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.

☾ = Moon activity, ★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events in local time unless noted.

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)

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.