Blue Origin’s New Glenn rises off of the launch pad on its debut flight on January 16, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
In a milestone for space exploration and commercial spaceflight, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 36 at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday. The historic maiden flight marked a significant step forward for the company, as it positions itself as a key player in the rapidly growing space industry.
At 2:03 a.m. EST, the 320-foot-tall New Glenn finally roared to life after two holds and was propelled by seven Blue Origin BE-4 engines fueled by liquid oxygen and methane.
Spectators crowded the beaches and riverfront to witness the spectacle, as the rocket ascended gracefully into a cloudy sky obscuring a nearly full moon.
After cheering wildly as New Glenn ascended Space Coast residents were pleased they witnessed another chapter in the area’s storied history of space exploration. “It’s inspiring to see this level of innovation happening here,” said Sandra Lyons, an engineer who watched the launch from the beach near Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral. “Every mission brings us closer to a future where space travel becomes routine,” she said. “It’s good that there are now several companies that can provide launch services for the country.”
The Cape Canaveral beaches were crowded with spectators gathered to watch the launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn debut launch.
After staging, the second stage — often a point of failure for debut flights — ignited as planned and continued the ascent of the rocket and payload. The second stage is in its final orbit following two successful burns of the BE-3U engines. The payload, Blue Origin’s Blue Ring Pathfinder is receiving data and performing well.
In its stated criteria for success, Blue Origin achieved a rare feat: a successful first flight that achieved its primary goal of reaching orbit. Unfortunately, the secondary goal of landing the New Glenn first stage was unsuccessful. Blue Origin has yet to state the reason(s) the first stage did not land at sea as the company had hoped, but undoubtedly, the company gathered data and will have lessons learned not only from the failure of the recovery of the booster but also the flight itself of the entire system.
Statements From Blue Origin’s Leadership
“I’m incredibly proud New Glenn achieved orbit on its first attempt,” said Dave Limp, CEO, Blue Origin. “We knew landing our booster, So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, on the first try was an ambitious goal. We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring. Thank you to all of Team Blue for this incredible milestone.”
“Today marks a new era for Blue Origin and for commercial space,” said Jarrett Jones, Senior Vice President, New Glenn. “We’re focused on ramping our launch cadence and manufacturing rates. My heartfelt thanks to everyone at Blue Origin for the tremendous amount of work in making today’s success possible, and to our customers and the space community for their continuous support. We felt that immensely today.”
Blue skies Over Florida: New Glenn rising into the night on a pillar of blue fire. Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
A SpaceX Falcon 9 roared off the launch pad at 1:11 AM EST this morning from Kennedy Space Center carrying two lunar landers into orbit and on their way to the moon.
SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on January 15, 2025.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
The second stage and lunar landers achieved their initial orbits at seven minutes and forty-nine seconds into the flight, and that orbit was modified fifty-eight minutes and twenty-four seconds later by a relatively long one minute and one second second burn by the second stage prior to payload deployment.
Around eight minutes and twenty seconds after lifting off, Booster B1085 completed its 5th mission when it touched down safely on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’, which was stationed offshore downrange. JRTI and B1085 will now return to Port Canaveral for offloading and preparation for B1085’s next flight.
At 2:18 AM EST, SpaceX confirmed the deployment of the Firefly Blue Ghost Lander:
Blue Ghost will begin a roughly 45-day journey to the Moon, where it will land on Mare Crisium. It will then conduct numerous experiments for NASA and the Artemis Program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface in this decade.
At 2:45 AM, SpaceX confirmed the successful deployment of the iSpace HAKUTO-R lander:
“We have established communication with the RESILIENCE lander, and have stabilized its attitude and power supply,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace. “We will make full use of the knowledge and experience gained in Mission 1 to prepare for the first orbit control maneuver scheduled in the near future. While the lander carries 6 payloads including the TENACIOUS micro rover, no deficiencies in the lander’s core system have been identified.”
The deployment of HAKUTO-R concluded the customer portion of SpaceX’s flight.
Payloads
Firefly Blue Ghost Lunar Lander
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is designed to deliver a suite of scientific instruments and commercial payloads to the Moon’s surface. Developed under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, Blue Ghost aims to demonstrate innovative technologies while advancing lunar science.
