Launch Roundup: Another Rocket Engine Explodes on a Test Stand
Welcome to the week’s Launch Roundup. We’re introducing a new feature where we’ll take a look at important developments that have taken place off the launch pad before we discuss recent and future launches. We’ll start by examining rocket engines that are exploding on test stands.
Off the Pad
- United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced last week that the maiden flight of the Vulcan rocket will be delayed until the end of this year due to the need to reinforce part of the Centaur upper stage. A Centaur burst on the test stand due to a hydrogen leak at the end of March.
- A Blue Origin BE-4 engine intended for use on the second Vulcan flight exploded during its second acceptance test last month. ULA CEO Tory Bruno downplayed the failure, saying the cause of the failure was not found on the two engines designated for the maiden launch and that ULA has confidence in the BE-4 design.
- A second stage motor for JAXA’s Epsilon S small-satellite rocket exploded on the test stand last week. The space agency said combustion pressure began to deviate from the predicted pressure around 20 seconds after the motor was ignited, with the motor exploding 57 seconds into the test. The vacuum combustion test building and adjacent structures suffered damage. Epsilon S is an upgraded version of the Epsilon launcher, which has a record of five successes and one failure.
- JAXA announced an Aug. 26 launch date for the next H-IIA rocket. The booster will carry the X-ray Spectroscopy and Imaging Satellite and the Smart Lunar Lander Demonstration Vehicle. H-IIA launches had been on hold because the rocket uses a similar second stage as the H3 rocket, which failed on its maiden flight on March 7.
- ISRO is seeking bids from the private companies to build and operate the agency-developed Small Satellite Launch Vehicle. The rocket flew successfully for the first time in February after failing on its maiden flight last year.
Recent Launches
LandSpace made history on July 12 when the Chinese company conducted the first successful launch of a rocket powered by methane. It was the second launch for the methane and liquid oxygen powered Zhuque-2 launch vehicle, which failed on its maiden flight in December 2022. The booster can launch 6,000 kg (13,228 lb) into a 200 km (124 mile) high low Earth orbit, or 4,000 kg (8,818 lb) into a 500 km (311 mile) high sun-synchronous orbit.
Recent Launches
| Date | Launcher – Organization | Payloads – Organization | Purpose(s) | Launch Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 12 | Zhuque-2 – LandSpace | None | Flight test | Jiuquan |
| July 14 | LVM-III – ISRO | Chandrayaan-3 – ISRO | Lunar lander | Satish Dhawan |
| July 16 | Falcon 9 – SpaceX | 54 Starlink – SpaceX | Communications | Cape Canaveral |
| July 18 | Electron – Rocket Lab | Telesat LEO 3 – Telesat | Tech demo | Mahia |
| 2 Lemur-2 – Spire Global | Earth observation | |||
| 4 Starling – NASA | Tech demo |
An Indian LVM-III rocket launched the Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander on July 14. The vehicle is headed for an Aug. 23 landing on the Moon, where it will deploy a small rover. The lander and rover are expected to operate for one lunar day, which is 14 Earth days. Chandrayaan-3 is India’s second attempt to land on the Moon. Chandrayaan-2’s lander crashed while descending to the surface in 2019.
Falcon 9 launched the last batch of Starlink Gen1 satellites on July 16. The company has already begun launching the larger, more capable Starlink V2 Mini satellites in groups of 22 at a time. Thirty-four dedicated Falcon 9 flights have launched 1,722 Starlink satellites this year.
Starlink Launches
| 2023 | 2018-2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Launches | 24 | 94 |
| Satellites | 1,103+ | 4,769* |
* Does not include 16 secondary payloads from other companies.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket launched four satellites for NASA, two for Spire Global and one for Telesat on Tuesday. The booster’s first stage was recovered from the Pacific Ocean as part of an effort to reuse it. Rocket Lab has launched six Electron rockets and one HASTE suborbital rocket this year.
Upcoming Launches
SpaceX’s third Falcon Heavy launch of the year will carry the heaviest geostationary communications satellite ever built on July 24. Hughes’ Jupiter 3 Ultra High Density Satellite (UHDS) satellite weighs in at just over nine metric tons.
Jupiter 3, which was built by Maxar Technologies, will support Internet connectivity across North and South America, in-flight Wi-Fi, community Wi-Fi services, maritime connections, enterprise networks, and backhaul for mobile network operators.
Upcoming Launches
| Date | Launcher – Organization | Payloads – Organization | Purpose(s) | Launch Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 19 | Falcon 9 – SpaceX | 15 Starlink – SpaceX | Communications | Vandenberg |
| July 19 | Kuaizhou 1A – ExPace | TBA | TBA | Jiuquan |
| July 22 | Falcon 9 – SpaceX | 22 Starlink – SpaceX | Communications | Cape Canaveral |
| July 24 | Falcon Heavy – SpaceX | Jupiter 3 (EchoStar 24) – EchoStar | Communications | Kennedy |
| July 26 | PSLV – ISRO | DS-SAR – DSTA* | Earth observation | Satish Dhawan |
| ARCADE – NTU+ | Ionospheric research | |||
| Galassia-2 – NUS^ | Tech demo | |||
| NuLIon – NuSpace | Internet of Things | |||
| ORB-12 STRIDER – OrbAstro | Tech demo | |||
| SCOOB-II – NTU+ | Tech demo | |||
| Velox-AM – NTU+ | Tech demo |
+ Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
^ National University of Singapore
Source: Wikipedia
SpaceX plans to perform dual drone ship landings of the Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters for the first time.
