Launch Roundup: Chinese asteroid mission, Electron, and Falcon 9 set to launch

Date:
Wed, 28 May 2025 00:35:27 +0000

Description:
This week, China launched a near-Earth asteroid sample return mission,
amongst several other missions, while The post Launch Roundup: Chinese asteroid mission, Electron, and Falcon 9 set to launch appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================This week, China launched a near-Earth asteroid sample return mission, amongst several other missions, while Rocket lab will launch its Electron rocket from New Zealand.

Coming off the launch of Starships ninth flight test on Tuesday, SpaceX is scheduled to launch at least two Starlink missions. The company is also
slated to launch a GPS III satellite from Florida for the U.S. Space Force.



Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-32

The first Starlink mission of the week, Starlink Group 10-32, launched on Wednesday, May 28, at 1:30 AM EDT (13:30 UTC) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The weather forecasts had shown only a 60% chance for favorable weather conditions at launch, but SpaceX was able to get the rocket away at the start of a
four-hour launch window. LAUNCH! Starlink Group 10-32 sets sail. https://t.co/B7NKPx7kjm pic.twitter.com/IltNAYgr0M

NSF NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) May 28, 2025



The booster supporting this mission was B1080, which landed atop SpaceXs droneship Just Read The Instructions downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. The payload of 27 Starlink v2 Mini satellites were placed into low-Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 279 km in an orbit inclined at 53 degrees. Starlink satellites are deployed during the Starlink Group 12-8 mission. (Credit: SpaceX)

Falcon booster B1080 was flying for the 19th time, having previously flown
the Axiom Mission 2, Euclid, Starlink Group 6-11, Starlink Group 6-24, Axiom Mission 3, CRS-30, Starlink Group 6-52, Starlink Group 6-62, Astra 1P/SES-24, CRS-21, Starlink Group 10-10, Starlink Group 6-69, Starlink Group 12-1, Starlink Group 12-2, Starlink Group 12-4, Starlink Group 10-12, Starlink
Group 6-80, and Starlink Group 6-75 missions. It first flew on May 21, 2023.

Falcon 9 is a 3.9-meter diameter, 70-meter-high high two-stage rocket. The first stage booster is powered by nine Merlin 1D engines, while the second utilizes a single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are the first and only reusable orbital rockets in service today, with one Falcon booster having flown twenty-eight flights. The two payload fairings
are also recovered and reused after flight.

Chang Zheng 3B/E | Tianwen 2

The Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) launched its Tianwen 2 near-Earth asteroid sample return mission on Wednesday, May 28, at 17:31 UTC. The Chang Zheng 3B/E (CZ-3B/E) rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China and flew due east to place the payload into a heliocentric orbit.

The 30-month journey to and from the asteroid 469219 Kamooalewa (2016 HO3) will include the collection of approximately 1,000 g of samples from the asteroids surface the first asteroid sample return mission for China. The spacecraft will touchdown on the asteroid to allow a drill sample to be
taken, and will also perform a touch-and-go sample collection before
returning to Earth, similar to NASAs OSIRIS-REx (now OSIRIS-APEX) mission.

The main spacecraft will then continue its mission after delivering the samples. A gravity assist maneuver at Earth will send Tianwen 2 to the main belt active asteroid 311P/PANSTARRS, where the spacecraft will undertake further investigations.

The CZ-3B/E rocket has three stages and stands at a height of 56.3 m. The Chang Zheng 3 (CZ-3) rocket family has been flying since 2007, with Tianwen 2 serving as its 168th mission and ninth of 2025. Wet Dress Rehearsal complete and Electron is ready to launch its next mission for @BlackSky_Inc .

But with incoming bad weather tomorrow and a 60% POV (probability of violation) for launch weather constraints, the mission is now set to launch NET May 29th UTC.

New launch timing: pic.twitter.com/AzE87vZD7C

Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) May 26, 2025



Electron | Full Stream Ahead

On Thursday, May 29, at 01:30 UTC, Rocket Lab will launch its seventh
Electron rocket of 2025 on the Full Stream Ahead mission. Launching from Rocket Labs Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) pad on the Mhia Peninsula in New Zealand, Electron will carry the second batch of BlackSkys Earth-sensing
Gen-3 satellite constellation into LEO.

Electron is a two stage rocket with an optional Curie kick stage. The first stage features nine Rutherford sea-level engines, each producing 21 kN of thrust at liftoff and peaking at 25 kN (5,600 lbf) in flight. The second
stage utilizes a vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine that produces 25.8 kN (5,800 lbf) of thrust. Both variants of Rutherford are powered by electric pumps instead of traditional gas turbines. The kick stage utilizes an unspecified bi-propellant Curie engine. Both the Rutherford and Curie engines are largely 3D-printed, and the two main stages are of a carbon-composite construction.

Chang Zheng 2D | Unknown Payload

A Chinese Chang Zheng 2D (CZ-2D) rocket will launch on Thursday, May 29, at 04:10 UTC from Site 9401 (SLS-2) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. The payload(s) flying on this mission are currently unknown.

The CZ-2D will fly on a southerly trajectory out of Jiuquan. This mission
will serve as the fifth CZ-2D mission of 2025 and the 99th overall.

Falcon 9 | GPS III SV08

A SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch the GPS III SV08 mission on Friday, May 30, at 1:23 PM EDT (17:23 UTC) at the start of a short 15-minute launch window. The short window reflects the need for a precise orbital insertion
for this mission.

This mission was initially assigned to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket, but was later reassigned to Falcon 9. Consequently, the GPS IIIF-1 satellite, originally slated to fly atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, will now launch on Vulcan.

Falcon 9 will liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, flying on a northeasterly
trajectory and placing the payload into a medium-Earth orbit. Following
launch and stage separation, the first stage booster will land downrange on the autonomous Just Read The Instructions droneship.



GPS III is a military and civil Global Positioning System constellation,
built by a Lockheed Martin-led team and operated by the United States Space Force.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 11-18

A second Starlink Group 11 mission, Starlink Group 11-18, will launch on Friday, May 30, at 1:24 PM PDT (20:24 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The currently unknown booster will land on SpaceXs west coast droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, which will be stationed downrange in the Pacific Ocean.

(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)



The post Launch Roundup: Chinese asteroid mission, Electron, and Falcon 9 set to launch appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/05/launch-roundup-052825/


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