Ax-2 Crew Arrives at ISS, China Prepares to Send Taikonauts to Station
In this week’s Launch Roundup, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday (May 22), bringing four astronauts on Axiom Space’s second private mission to the orbiting facility. Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson commands the eight-day Ax-2 mission, which was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Paying customers on the SpaceX Crew Dragon include American race car driver, pilot, and investor John Shoffner, and Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni. Barnawi is the first female Saudi citizen to venture into space.
The Ax-2 crew will perform scientific research and conduct educational outreach during the mission.
ISS will receive another visitor later this week. Roscosmos will launch the Progress MS-23 cargo ship to ISS on May 24. The launch will be conducted aboard a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
China is expected to launch a three-member crew to the Tiangong space station at the end of the month. The as-yet unidentified taikonauts will replace Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu, who were launched to the orbital facility in late November.
Future Launches
| Date | Launcher – Organization | Payload – Organization | Purpose | Launch Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24 | Falcon 9 – SpaceX | BADR-8 – Arabsat | Communications | Cape Canaveral |
| May 24 | Nuri – KARI~ | 8 Rideshare – Multiple | Multiple | Naro |
| May 24 | Soyuz-2.1a – Roscosmos | Progress MS-23 (84P) – Roscosmos | Space station resupply | Baikonur |
| May 25 | Electron – Rocket Lab | 2 TROPICS* – NASA | Earth observation | Mahia |
| May 26 | Soyuz-2.1a – Roscosmos | Kondor-FKA No. 1 – Roscosmos | Reconnaissance | Vostochny |
| May 29 | GSLV Mk II – ISRO+ | NVS-01 – ISRO+ | Navigation | Satish Dhawan |
| May 30 | Falcon 9 – SpaceX | 21 Stalink – SpaceX | Communications | Cape Canaveral |
| TBA | Long March 2F/G – CASC | Shenzhou 16 – CMSA++ | Station crew | Jiuquan |
* Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats
+ Indian Space Research Organisation
++ China Manned Space Agency
Other Upcoming Launches
In addition to launching the Ax-2 mission, SpaceX has two additional Falcon 9 flights scheduled for later this month. Payloads will include 21 Starlink V2 Mini satellites for SpaceX’s broadband constellation and BADR-8 geostationary communications satellite for Arabsat.
Rocket Lab is due to launch the second set of TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) satellites for NASA on May 25. The spacecraft will be launched aboard an Electron rocket from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.
Rocket Lab launched the first two TROPICS CubeSats on May 10. The four-spacecraft constellation will study tropical cyclones and hurricanes.
South Korea’s Nuri rocket will carry eight payloads on its third flight on May 24. Satellites include:
- NEXTSat-2 – Technology demonstration, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
- JLC-101-v1-2 – Earth observation, Justek.
- KSAT3U – Earth meteorology, Kairo Space.
- Lumir-T1 – Space radiation monitoring, Lumir.
- 4 SNIPE – Space weather, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.
It will be the third launch for South Korea’s first domestically developed booster. The rocket failed during its maiden flight in 2021, but succeeded last year.
Russia will launch the Kondor-FKA No. 1 reconnaissance on May 26. It will be the first launch of the year from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.
India will launch the NVS-01 spacecraft for its regional satellite navigation system on May 29.
Recent Launches
In addition to the Ax-2 mission, SpaceX launched 21 Starlink broadband satellites, 16 OneWeb spacecraft, and five Iridium NEXT communications satellites over the past week.
Recent Launches
| Date | Launcher – Organization | Payload – Organization | Purpose | Launch Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17 | Long March 3B/E – CASC | Beidou-3 G4 – CNSA^ | Navigation | Xichang |
| May 19 | Falcon 9 – SpaceX | 21 Starlink – SpaceX | Communications | Cape Canaveral |
| May 20 | Falcon 9 – SpaceX | 15 OneWeb – OneWeb | Communications | Vandenberg |
| 1 OneWeb Gen2 – OneWeb | Communications – tech demo | |||
| 5 Iridium NEXT – Iridium | Communications | |||
| May 21 | Long March 2C – CASC | Macau Science Satellite-1A – MUST* | Space weather | Jiuquan |
| Macau Science Satellite-1A – MUST* | Space weather | |||
| Luojia-2 – Wuhan University | Tech demo | |||
| May 21 | Falcon 9 – SpaceX | Ax-2 – SpaceX/Axiom Space | Private space station crew (4) | Kennedy |
* Macau University of Science and Technology
China launched the Beidou-3 G4 satellite for its global navigation constellation on May 17. China also launched a pair of space weather satellites and one technology demonstration spacecraft four days later.
