August is a busy month in Florida for SpaceX, which has three scheduled launches in Brevard County, in addition to one planned by United Launch Alliance.
Attracting the most attention is an Aug, 17 manned-aircraft launch that brings together astronauts from four agencies: one each from NASA, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Russia’s Roscosmos. The four plan to board SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Endurance and head to the International Space Station for experiments, maintenance and exploration, according to NASA news releases.
This will be the first trip to space for NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli and Roscosmos’s Konstantin Borisov, who will be spacecraft commander and mission specialist, respectively. ESA’s Andreas Mogensen will be pilot. Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA will be a mission specialist.
One of this month’s Space Coast launches also comes from United Launch Alliance for a military mission, its second of this kind this summer. The first was the launch of Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the NROL-68 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, which lifted off June 22.
The August 2023 launches from the Space Coast include:
Aug. 3
- Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5, a partly reusable SpaceX launch vehicle designed and made in the U.S.
- Mission: To send up a Galaxy 37 geostationary communications satellite made by Maxar Technologies Inc. and operated by Intelsat S.A. Maxar delivered a Galaxy 37 satellite to SpaceX’s launch base in Brevard County on July 17, according to a Maxar blog post. The customer, Intelsat, is a Luxembourg-based business operating one of the world’s largest fleets of satellites with upward of 50 of its own combined with client satellites. Galaxy 37 will contribute to Intelsat’s build-out of a robust 5G wireless broadband infrastructure for American clients.
- Where: Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 40
- Description: SpaceX is scheduled to transport the satellite to the skies on Aug. 3 via Falcon 9 Block 5. After releasing Galaxy 37, the launch vehicle will attempt to land on an autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Launch cost: $52 million
Aug. 17
- Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5 — Crew-7: After returning from the Galaxy 37 mission, Falcon 9 Block 5 will head back to space Aug. 17, this time transporting SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Endurance and four crew members.
- Mission: The four astronauts will join an expedition crew already at the space station. While there, the astronauts’ experiments will include the collection of microbial samples from the exterior of the space station, the first study of human response to different spaceflight durations and an investigation of the physiological aspects of astronauts' sleep, plus another 200 planned experiments, according to a NASA news release. NASA did not share the duration of the Crew-7 visit to the space station, but similar explorations have been six months.
- Where: Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A
- Description: After dropping the astronauts off at the space station, SpaceX plans to land its spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This will be the third NASA Crew turn for Endurance, which previously flew on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 and Crew-3 missions. In total, SpaceX has provided transportation for six crewed missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The spacecraft is being prepared for flight at SpaceX’s refurbishing facility in Cape Canaveral, according to a NASA news release.
- Launch cost: $52 million
Aug. 29
- Rocket: Atlas V 551 — Silent Barker
- Mission: United Launch Alliance will send up Atlas 5 on Aug.29 for a classified collaboration between the U.S. Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office. Its goal is to provide satellite threat intelligence and space situational awareness.
- Where: Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41
- Description: Director of the National Reconnaissance Office Christopher Scolese said on April 18 at the Space Foundation’s annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs that the program will include more than one satellite and will keep eyes on space objects in geosynchronous orbit where most critical national security satellites currently are stationed.
- Launch cost: $153 million
Atlas V: Preparation for Silent Barker mission launch
Aug. 31
- Rocket: Falcon 9 Block 5 / Starlink Group 6-10
- Mission: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 will be back again at the end of the month to send up a batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation, the company’s project for space-based Internet communication system. Both Starlink and Project Kuiper aim to reach the entire planet with internet service, including previously unreached rural and remote areas. Starlink frequently updates its coverage map.
- Where: Cape Canaveral (launch pad has yet to be determined)
- Description: The program is several steps ahead of Amazon’s similar Project Kuiper, which recently announced plans to launch 3,236 satellites from the Space Coast beginning in 2025. As of July 2023, there are already 4,519 Starlink satellites in orbit. Starlink already is offering high-speed internet service to most of the Americas, Europe and Australia, with coverage of the rest of the world in the works.
- Launch cost: $52 million
Sign up here for The Beat, Orlando Inno’s free newsletter. And be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
