SpaceX Transporter-12 Mission to Carry About 50 Satellites to SSO, NET January 14
Transporter-12 is planned to launch from SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA on January 14 via SpaceX Falcon 9 (estimated launch cost US$52M). F9 first stage is expected to land on a drone ship. About 50 objects are being carried to orbit. F9 available payload capacity is ~22,800 kg to LEO and ~8,300 kg to GTO. Among the payloads, the MBZ-SAT of UAE weighs ~700 kg and will assist with urban planning, monitoring environmental changes, water quality and agricultural development. This will be mission 31 for Exolaunch of Germany, participating in every Transporter mission to date, deploying 1,500+ kg via this launch to provide integration for 28 payloads and separation systems for 7 more, for customers from 17+ countries. Impulse Space will send its second Mira space tug, with improved radiation hardening and avionics, to deploy 4 satellites. Alba Orbital of Scotland has its 8th launch campaign with Transporter-12, integrating 7 PocketQubes from 6 countries to take them to LEO. SEOPS of Houston, now partnered with Maverick of California and ISISPACE of Netherlands, has secured space. Reflex Aerospace, partnered with MB-Satellite, will send the 109 kg SIGI. Inversion Space is the 2nd company to receive an FAA reentry license, because its 63 kg Ray capsule onboard Transporter-12 hopes to demonstrate this, furthering company plans to eventually offer a one-hour global delivery service. (Image credits: SpaceX, ExoLaunch, Inversion, Space Foundation) |
MONDAY☆ Jan 13 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 72 seven-member crew preparing for 2 upcoming spacewalks to patch NICER X-ray telescope, install communications gear, examine astrophysics experiments attached to exterior; also nurturing lettuce seedlings, photographing microorganisms. ☆ Jan 13 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 19 three-member crew are testing an “intelligent” flight robot inside the station, studying fruit flies; recent report states projects aboard TSS have so far generated over 300 terabytes of science data. Special Lunar Update from
Firefly Aerospace first lunar lander ‘Blue Ghost’ carries ~150 kg of 10 NASA payloads within total weight ~490 kg, is go for launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket 15 January, heads to land at Mare Crisium (18.56°N, 61.81°E) NET 1 March (~45 days later) with LEXI refurbished X-ray instrument to read Earth magnetosphere / auroras, with Honeybee Robotics (Blue Origin) PlanetVac to stir regolith / photograph dust, and with Redwire (NYSE: RDW) imaging technology to assist landing; ispace Japan second mission with ~340 kg lander Hakuto-R M2 ‘Resilience’, carrying ~5-kg RESILIENCE micro-rover, will travel 4-5 months before planned touchdown at Mare Frigoris (60.5°N, 4.6°W) |
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● = Terrestrial and… o = International terrestrial events
☾ = Moon activity, ★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events in local time unless noted. |
Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Venus (SW), Mars (ENE), Jupiter (ESE), Saturn (SW), Uranus (S), Neptune (SW); Morning Planets: Mercury (SE).
Winter Meetings of American Astronomical and Meteorological Societies Gather Thousands
The 245th American Astronomical Society Meeting is set to occur January 12-16 at National Harbor MD. Dubbed the “Super Bowl of Astronomy”, this conference will gather an expected ~3,000 scientists, educators, students and journalists to exchange the newest discoveries, missions and topics in astrophysics. There are 24 special sessions, 21 workshops, 10 town halls, splinter meetings, iposters and plenary sessions. January 11-12 has workshops, a Board of Trustees meeting, and related events including the ExoPAG 31st meeting. Monday Jan 13 will have the opening Welcome Address by AAS President, Dara Norman (NSF NOIRLab), followed by sessions on the Solar System, Star Clusters, AGN/Quasars, Interstellar Medium, Models of Inclusive Astronomy, and Reflections on the 2024 Eclipse. There are 7 presentations during session Space-based Missions on the Moon and CMB, including those by Jack Burns, Ronald Polidan, Martin Elvis, Kenneth Carpenter and Gioia Rau. A 5.5-hour splinter session is The Lunar Frontier: Advancing Interferometry and Multi-Messenger Astrophysics. Jan 12 is also the 205th Observation of the founding of the Royal Astronomical Society of UK, which promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. In New Orleans in conjunction with 22nd Conference on Space Weather, Jan 12-16 will see the 105th meeting of the American Meteorological Society, which now has over 13,000 members. (Image credits: AAS, AMS, ESO, V. Vustyansky) |