SpaceX also plans to launch 37 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on two launches. ISRO will launch its sixth mission of the year on July 26.
Launches by Nation
The United States continues to lead the world behind SpaceX’s 48 launches. Rocket Lab has successfully launched six times and United Launch Alliance once.
Orbital Launches by Nation
| Nation/Entity | Successes | Failures | Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 54 | 4 | 58 | 54.7% |
| China | 27 | 0 | 27 | 25.5% |
| Russia | 9 | 0 | 9 | 8.5% |
| India | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4.7% |
| Europe | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1.9% |
| Japan | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1.9% |
| Israel | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.94% |
| South Korea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.94% |
| North Korea | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.94% |
| Total | 100 | 6 | 106 | 100 |
China is in second place with 27 launches or 25.5 percent of the global total. Russia and India round out the top four, with Europe and Japan trailing behind with two launches apiece.
Launches by Company/Agency
SpaceX has launched 1,543 payloads on 47 successful launches. The company’s only failure occurred on the maiden flight of the Starship/Super Heavy rocket in April.
Launches by Company/Agency
| Company/Agency | Successes | Failures | Total | Payloads Orbited | Satellites Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX (USA) | 47 | 1 | 48 | 1,543 | 0 |
| China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | 20 | 0 | 20 | 87 | 0 |
| Roscosmos (Russia) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 49 | 0 |
| Rocket Lab (USA) | 6 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 0 |
| Indian Space Research Organisation | 5 | 0 | 5 | 43 | 0 |
| Strategic Rocket Forces (Russia) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Arianespace (Europe) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| ExPace (China) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| CAS Space (China) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 0 |
| Galactic Energy (China) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Korea Aerospace Research Institute (South Korea) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ministry of Defence (Israel) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Space Pioneer (China) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| United Launch Alliance (USA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| i-space (China) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| LandSpace (China) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Virgin Orbit+ (USA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| ABL Space Systems (USA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| National Aerospace Development Administration (North Korea) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Relativity Space (USA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 100 | 6 | 106 | 1,787 | 14 |
SpaceX has launched 1,340 satellites on 24 dedicated Starlink launches and three Transporter rideshare flights.
Falcon 9 has launched 45 times. China has launched its Long March 2C and Long March 2D rockets a combined nine times. Rocket Lab is in third place with six Electron launches.
Launches by Booster
| Launch Vehicle | Company/Agency | Successes | Failures | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falcon 9 | SpaceX | 45 | 0 | 45 |
| Long March 2C, 2D | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Electron | Rocket Lab | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Soyuz-2.1a, 2.1b | Roscosmos, Russia Strategic Rocket Forces | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Long March 3B/E | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Falcon Heavy | SpaceX | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Kuaizhou 1A | ExPace | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Long March 4C | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Long March 7, 7A | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Proton | Roscosmos | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Ariane 5 | Arianespace | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| LVM III | Indian Space Research Organisation | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Ceres-1 | Galactic Energy | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Delta IV Heavy | United Launch Alliance | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GSLV Mk II | Indian Space Research Organisation | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| H-IIA | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hyperbola 1 | i-space | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Long March 2F | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Long March 4B | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Long March 6 | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Long March 11 | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nuri | Korea Aerospace Research Institute | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| PSLV | Indian Space Research Organisation | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Shavit 2 | Israel Defense Forces | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| SSLV | Indian Space Research Organisation | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Soyuz-2.1v | Russia Strategic Rocket Forces | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tianlong-2^ | Space Pioneer | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Zhuque-2 | LandSpace | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Chollima-1^ | National Aerospace Development Administration | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| H3^ | Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| LauncherOne* | Virgin Orbit+ | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| RS1^ | ABL Space Systems | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Starship/Super Heavy^ | SpaceX | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Terran 1*^ | Relativity Space | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 100 | 6 | 106 |
* Launch vehicle retired
+ Company defunct
Launches by Spaceport
A total of 35 of 106 launches have taken place on the east coast of Florida. Vandenberg Space Force Base in California has hosted 14 launches.
Launches by Spaceport
| Location | Nation | Successes | Failures | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. LAUNCH PROVIDERS | ||||
| Cape Canaveral | USA | 27 | 1 | 28 |
| Vandenberg | USA | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Kennedy | USA | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Mahia Peninsula | New Zealand | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport | USA | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Cornwall | UK | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Starbase | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| CHINESE LAUNCH PROVDERS | ||||
| Jiuquan | China | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| Taiyuan | China | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Xichang | China | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Wenchang | China | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| RUSSIAN LAUNCH PROVIDERS | ||||
| Baikonur | Kazakhstan | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Plesetsk | Russia | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Vostochny | Russia | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| INDIAN LAUNCH PROVIDERS | ||||
| Satish Dhawan | India | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| EUROPEAN LAUNCH PROVIDERS | ||||
| Guiana Space Centre | French Guiana | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| JAPANESE LAUNCH PROVIDERS | ||||
| Tanegashima | Japan | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| OTHER LAUNCH PROVIDERS | ||||
| Naro | South Korea | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Palmchim | Israel | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sohae | North Korea | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 100 | 6 | 106 |
The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is the world’s second busiest spaceport with 16 flights. China’s three other spaceports have combined for 11 launches.
India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre has hosted as many launches — five — as the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where thousands of Soviet and Russian launches have originated since the start of the Space Age in 1957.
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