TWIRL 66: SpaceX set to launch Transporter-5 rideshare mission on Falcon 9

We’ve got a quiet week ahead with just SpaceX carrying out a single mission. It will launch a Falcon 9 to carry out its Transporter-5 rideshare mission which is carrying smallsats. Last week, the Blue Origin NS-21 mission didn’t go ahead and that could take off this week but it’s not definite just yet.

Wednesday, May 25

The first possible launch this week will be Blue Origin’s NS-21 mission carrying Evan Dick and several other crew members. It suffered a delay this week but could launch on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. UTC. It’s worth noting that it’s still marked as No Earlier Than so Wednesday is just the earliest the mission could launch and not a confirmed launch date. If the mission does go ahead, tune in on Blue Origin’s website.

The second and final mission we will see this week is SpaceX’s Transporter-5 rideshare carrying several smallsats into a Sun-synchronous orbit. At 6:27 p.m. UTC, SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 carrying the satellites. You will be able to watch the launch over on the SpaceX website on the day.

Recap

The first launch we got this week was on May 18. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 topped with 53 Starlink satellites which will bolster the Starlink internet constellation.

Next, United Launch Alliance successfully launched an Atlas 5 carrying the Starliner craft to the International Space Station. Eventually, Starliner will carry crewed missions.

Finally, on May 20, China launched a Long March-2C carrying several communication test satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. You can see the launch below:

That’s all we have for you this week but the week after looks as though it could be a busy one!