Joining Blue Ghost is the Hakuto-R lunar lander, developed by iSpace, a Japanese company dedicated to expanding humanity’s presence on the Moon. Hakuto-R is part of iSpace’s bold vision to establish a lunar economy through cargo delivery services and resource utilization.
Artist’s rendering of HAKUTO ‘Resilience’ on the lunar surface. Credit: iSpace
Key objectives for Hakuto-R include:
Demonstrating landing and operational capabilities on the lunar surface.
Delivering payloads for commercial customers.
Advancing technologies to enable sustainable lunar operations.
Payloads
On board the RESILIENCE lunar lander will be commercial customer payloads including:
· Water electrolyzer equipment: From Takasago Thermal Engineering Co.
· Food production experiment: A self-contained module from Euglena Co.
· Deep space radiation probe: Developed by the Department of Space Science and Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan
· Commemorative alloy plate: Developed by Bandai Namco Research Institute, Inc. and modeled after “Charter of the Universal Century” from the animation Mobile Suit Gundam UC
· TENACIOUS micro rover: Developed by ispace-EUROPE, this rover will explore the landing site, collect lunar regolith, and relay data back to the lander. It will be equipped with a forward-mounted HD camera and a shovel.
· Moonhouse: A model house by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg that will be mounted on the rover.
The RESILIENCE lander will serve as a cultural artifact, carrying a UNESCO memory disk that preserves linguistic and cultural diversity.
For more details about Hakuto-R and iSpace’s ambitions, visit their official website.
iSpace infographic on the key milestones for the HAKUTO MISSION 2 ‘Resilience’ lander. Click the graphic to enlarge. Credit: iSpace
What’s Next?
iSpace announced today that mission operations specialists in the HAKUTO-R Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo have established a communication link with the RESILIENCE lunar lander and confirmed a stable attitude as well as stable generation of electrical power in orbit.
iSpace provided this chart illustrating the progress of the mission early this morning:
HAKUTO-R ‘RESILIENCE’ mission status as of 7:01 AM EDT on January 15. 2025
From Firefly, the Blue Ghost lander next steps are
Transit: Blue Ghost will spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon, including about 25 days in Earth orbit, 4 days in lunar transit, and 16 days in lunar orbit.
Descent: Blue Ghost’s final autonomous descent will take approximately an hour, starting with a Descent Orbit Insertion burn that will place Blue Ghost on its descent trajectory.
Surface Operations: Upon touchdown, Blue Ghost will operate 10 NASA instruments for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days).
Total Eclipse:Just before lunar night, Blue Ghost will capture HD imagery of a total eclipse from the Moon where the Earth blocks the sun.
Lunar Night: At the end of the mission, Blue Ghost will capture the lunar sunset before operating several hours into the lunar night.
Launch Replay
Next Launch
Blue Origin plans to make a second attempt to launch its New Glenn rocket on its debut mission
Date: NET January 16, 2025
Organization: Blue Origin
Mission: NG-1
Rocket: New Glenn
Launch Site: LC-36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Launch Window: 01:00 – 04:00 EST (0600-0900 UTC)
Payload: Blue Ring Pathfinder
Note: this article was prepared using information and text from iSpace and Firefly Aerospace.
SpaceX returns to action tonight as it plans to launch a Falcon 9 carrying two uncrewed lunar landers as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program. The 44-minute launch window opens at 1:11 AM EST.
SpaceX rolled Falcon 9 to its launch pad at LC-39A Tuesday morning. Photo: Richard Gallagher / Florida Media Now
Tonight’s Falcon 9 Booster is B1085, which will be flying for the fifth time. After providing the initial boost for the payload, B1085 plans to touchdown on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’, which is positioned downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
Weather is predicted to be 90% GO during the launch window.
The 45the Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45’s Launch Mission Execution Forecast for January 15 and 16. Retrieved 12:00 PM 01/14/2024
The trajectory is typical for missions to cislunar space:
Payloads
Firefly Blue Ghost Lunar Lander
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is designed to deliver a suite of scientific instruments and commercial payloads to the Moon’s surface. Developed under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, Blue Ghost aims to demonstrate innovative technologies while advancing lunar science.
Joining Blue Ghost is the Hakuto-R lunar lander, developed by iSpace, a Japanese company dedicated to expanding humanity’s presence on the Moon. Hakuto-R is part of iSpace’s bold vision to establish a lunar economy through cargo delivery services and resource utilization.
