the SpaceX’s Starship inaugural launch It captured our imaginations, but next week brings to mind the company’s other heavy launch vehicle: the Falcon Heavy. We also expect a historic march in space and an unprecedented commercial landing on the moon.
We’ve also got our eyes set on two Falcon 9 rocket launches, as SpaceX continues to build its mega-online structure.
A commercial Japanese lander will attempt to land on the moon
On Tuesday, the Japanese company ispace could make history by becoming the first private company to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. Called Hakuto-R, the probe, which Launched in December, packed with a variety of goodies, including the UAE’s Rover Rashid and a convertible, ball-like robot developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and toy company Tumi. Success on Tuesday is not guaranteed; Recall that it is based in Israel SpaceIL failed in its 2019 bid To perform a soft landing on the lunar surface.
Read more: The lunar probe travels deeper into space than any other commercial spacecraft
Falcon Heavy will attempt its second mission of the year
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy is scheduled To travel from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on Wednesday at 7:24 p.m. ET. The heavy craft will attempt to move the ViaSat-3 Americas broadband communications satellite into geostationary orbit.
smallest Arcturus A communications satellite is also coming for the ride, as is the G-Space 1 (Nusantara H-1A) Earth Observation Cubes. This will be the Falcon Heavy’s second mission of 2023 and sixth overall. Falcon Heavies are essentially three Falcon 9s strapped together, with the two side boosters typically attempting a vertical descent after each launch. However, for this mission, the two side boosters will not be recovered, as the Falcon Heavy’s payload is heavier than normal.
A pair of spacewalks outside the International Space Station
Next week will see two spacewalks, one on Tuesday and one on Friday. On the first spacewalk, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petlin will use Europa and Canadarm2’s new robotic arm to move an airlock to the Nauka module.
The spacewalk on Friday will witness the participation of Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who will be the first Arab to take part in the spacewalk. Al Neyadi will work alongside NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen to attempt to recover a communications antenna and replace it with a S1 gear (Attaching point for external devices, such as solar arrays, radiators, etc.).
A pair of Falcon 9s are being launched
SpaceX will attempt to launch two Falcon 9 medium-lift rockets next week. A launch from Vandenberg SFB in California on Tuesday will send another batch of SpaceX Starlink satellites into orbit, while a Falcon 9 will take off on Friday from Cape Canaveral and attempt to deliver O3b mPOWER communications satellites 3 and 4 to MEO.
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