For the one hundredth edition of TWIRL, it looks like we only have one launch, the Falcon 9 from SpaceX. Luckily, we’ve had plenty of launches in the past week where we now have footage available to watch, so be sure to check out the recap section.
Wednesday, January 18
On Wednesday, SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the GPS III-6 satellite for the United States Air Force. The satellite is also named after Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and later disappear over the Pacific Ocean. With the new satellite, GPS users around the world will benefit from improved positioning, navigation and timing services. The launch is scheduled to take place from Cape Canaveral at noon UTC.
Recap
We had the first launch last week which was the Ceres-1 rocket carrying five satellites. It is a rocket developed by private Chinese firm Galactic Energy. It launched from the Geoquan Satellite Launch Center and delivered the satellites into low Earth orbit.
Next, we got Virgin Orbit’s Start Me Up mission that launched from the UK. The Cosmic Girl aircraft released the Launcher One rocket mid-flight. The mission ultimately failed after the rocket crashed to Earth.
Then, a Falcon 9 carried 40 OneWeb satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral where they will be used to beam the Internet back to Earth.
Over the weekend, a Long March 2C launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the APStar-6E satellite that will provide telecommunications services in Southeast Asia.
Also flying from China was a Long March 2D carrying Yaogan-37 and Shiyan-22A/B from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Both of these are remote sensing satellites that will perform various tasks including space environment monitoring, urban planning, smog detection and more.
Finally, a Long March 2D launched 14 satellites into space from the Taiwan Satellite Launch Center.
That’s it for this week, check back next time!