Artist’s rendering of HAKUTO ‘Resilience’ on the lunar surface. Credit: iSpace
Key objectives for Hakuto-R include:
Demonstrating landing and operational capabilities on the lunar surface.
Delivering payloads for commercial customers.
Advancing technologies to enable sustainable lunar operations.
For more details about Hakuto-R and iSpace’s ambitions, visit their official website.
iSpace infographic on the key milestones for the HAKUTO MISSION 2 ‘Resilience’ lander. Click the graphic to enlarge. Credit: iSpace
New Glenn stood like a beacon in the night, with excess propellant being burned off as the vehicle stood on LC-36 on January 13, 2025 Photo: Charles Boyer, ToT
Blue Origin’s initial attempt to launch their 320-foot New Glenn for the first time did not go as planned this morning, as technical issues repeatedly forced pushbacks in the planned T-0 time, and finally resulted in a scrub for the morning as engineers were forced to call a scrub towards the end of the launch window.
Blue Origin has not announced the next New Glenn launch attempt, which remains upright at the Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket and its payload is safe and a new attempt may come as soon as overnight tonight, or in two days after SpaceX launches Falcon 9 with the Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Mission 1 & Hakuto-R M2 “Resilience” mission from LC-39A early Wednesday morning.
Jetty Park Pier was filled with hundreds of spectators awaiting New Glenn’s maiden launch. Photo: Charles Boyer / TotJetty Park Pier, looking towards the beach. Photo: Charles Boyer / Tot
Blue Origin has not officially announced the reasons behind the scrub, but seemingly informed rumors of an APU (Auxillary Power Unit) operating outside of its specifications were echoing up and down the beaches as spectators waited for the launch.
Weather Is A Concern For Tuesday Morning
One aspect of Blue Origin’s decision whether or not to try launching New Glenn may come down to weather: the 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 has posted a new forecast this morning that is somewhat pessimistic:
The 45th Weather Squadron released this forecast on Monday January 13th at around 3AM after Blue Origin officially scrubbed the New Glenn launch attempt. Retrieved January 13, 2025 0900
Overcast skies, rain showers and higher than acceptable winds are forecast for the Space Coast overnight, causing the 45th to predict only a 30% chance of the range being within acceptable weather conditions.
Given the fact that New Glenn has not yet flown, that it takes a long time to fuel (around five hours) to fuel and that the weather may not be very cooperative this evening, it would be no surprise if Blue Origin demurs from an attempt this evening, choosing to wait another two days until the weather turns in their favor. That would also afford Blue Origin’s engineers to further assess the data from last night’s launch attempt in order to find a path forward to launch.
This Is Not Unusual, Nor Is It Any Surprise
Before a rocket actually flies, there are tens of thousands of limits and parameters that the designers of the vehicle decide on, with all of those decisions related to best industry practices, theoretical limits, and experimental observations. While testing or simulations can provide some insight and process improvements, one thing they cannot provide is real-world data based on actual performance observed as the new rocket attempts to go to space.
Heat distortion gave a shimmery view of New Glenn as the sun set on January 12. Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
That said, decision makers and engineers tend towards erring on the side of caution before flying. It makes good common sense to do so, and conservative decision making in these matters has shown to lead to the best outcomes, especially in an all-up testing scenario like New Glenn’s first flight.
“It is better to be on the ground wishing you were flying than it is to be in the air wishing you were on the ground fixing a problem.”
Old Aviation Maxim
Tomorrow is another day, and it is a chance to eliminate any problems you know about.
That said, despite the frustrations of space aficionados and launch spectators, playing it safe with a flying can of high-explosives is always the right choice. Fly when you are ready and never before, and that’s just what Blue Origin did this morning.
Heavy Seas in The Recovery Zone Force 24 Hour Delay
Blue Origin was forced to delay their attempt to launch New Glenn on its first mission until early Monday morning, due to high seas in the landing area for the first stage. The launch window opens at 1:00 AM (0600 UTC) early Monday and extends until 4:00 AM (1000 UTC) the same day.
New Glenn NG-1 at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base on January 11, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
Ten-foot seas were expected overnight Sunday in the area where Blue Origin’s recovery ship ‘Jacklyn’ and its support ship ‘Harvey Stone’ are located. Those swells were enough for the company to delay one day, when conditions in the Atlantic are expected to improve.