★ NET Jan 13 — SpaceX, Launch Super Heavy / Starship, Starbase, Boca Chica TX: Suborbital test flight number 7, 1st attempt at payload deployment; launch window open 16:00-17:37 CST. ☾ Jan 13 — Moon: 5.4° S of Castor, 07:00; 2.09° S of Pollux, 12:00; First Full Moon of 2025 (Wolf Moon), 12:27; within circle of diameter 4.19° with Mars and Pollux, 17:00; 0.44° ENE of Mars, 19:00. ☆ Jan 13 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 EE6: Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU) Ongoing… ☆ NET Jan — ISRO, Launch GSLV Mk-II / IRNSS-1K (NVS-02), 2nd Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Navigation satellite to GTO. ☆ NET Jan — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / Venus probe, Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Independent mission to Venus developed by Rocket Lab and MIT to send tiny probe flying in atmosphere for 5 minutes at altitude 48-60 km. ● Jan 12-16 — American Astronomical Society, National Harbor MD: 245th Meeting of the AAS; at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. ● Jan 12-16 — American Meteorological Society, New Orleans LA and Online: 105th American Meteorological Society Meeting: Towards a Thriving Planet: Charting the Course Across Scales; includes 22nd Conference on Space Weather. TUESDAY★ Jan 14 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Transporter-12, SLC-4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA: Dedicated SSO mission to carry dozens of micro- and nano-satellites for commercial and government customers; 13:49 local time. ● Jan 14 — AIAA Space Resources Technical Committee, Online: NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program: Leveraging Commercial Flight Tests to Rapidly Advance Space Technologies webinar; free, 10:00 HST. ● Jan 14 — JHU APL, Online / Laurel MD: Ice Giant Systems Seminar Series: The Clouds, Storms, and Colours of the Ice Giant Atmospheres; by Patrick Irwin (Oxford University), 11:00 EST. |
● Jan 14-16 — U.S. Department of Air Force, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Lompoc CA: Meetings to obtain public input on SpaceX application to increase launch and landing cadence at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
☾ Jan 14 — Moon: 2.69° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 14:00.
☆ Jan 14 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 YX5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.029 AU)
WEDNESDAY
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o Jan 15 — European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC), Brussels, Belgium: Discussion: The EO Challenge: Safeguarding Radio Frequency Spectrum for a Sustainable Future.
o Jan 15 — European Geoscience Union, Online: Abstracts due on Moon and Solar System planets for General Assembly; to be held April 27 – May 2.
☆ Jan 15 — Mars: At opposition in longitude, 17:00.
THURSDAY
☆ Jan 16 — International Space Station, U.S. EVA #91, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 72 Astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams to replace a rate gyro assembly, install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters for NICER telescope, replace a reflector device, check access areas and connector tools during 6.5-hour spacewalk beginning 07:00 EST.
☾ Jan 16 — Moon: 2.02° NNE of Regulus, 08:00.
☆ Jan 16 — Apollo Asteroid 2022 CE2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU)
FRIDAY
★ Jan 17 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink Group 11-8, Vandenberg SFB CA: Latest batch of next-gen Starlink satellites for mega space-based Internet communication system to be launched by / for SpaceX; launch window opens 19:18 PST.
● Jan 17 — National Space Society (NSS), Kennedy Space Center FL: Tour 1: Kennedy Space Center; US$100.
☆ Jan 17 — Apollo Asteroid 2024 YF2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.011 AU)
SATURDAY
● Jan 18 — National Space Society (NSS), Orlando FL: Tour 2: Pioneers of Space: Space Coast Museum; includes talk by NASA Astronaut, US$70.
☆ Jan 18 — Venus: 2.17° NNW of Saturn, 08:00.
SUNDAY
☾ Jan 19 — Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), Shioli Crater, Moon (13.31°S, 25.25°E): First annual observation of JAXA lunar landing in equatorial region of Moon Near Side in 2024 and Japan becoming 5th country to land on Moon.
● Jan 19-23 — American Astronautical Society (AAS), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Kaua’i HI / Online: 2025 AAS / AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting; at Lihue Royal Sonesta Kaua’i Resort.
☆ Jan 19 — Mercury: At aphelion, 0.4667 AU from the Sun, 04:00.