Update at 1:30AM EST: at Rocket Lab The NROL-199 spy satellite was successfully launched For the US National Reconnaissance Office, with satellite deployment expected around 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT). The next launch on August 4 is the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V mission carrying the SBIRS GEO 6 missile warning satellite. The above webcast will begin at 6 AM EST (1000 GMT) for the launch at 6:29 AM EST United (1029 GMT).
Rocket fans, rejoice! If you’re a fan of spaceflight, Thursday (August 4) will be a great day with no less than four different rockets launching extraterrestrial missions.
missiles built by rocket labThe United Launch AllianceAnd the blue origin And the SpaceX You’ll be blasting off into space today (if all goes well). The China National Space Administration Can also launch two missiles own on Thursday, according to some media reports.
Related: How Rockets Work: A Complete Guide
Rocket Lab’s Antipodean Adventure
Modernization: Read the closing story of the launch of Rocket Lab’s NROL-199 spy satellite!
Space action begins in the early hours of Thursday morning (August 4), when Rocket Lab launches a small (and secret) US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) spy satellite. that Electron missile The mission, called NROL-199, will launch from the Rocket Lab launch site on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.
Takeoff is scheduled for 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT), and You can watch it on Space.com cross Rocket Lab’s website (Opens in a new tab). The live stream will appear on this page at launch time, and Rocket Lab is expected to start the webcast 15 minutes before liftoff.
The NROL-199 mission, which Rocket Lab calls “Antipodean Adventure,” is the second of two successive reconnaissance missions the company has flown to NRO. Rocket Lab launched the NROL-162 mission on July 13.
United Launch Alliance Atlas V for SBIRS GEO 6
Next in Thursday’s release schedule is a file United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V missile mission. That flight, scheduled for launch at 6:29 a.m. EDT (1029 GMT), will launch the sixth and last satellite based on the United States’ Geosynchronous Earth Orbit space infrared system. space force.
SBIRS is called GEO 6 In short, the satellite is designed to serve as an early warning system for detecting missiles to command the Space Force’s space systems. It will be launched from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. ULA will broadcast the launch online live on YouTube and its website, starting about 20 minutes before liftoff. You can get launch updates starting at 11PM ET (0300 GMT) tonight at ULA mission page (Opens in a new tab).
“Equipped with powerful scanning and infrared-gazing sensors to protect our nation 24/7, the SBIRS spacecraft continues to serve as the tip of the spear for global missile warning as ballistic missile threats spread across the globe,” ULA wrote in the ULA newspaper. Mission overview (Opens in a new tab). “Infrared sensors, and others in an array of atmospheric fixed satellites, collect data that allows the U.S. Army to detect missile launches, support ballistic missile defense, expand technical intelligence gathering, and enhance situational awareness on the battlefield.”
Spaceflight NS-22 from Blue Origin
The space tourists will begin their third mission for the day Thursday as Blue Origin prepares for its 22nd mission to space.
blue origin New Shepard missile The NS-22 space tourism flight will launch from the company’s first launch site near Van Horn, Texas. The mission will take six passengers on a journey into suborbital space, providing them with sweeping views of Earth below and a few minutes of weightlessness before returning home.
Blue Origin Space Tourist Launch: NS-22 Mission Live Updates
The NS-22 mission takeoff is set from Blue Origin 9:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT)with the live broadcast online expected to start an hour earlier in 8:30 AM EST (1230 GMT). You can watch it live on this page, as well on youtube (Opens in a new tab) or Straight from the Blue Origin website. (Opens in a new tab)
The NS-22 will celebrate Blue Origin’s sixth cruise spaceflight since the company began crew launches. Ride this mission will be:
- Kobe Cotton, co-founder of the YouTube channel Dude Perfect;
- Sarah Sabry, founder of the Deep Space Initiative and the first Egyptian woman to fly in space.
- Mario Ferreira, a businessman who will be the first Portuguese in space;
- Vanessa O’Brien, British-American explorer who climbed Mount Everest and dived to Challenger in the depths of the ocean;
- Clint Kelly III, founder of DARPA’s Autonomous Land Vehicle project to research autonomous driving technology;
- Steve Young, entrepreneur and restaurateur who works with the Space Coast Preservation Society.
Danuri SpaceX moon probe launched in South Korea
SpaceX’s rocket launch quartet will shut down Thursday by raising the level Korea Pathfinder Orbital Moon Mission to South Korea on Falcon 9 . rocket. scheduled to take off for 7:08 PM EST (2308 GMT) From Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. SpaceX launch webcast will begin 15 minutes before liftoff Company web page (Opens in a new tab). You’ll also be able to follow her live on KARI YouTube page (Opens in a new tab).
Also known as DanuriSouth Korea’s lunar mission is the country’s first aimed beyond low Earth orbit. The mission will send an orbital vehicle to the moon To study magnetic declinations on the lunar surface and search for landing sites for future missions.
Related: Every mission to the moon has ever been launched
The spacecraft carries six different moon-study instruments and is expected to spend a year in lunar orbit studying the moon’s magnetic signature, searching for water ice on the surface, and testing Earth-Moon communications technologies. The mission is supervised by scientists from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.
Danuri will mark SpaceX’s second launch to the moon, following the company’s 2019 launch of Israel’s Beresheet lunar lander. While SpaceX has been successfully delivered Beresheet To the Moon, the ultimate lander that Israel built crashed on the moon. The Israeli Beresheet 2 mission is expected to follow in 2024.
SpaceX will launch the Danuri orbiter on a ballistic trajectory to the moon, with the spacecraft directed into an orbit about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface.
Two missiles launched in China
As if those four missions weren’t enough, China may launch a new Earth observation satellite and an experimental space plane on two different rockets on Thursday.
According to the Everyday Astronaut website (Opens in a new tab), China’s Long March 4B rocket can launch the country’s all-night Earth Ecosystem Carbon Inventory Satellite mission to study the Earth overnight on August 3-4 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. Everyday Astronaut reports that a Long March 2F rocket may also launch an experimental reusable space plane from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China later Thursday. If those launches are confirmed, Space.com will have a summary of the missions.
Whew! That’s a lot of launches in one 24 hour period, so buckle up, space fans. Thursday will be long and full of fireworks.
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