Weather Forecasts
The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 at Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is the best source for weather forecasts where launches are concerned and their latest Launch Mission Execution is the official weather forecast.
At LC-36: 90% GO
Offshore: Heavy seas in the recovery zone are expected to calm somewhat, with 5-6 seas forecast. This is down from 10-foot seas early Sunday.
That is a definite improvement for tomorrow, but concerns seem to shift to the launch site if another delay or a scrub were to occur as is noted above.
About New Glenn
New Glenn on its strongback at Launch Complex 36 at CCSFS. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Standing at approximately 98 meters (322 feet) tall, New Glenn is a two-stage rocket with an optional third stage for specific missions. The rocket’s first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines, fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LOX). New Glenn’s first stage produces 3.85 million pounds of thrust, about half of Saturn V, and roughly a quarter of SpaceX’s Starship Heavy.
Stage 1 is designed for reusability, capable of landing on an ocean-based platform for refurbishment and subsequent launches.
New Glenn’s second stage is powered by two BE-3U vacuum-optimized engines,which liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as their propellant.
New Glenn’s massive payload fairing, with a diameter of 7 meters (23 feet), is one of the largest in the industry, allowing it to carry a wide variety of payloads, including satellites, cargo, and interplanetary missions when the rocket is fully operational.
New Glenn’s lift capacity is 45 metric tons (nearly 99,000 pounds) to low Earth orbit (LEO) or 13 metric tons (approximately 28,660 pounds) to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).
New Glenn’s development began before 2013 and was officially announced in 2016. The rocket is named in tribute to NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth.
On its first mission will carry a prototype Blue Ring spacecraft. This mission marks the first in a series of demonstration launches necessary to achieve certification for the National Security Space Launch program.
New Glenn standing on its pad at Launch Complex 36, close to the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Falcon 9 / Starlink 12-12 in flight over Florida today. Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit today from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 aboard a Falcon 9. Liftoff was at 2:11 PM ET (1911 UTC) after several pushbacks in the window, presumably due to windy weather.
Today’s launch was the 997th orbital launch from Cape Canaveral.
Visitors watch the launch from Scobie Park in Downtown Titusville as SpaceX launches Starlink 12-12 into orbit from SLC-40 at 2:11pm after a delay from this morning’s scheduled launch time. Photo: Michael Lynch, Talk of Titusville
The flight was nominal, and Booster B1067, the most experienced booster in SpaceX’s fleet, completed its 25th successful mission when it touched down offshore near The Bahamas on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions.’
Around 8.2 minutes after liftoff, Booster B1077 successfully completed its 17th mission when it touched down offshore on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’, which was positioned offshore near The Bahamas. Previously, B1067 launched previously CRS-22, CRS-25, Crew-3, Crew-4, TelkomSat-113BT, Turksat-5B, Koreasat-6A, Eutelsat HOTBIRD-F2, Galileo L13, mPOWER-A, PSN MFS, and 13 Starlink missions.
JRTI will now return to Port Canaveral, where the booster will be offloaded and returned to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center for inspection and any needed refurbishment prior to its next flight.
At 8:11 into flight, Falcon 9’s second stage and the Starlink payload achieved their initial elliptical orbit.
Launch Replay
Payload
24 Starlink Mini v2 satellites, which will join Group 6 of Starlink’s orbital Internet connectivity constellation. Currently, there are over 6,900 Starlink satellites in orbit, according to Dr. Jonathon McDowell of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Starlink Mini v2 satellites being deployed. This photo was provided by SpaceX last year and was not from today’s mission. Photo: SpaceX
Next Launch
If — and it is a big if — seas calm down offshore in the Atlantic, Blue Origin will attempt the maiden voyage of its New Glenn rocket.
Date: NET January 13, 2025
Organization: Blue Origin
Mission: NG-1
Rocket: New Glenn
Launch Site: LC-36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
New Glenn during its Integrated Static Fire earlier this month. Photo: Blue Origin
Everything appears to be ready at the launch pad for the maiden launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, but weather offshore has forced at least a two-day delay in the company’s first launch attempt of the 320-foot tall rocket.
New Glenn Launch Update: We're shifting our NG-1 launch date to no earlier than January 12 due to a high sea state in the Atlantic where we hope to land our booster. Our three-hour window remains the same, opening Sunday at 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC).
