The Wikipedia orbital launch page lists six launches to close out August. The big one, of course, is NASA’s Artemis I mission next Monday. The others, not so momentous but still worth listing. Disclaimer: This schedule is subject to change without notice. Parabolic Arc takes no responsibility for delays, changes, additions or what have you. And, as always, no wagering. Tuesday, August 23 Launch Vehicle: Long March 11Launch Site: Xichang […]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

It was a relatively quiet week for launches with by SpaceX and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) both conducting one flight apiece.

SpaceX launched 53 Starlink broadband satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Friday. The company has launched 3,108 Starlink satellites with 2,809 spacecraft working, according to Jonathan’s Space Report.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

It was a busy first half of 2022 that saw 77 orbital launches with 74 successes and three failures through the 182nd day of the year on July 1. At a rate of one launch every 2 days 8 hours 44 minutes, the world is on track to exceed the 146 launches conducted in 2021.

A number of significant missions were launched during a period that saw more than 1,000 satellite launched. SpaceX flew the first fully commercial crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Boeing conducted an orbital flight test of its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, China prepared to complete assembly of its space station, South Korea launched its first domestically manufactured rocket, and Rocket Lab sent a NASA mission to the moon.

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers.

• Inaugural launch for an expected 240 satellite constellation, with first phase of 72 satellites expected to be completed by 2025.
• Geely Future Mobility Constellation to provide services for autonomous driving, logistics, drone navigation, mapping and other fields
• Sustainably developed satellites leave no debris after designed operating lifespan
• GeeSAT-1 is China’s first modular, high-resilience, high-performance, mass-produced satellite

XICHANG, China, June 2, 2022 (Geespace PR) — Geespace, a wholly owned subsidiary of Geely Technology Group* and China’s first privately owned developer, operator, and mass producer of low-orbit commercial satellites, has successfully launched its first nine satellites into low earth orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

China successfully launched six Galaxy Aerospace Yinhe Hantian-2 communications satellites to test technology for a large Internet constellation as well as a remote sensing satellite on Saturday. The launch of the seven satellites aboard a Long March 2C booster was conducted at 2:01 p.m. Beijing time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province. Galaxy Aerospace’s six Yinhe Hantian-2 satellites are designed to provide 5G Internet service at up […]

China placed communications and technology demonstration satellites into orbit in separate launches on Thursday and Friday. The successful missions marked the 46th and 47th launches by China in 2021, with 45 successes and two failures. On Friday, a Long March 3B rocket launched the ChinaSat-1D communications satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The geosynchronous satellite will be used for military communications. The spacecraft and the launch vehicle were build […]

China’s surging space program showed no sign of slowing down last year as it tied its own launch record and moved ahead with ambitious space missions and a set of new launchers.

China compiled a record of 35 successes and four failures in 2020. That matched the number of launch attempts made in 2018, a year that saw 38 successes and a single failure.

SpaceX dominated, China surged and Russia had another clean sheet as American astronauts flew from U.S. soil again in a year of firsts.

First in a series

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a very busy launch year with a number of firsts in both human and robotic exploration. A total of 114 orbital launches were attempted, with 104 successes and 10 failures. It was the same number of launches that were conducted in 2018, with that year seeing 111 successes, two failures and one partial failure.

A Long March 2C booster launched three Yaogan 30-07 surveillance satellites and a commercial data relay satellite on Friday. The launch was conducted from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 2:11 a.m. local time. The three Yaogan 30-07 satellites will be primarily used for electromagnetic environment detection. The fourth satellite Tianqi 12, a data relay satellite owned by Beijing-based Guodian Gaoke. The spacecraft is part of the company’s Apocalypse Internet […]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

There were 27 orbital launch attempts with 26 successes and one failure during the first quarter of 2021. The United States accounted for nearly half the total with 13 launches behind nine flights by SpaceX.