Two Launches to ISS, Maiden Flight of Japanese H3 Rocket Scheduled

Two crew spacecraft (one of them empty) will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in the weeks ahead as Russia deals with coolant leaks on two vehicles already docked at the orbital facility. Japan is also scheduled to launch its new H3 rocket on its maiden flight.

Upcoming Launches

On Feb. 20, Russia will launch the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft without anyone aboard to replace the damaged Soyuz MS-22 vehicle currently docked at the space station. Soyuz-22 suffered a leak in its coolant system in mid-December that Russian officials said was due to a micrometeoroid strike.

Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and American astronaut Frank Rubio will use Soyuz MS-23 to return to Earth in September after a one-year mission. They were originally set to return in March aboard Soyuz MS-22 after 188 days in space.

The Soyuz MS-23 launch remains on scheduled despite a second Russian spacecraft springing a leak in its coolant system. The Progress MS-21 cargo ship, which arrived at ISS in October, began leaking coolant last week. The cause of the leak is unknown. Progress MS-21 is due to be undocked on Feb. 17 and then burn up in the atmosphere.

Progress MS-21 began leaking shortly after the Progress MS-22 resupply ship to the space station. The vehicle was launched on Feb. 9 aboard a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

SpaceX will launch the Crew-6 mission on Feb. 26. The crew is composed of NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The six-month mission will be the first long-term stay in space by an UAE astronaut.

SpaceX is also scheduled to launch 52 Starlink communications satellites aboard a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Feb. 15. Another Falcon 9 is set to launch the Inmarsat-6 communication satellite to geosynchronous orbit three days later.

Japan’s H3 rocket is scheduled for liftoff on Feb. 13 from the Tanegashima Space Center. The first flight of the new booster will carry the ALOS-3 Earth observation satellite for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

H3 is designed to replace the H-IIA and already retired H-IIB boosters. The launch vehicle has a capacity of placing 4,000 kg (8,818 lb) into sun synchronous orbit (SSO) or 4,000–7,900 kg (8,818–17,417 lb) into geostationary transfer orbit.

Launches Last Week

The second time was a charm for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as its new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) succeeded in orbiting three payloads on Feb. 10. The rocket carried ISRO’s EOS-07 Earth observation satellite, Space Kidz India’s AzaadiSAT-2 education spacecraft, and Antaris Space’s Janus-1 technology demonstration satellite.

SSLV is capable of placing 300 kg (661 lb) into a 500 km (311 mile) high SSO or 500 kg (1,102 lb) into a 500 km (311 mile) high low Earth orbit.

Orbital Launches
Feb. 5-12

ISRO said the first SSLV launch last August failed when the rocket experienced higher than expected vibrations during the separation of the second and third stages. The vibrations saturated six accelerometers used to control the rocket. The guidance system concluded the accelerometers had failed, even though they continued to function normally, ISRO said.

A salvage system was triggered using data from the accelerometers. The salvage mode bypassed ignition of the fourth stage Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) “since it could be a deterrent to the success of salvage option in some cases.”

Due to the resulting performance shortfall, the EOS-02 Earth observation and Azaadisat student satellites were injected into an unstable orbit of 360.56 x 75.66 km (224 x 47 miles). The satellites entered the atmosphere immediately and burned up, ISRO said.

SpaceX launched another 55 Starlink satellites and an Amazonas Nexus geosynchronous communications satellite for Hispasat. It was the fifth launch of Starlink satellites this year. SpaceX has launched 3,930 Starlink satellites since February 2018.

Orbital Launches by Nation
Through Feb. 12

SpaceX accounts for 10 of the United States’ 11 successful launches. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket has the only other success. ABL Space Systems and Virgin Galactic each suffered a failure.

China is in second place with five launches. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) launched four times, with Galactic Energy conducting one flight of its Ceres-1 small satellite booster.

Launches by Company/Agency
Through Feb. 12

Roscosmos has launches twice, while six other providers have one launch apiece under their belts.

SpaceX has launched 92.8 percent of all satellites so far this year. Five Falcon 9 orbited 264 Starlink satellites plus 2 payloads from other companies. The Transporter-7 rideshare mission launched 114 satellites last month.

Launches by Booster
Through Feb. 12

SpaceX launched Falcon 9 rockets nine times and the Falcon Heavy once. China’s Long March 2C and 2D rockets launched a combined three times.

Launches by Location
Through Feb. 12

Florida remains the busiest launch location on Earth with eight launches through the first six weeks of the year. Vandenberg, Baikonur and Jiuquan have hosted two launches each.