The ECWMF forecast model is calling for 12-foot seas overnight tonight, as Blue Origin indicates in their post on X. On Sunday morning, things aren’t predicted to improve much, with 12-14 foot seas in the general vicinity of Blue Origin’s recovery vessel, Jacklyn and its support ship, Harvey Stone.
Position of Jacklyn and Harvey Stone on January 9, 2024
The now-deleted LME from the 45th Weather Squadron corroborates what the commercial forecast models are saying. The 48 hour forecast — for Sunday morning — is also calling for high seas:
Via 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 Retrieved 01/09/2025 07:00 am EST
For their part, the 45th will release a new LME forecast prior to Sunday’s attempt.
With those forecasts in mind, do not be surprised if Blue Origin is forced to shift New Glenn’s launch date to the right sometime over the weekend. On the other hand, it’s the weather, and it’s the ocean, two things that are well known to defy forecasts.
Starlink 6-71 ascending towards orbit on January 6, 2024 Photo: Ed Cordero / Florida Media Now
SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit today from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 aboard a Falcon 9. Liftoff was at 3:43 PM ET (2043 UTC) after several pushbacks in the window, presumably due to windy weather from an approaching cold front expected to arrive this evening on the Space Coast.
Around 8.2 minutes after liftoff, Booster B1077 successfully completed its 17th mission when it touched down offshore on ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’, which was positioned offshore near The Bahamas. Previously, previously launched Crew-5, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, Optus-X, Immarsat I6-F2, GPS III-6, NG-20, and nine Starlink missions.
JRTI will now return to Port Canaveral, where the booster will be offloaded and returned to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility for inspection and any needed refurbishment prior to its next flight.
Spectators watch the liftoff of Falcon 9 from Titusville. Photo: Michael Lynch / Talk of Titusville
At 8:39 into flight, Falcon 9’s second stage and the Starlink payload achieved their initial elliptical orbit, which was rounded by a short second burn at the 54:03 mark of the mission. Payload deployment was one hour, five minutes and twelve seconds after liftoff, marking a successful end to SpaceX’s second mission in 2025 from the Eastern Range.
24 Starlink Mini v2 satellites, which will join Group 6 of Starlink’s orbital Internet connectivity constellation. Currently, there are over 6,900 Starlink satellites in orbit, according to Dr. Jonathon McDowell of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Starlink Mini v2 satellites being deployed. This photo was provided by SpaceX last year and was not from today’s mission. Photo: SpaceX
Launch Replay
Next Launch
SpaceX plans to launch Starlink 12-11 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
Date: NET January 8, 2025
Organization: SpaceX
Mission: Starlink 12-11
Rocket: Falcon 9
Launch Site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center
Launch Window: 10:24 AM – 2:55 PM EST
Payload: Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s ISP constellation.
SpaceX launched the Thuraya-4 satellite for Yahsat / Space 42 this evening from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff was at 8:27 PM EST (0027 UTC) on a cool evening on the Space Coast.
Tonight’s launch was the first from the Eastern Range in 2025 in what is expected to be another record year for launches from the combined facilities of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center.
Around 8.25 minutes after lifting off, Booster B1073 completed its 20th mission when it touched down on ASDS ‘A Shortfall Of Gravitas’, which was stationed offshore downrange. ASOG and B1073 will now return to Port Canaveral for offloading and preparation for B1073’s next flight.
The second stage and payload achieved its initial orbit at about eight minutes into the flight, and that orbit was rounded about twenty-eight minutes later, with a successful payload deployment shortly after the 35th minute of the mission.
Thuraya 4-NGS is a communication satellite built by Airbus UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Company P.J.S.C. (Yahsat). It is built on the all-electric Airbus Eurostar-Neo Platform and will incorporate a large 12-meter L-band antenna and a payload capable of processing providing 3200 channels over a large number of spot beams.
Thuraya is the mobile satellite services subsidiary of the UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Company P.J.S.C. (Yahsat), a public company and subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company. Established in 1997, Thuraya is the UAE’s first home-grown satellite operator.
Thuraya 4 rendering, released by Yahsat.
