This Week in Space: The Little Space Race pits Texas against New Mexico
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The launch calendar hasn’t changed much this week. Which is good, because it means that the planned launches haven’t been cancelled or delayed. But it also means that a couple of small launches that were hovering in TBD-land have still not been nailed toThis Week in Space: The Little Space Race pits Texas against New Mexico
The launch calendar hasn’t changed much this week. Which is good, because it means that the planned launches haven’t been cancelled or delayed. But it also means that a couple of small launches that were hovering in TBD-land have still not been nailed to an actual date. July 22, Falcon 9, Telstar 19V Communications satellite targeting the Americas. Launch from SpaceX’s usual slot at SLC 40, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Launch is targeted for a pre-dawn window. This launch was delayed from June. July 25, Ariane 5, Galileo Another spray of Galileo satellites—ESA’s navigation satellites that are more-or-less equivalent to the US’ GPS or Russia’s Glonass, but without the military control. This group of satellites goes up on an Ariane from Arianespace’s launch facility at Kourou, French Guiana. This launch was delayed from June. July 25, Falcon 9, Iridium Next Another dozen of Iridium’s next generation low-altitude communications satellites that are aimed more at phone / broadband than broadcast. This time SpaceX is launching from the West Coast at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and this may be the first flight where they do a booster landing back at Vandenberg. It’s scheduled for a morning launch. There’s still the potential for another July launch, as Rocket Lab’s next Electron launch, which was bumped from June 23 to July 6, before being halted, is now on something of an “any day now” schedule. One item that didn’t appear on last week’s launch schedule — the ninth launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spacecraft. But even without an official date on our calendar, they launched anyway — and it went perfectly, leading to expectations that the first space tourists may fly on their craft before 2018 is out. Which could make Blue Origin the first private company to send people into space. Read more