will be aboard the booster.

ZQ-2 is a two-stage rocket that will be capable of placing 4,000 kg (8,818 lb) into a 200 km (124-mile) high orbit or 2,000 kg (4,409 lb) into a 500 km (311-mile) high sun-synchronous orbit. The booster’s first stage uses four TQ-12 engines powered by liquid oxygen and methane (methalox). The second stage uses a TQ-12 engine and a TQ-11 engine that will act as a vernier thruster.

LandSpace is among a handful of commercial companies that are seeking to serve launch market in the wake of the Chinese government’s decision to allow private firms to build rockets.

At least four other launches are planned from China this month. The manifest includes:

• Shiyan-20A technology demonstration mission on Long March 4C,
• BeiDou-3 M25 and BeiDou-3 M26 navigation satellites on Long March 3B,
• Rizhao-1 spacecraft on Ceres-1, and
• unidentified payload(s) on Long March 11.

Europe Closes Out 2022

An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket is scheduled to launch the Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36 geosynchronous communications satellites for Intelsat and the MTG-I1 meteorology satellite for Eumetsat.

A Vega-C rocket will launch the Pléiades Neo 5 and Pléiades Neo 6 Earth observation satellites for Airbus Defence & Space.