Launch Replay
Next Launch
SpaceX is planning to launch Starlink 6-71 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center NET Monday, January 6, 2025. The launch window opens at 11:44 AM EST (1644 UTC) and closes at 4:15 PM (2115 UTC) the same day.
Date: NET January 6, 2025
Organization: SpaceX
Mission: Starlink 6-71
Rocket: Falcon 9
Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Launch Window: 11:43 AM – 4:15 PM EST
Payload: Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s ISP constellation.
A relatively large group of spectators lined the banks of the Indian River in Titusville to view tonight’s launch. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX Falcon 9 launching BlueBird 1-5 on September 12, 2024. Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
2025 is here, and it won’t take long for the Eastern Range to open its new year for the facility: SpaceX plans to launch the Thuraya 4-NGS satellite for UAE based Yahsat on Friday evening, while preparations for Blue Origin to the fly New Glenn on its maiden launch continue apace, with a target date of early Monday morning.
Quick Glance At The Year To Come
There were 93 launches from KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in 2024, with the bulk of those launches being SpaceX / Falcon 9 missions. In 2025, Elon Musk said “Probably [greater than] 180 Falcon launches in 2025” and the bulk of those will be from here on the Space Coast.
United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno said ULA has 20missions on its 2025 manifest. Payload readiness will be the apparent limiting limiting factor, according to Bruno, and like Falcon 9, the bulk of those missions will launch from the company’s Eastern Range launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41.
Blue Origin will also add to the launch count, with several New Glenn missions slated to lift off from LC-36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The current target for the year has not been stated by the company, and much depends on the success of the first flew flights of the new rocket.
All in all, it is fair to say that like 2024, the record for the number of launches from Florida will be broken come year’s end.
SpaceX
SpaceX has two launches on the schedule for this weekend.
Thuraya 4-NGS – Friday 3 January – 08:27 PM – 12:53 AM EST
Starlink 6-71 – Sunday 5 January – 12:10PM – 4:41 PM EST
Thuraya 4
A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off carrying the GSAT-20 mission on November 18, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
Thuraya 4-NGS is a communication satellite built by Airbus UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Company P.J.S.C. (Yahsat). It is built on the all-electric Airbus Eurostar-Neo Platform and will incorporate a large 12-meter L-band antenna and a payload capable of processing providing 3200 channels over a large number of spot beams.
Thuraya is the mobile satellite services subsidiary of the UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Company P.J.S.C. (Yahsat), a public company and subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company. Established in 1997, Thuraya is the UAE’s first home-grown satellite operator.
Formed in 2008 and publicly traded on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Yahsat serves customers in 150 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Asia and Australia. They offer voice, data, video and internet services for broadcast, Internet, and VSAT users for both private and government organizations.
Thuraya 4 rendering, released by Yahsat.
Thuraya 4 will be aboard Falcon 9 and launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Via Space Launch Delta 45 of the US Air Force on 1/1/2025
Starlink 6-71
SpaceX plans to add to its ever-growing Starlink constellation with the Starlink 6-71 mission. There are around 6,800 Starlink satellites in orbit currently, with several thousand more planned. The mission will carry another batch of 20-23 Starlink Mini V2 units to join the company’s Group 6 band of satellites.
Starlink launching in 2023 from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Falcon 9 will be again be the workhorse for this mission, also planned to launch from SLC-40 on Sunday afternoon, with the window opening at 12:10 PM EST.
Neither launch has been officially announced by SpaceX, so stay tuned.
Blue Origin
After completing its integrated vehicle hotfire test and wet dress rehearsal successfully, Blue Origin appears to be planning to launch New Glenn from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the wee hours of Monday morning with the launch window opening at 01:00 AM EST on January 6th.
New Glenn during successful integrated vehicle hotfire. Photo: Blue Origin
Following the hotfire, Blue Origin’s prime investor and driving force, Jeff Bezos said succinctly, “Next stop launch.”
This will be the first flight of the 320-foot tall rocket for the company. Aboard will be test components for Blue Ring.
Despite the late (or early?) hour that Blue Origin plans to launch New Glenn, this is likely one of the launches of the year from the Eastern Range. That’s because New Glenn is large, and mighty with 3.8 million pounds of thrust coming from seven Blue Origin BE-4 engines. This promises to be a loud rocket, and one well worth watching.
The launch window extends from 01:00 AM EST (0600Z) to 04:45 AM (1045Z) the same day.
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