Launches by Nation
The United States continues to lead the world by a wide margin with 42 launches, including 38 successes and four failures. SpaceX leads all providers with a record of 34 successes and one failure.
Rocket Lab has launched four times. The company aims to complete 15 launches this year, up from nine in 2022.
Orbital Launches by Nation
Through May 20, 2023
| Nation | Successes | Failures | Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 38 | 4 | 42 | 56 |
| China | 20 | 0 | 20 | 26.7 |
| Russia | 6 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| India | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Japan | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2.7 |
| Europe | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Israel | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Total | 70 | 5 | 75 | 100 |
The four failed American launches included three maiden flights – SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy, ABL Space Systems’ RS1, and Relativity Space’s Terran 1 – as well as the sixth launch of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne. Japan’s H3 rocket also failed on its maiden launch.
China is in second place overall with 20 launches. CASC’s Long March family of boosters has flown 16 times. ExPace, i-space, Galactic Energy, and Space Pioneer have launched one time apiece.
Russia has launched six times, India thrice, and Japan twice. Europe and Israel have conducted one flight apiece.
Launches by Company/Agency
Through May 20, 2023
| Company/Agency | Successes | Failures | Total | Satellites Launched | Satellites Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX (USA) | 34 | 1 | 35 | 1,103 | 0 |
| CASC* (China) | 16 | 0 | 16 | 49 | 0 |
| Roscosmos (Russia) | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Rocket Lab (USA) | 4 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| ISRO (India) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 0 |
| RVSN RF+ (Russia) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Arianespace (Europe) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Galactic Energy (China) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| ExPace (China) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| i-space (China) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MHI^ (Japan) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Israel Ministry of Defence | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Space Pioneer (China) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Virgin Orbit (USA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| ABL Space Systems (USA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| JAXA (Japan) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Relativity Space (USA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 70 | 5 | 75 | 1,211 | 12 |
^ Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
+ Russian Strategic Rocket Forces
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets have carried 1,103 of the 1,211 satellites placed into space during the first five months of 2023.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is at the top of the launcher table by a wide margin with 32 flights. China’s Long March 2C & 2D variants have launched seven times.
Launches by Booster
Through May 20, 2023
| Launch Vehicle | Company/Agency | Successes | Failures | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falcon 9 | SpaceX | 32 | 0 | 32 |
| Long March 2C, 2D | CASC* | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Electron | Rocket Lab | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Soyuz-2.1a | Roscosmos, RVSN RF | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Long March 3B/E | CASC* | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Falcon Heavy | SpaceX | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Long March 4C | CASC* | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Long March 7, 7A | CASC* | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Proton | Roscosmos | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Ariane 5 | Arianespace | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ceres-1 | Galactic Energy | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| H-IIA | MHI~ | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hyperbola 1 | i-space | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kuaizhou 1A | ExPace | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Long March 4B | CASC* | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Long March 11 | CASC* | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| LVM III | ISRO+ | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| PSLV | ISRO+ | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Shavit 2 | Israel Defense Forces | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| SSLV | ISRO+ | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Soyuz-2.1v | RVSN RF | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tianlong-2 | Space Pioneer | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| H3 | JAXA^ | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| LauncherOne | Virgin Orbit | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| RS1 | ABL Space Systems | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Starship | SpaceX | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Terran 1 | Relativity Space | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 70 | 5 | 75 |
~ Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
+ Indian Space Research Organisation
^ Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Launches by Spaceport
Florida has been the scene of 25 launches, with 19 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and six from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Vandenberg Space Force Base in California is in second place among American spaceports with 10 launches.
Launches by Spaceport
Through May 20, 2023
| Location | Nation | Successes | Failures | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Canaveral | USA | 18 | 1 | 19 |
| Vandenberg | USA | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Kennedy | USA | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport | USA | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Starbase | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jiuquan | China | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Xichang | China | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Taiyuan | China | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Wenchang | China | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Baikonur | Kazakhstan | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Satish Dhawan | India | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Mahia Peninsula | New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Plesetsk | Russia | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Tanegashima | Japan | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Europe’s Spaceport | French Guiana | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Palmchim | Israel | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Cornwall | UK | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 70 | 5 | 75 |
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport has hosted two launches. SpaceX’s Starbase and the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska have each hosted a single launch.
The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center leads all Chinese spaceports with 11 launches. The nation’s other three launch sites have hosted a total of nine launches.
Russia has launched four times from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and twice from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
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