Launch Preview: Falcon 9, Starship, and Chinese rockets scheduled to launch

Date:
Mon, 20 Jul 2026 20:53:25 +0000

Description:
After last weeks aborted Starship Flight 13 launch, SpaceX is scheduling a
new attempt as The post Launch Preview: Falcon 9, Starship, and Chinese rockets scheduled to launch appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

After last weeks aborted Starship Flight 13 launch, SpaceX is scheduling a
new attempt as early as Thursday, July 23, from Starbase in Texas. Besides Flight 13, the company has two Starlink launches from California scheduled, along with a rare expendable Falcon 9 launch from Florida.

China is planning for four launches this week, including Orienspaces
Gravity-1 from a floating launch platform in the Yellow Sea and CAS Spaces Kinetica 1 from Jiuquan. A Chang Zheng 3B/E is also flying, with a launch scheduled from Xichang in southwest China.



Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-39

SpaceXs first planned launch of the week was scheduled for Monday, July 20, from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB). Starlink Group 17-39 was expected to launch at 7:49 AM PDT (14:49 UTC) near the start of a four-hour window lasting until 11:00 AM PDT (18:00 UTC).

However, the attempt was aborted at T0 after the nine engines of the first stage briefly fired. The next launch attempt is scheduled for Tuesday, July 21, at 7:00 AM PDT (14:00 UTC). Standing down from todays Starlink launch; vehicle and payload remain safe

SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 20, 2026



Flying on its 23rd mission, booster B1082 will take a southward trajectory suitable for satellites in a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). The mission will carry 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to space, while the booster will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Pacific.

The booster started its career with the Starlink Group 7-9 mission and has also taken part in 18 other Starlink flights along with the USSF-62, OneWeb #20, and NROL-145 missions, all from VSFB. Starlink Group 17-39 is to be the 85th Falcon 9 launch of 2026.

Falcon 9 | MRV-1

SpaceXs next launch is a relatively rare non-Starlink mission for Falcon 9. The MRV-1 mission, a launch for Northrop Grumman, is scheduled to fly on Tuesday, July 21, at 5:15 PM EDT (21:15 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch window ends at 9:04 PM EDT (02:04 UTC on July 22).

B1069, flying for the 32nd time, will fly eastward to place the 3,000 kg Mission Robotic Vehicle-1 (MRV-1) spacecraft into a geostationary transfer orbit before being expended. The veteran booster began with the CRS-24
mission and has also flown Hotbird 13F, OneWeb #15, SES-18 & 19, and 27 Starlink missions, all from Florida.



The MRV-1, operated by Northrop Grummans SpaceLogistics company, is flying with three Mission Extension Pods (MEP) massing 400 kg each. These three MEP units are contracted to rendezvous with satellites from Intelsat and Optus; each MEP will extend the lives of its target satellite by up to six years.

Satellite servicing is not a new idea; as early as 1984, the Space Shuttle serviced the Solar Max spacecraft to extend its mission by a few years. The MRV-1 is designed to attach up to 30 MEP units to satellites needing
servicing during its lifetime in orbit.

This flight is to be the 86th Falcon 9 of 2026 and the very last flight of B1069, which started flying in December 2021. Gravity-1 launches from an offshore location in Haiyang on October 11, 2026. (Credit: Orienspace)

Gravity 1 Y4 | Unknown Payload

The Chinese commercial company Orienspace is planning to launch its Gravity 1 medium-lift vehicle on Wednesday, July 22, at 02:50 UTC. The mission will fly from the Dong Fang Hang Tian Gang launch platform in the Yellow Sea at Launch Location 5 near Haiyang, and the window closes at 03:09 UTC.

The rocket will take a southerly trajectory suitable for payloads that need
an SSO. Though the payload identity is not currently known, many Earth observation, military reconnaissance, and scientific satellites use SSOs that cover the entire planets surface. Six Dongpo Earth observation satellites are thought to be onboard this mission.

Gravity 1, also known as Yinli-1, is the worlds most powerful
all-solid-fueled launcher and is capable of carrying up to 4,200 kg to a 500 km altitude SSO. This flight is Gravity 1s third launch overall and the first of 2026 for both the rocket and Orienspace. CZ-3B/E at the pad. (Credit:
CASC)

Chang Zheng 3B/E | Unknown Payload

The first Chang Zheng family launch of the week is scheduled for Thursday, July 23, at 12:00 UTC from Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China. The Chang Zheng 3B/Es (CZ-3B/E) launch window closes at 12:54 UTC, and the payload is currently not known.

The rocket will take an eastward trajectory suitable for payloads that need
to reach geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), and this particular CZ-3B variant can launch up to 5,550 kg to GTO. The CZ-3B/E has flown a number of communication satellites to GTO, starting with the Nigerian NigComSat-1in 2007.

This flight will be the third mission of the year for the rocket type and the second flight since the failed Shijian 32 launch on Jan. 16. Flight 13 during its abort on Thursday, July 16, 2026. (Credit: Ceaser G for NSF)

Starship | Flight 13

After Thursdays abort and subsequent rollback of Booster 20 and Ship 40 to
the production site, Flight 13 is now scheduled to launch no earlier than Thursday, July 23, at 5:45 PM CDT (22:45 UTC) from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. The launch window lasts until 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC on July 21), though Starship needs to launch within 15 minutes of its T0 once propellant loading begins.

Flight 13 is set to be the second flight of the current version of Starship. The Block 3 version of Starship uses Raptor 3 engines, a completely reworked methane-fueled Raptor that has been in development for a decade, and this version of Starship is expected to become the first used in operational flights.

The first launch attempt ended after four of the Super Heavy boosters 33 engines failed to ignite. Elon Musk announced on X that two of the engines were to be replaced before the next attempt.



Once Flight 13 gets off the ground, its objectives will be similar to Flight 12. Booster 20 will attempt a 33-engine boostback burn following stage separation, and will conduct a soft water landing off the Texas coast. Ship
40 will carry 20 full Starlink v3 satellites and conduct a test deployment, along with an engine restart in space.

The ship will follow a suborbital trajectory at just short of orbital velocity, similar to all prior Starship missions, and the test Starlink satellites will burn up in the atmosphere in a similar trajectory. Ship 40 will conduct a reentry and soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

If this flight succeeds with all its objectives, it will pave the way for a possible orbital attempt and booster catch on Flight 14. As a Starship-based lander is one of two Human Landing System ships planned to conduct human
lunar landings, every Starship launch is critical to NASAs Artemis program progress. Lijian-1 Y6 (Kinetica-1) is transported to the pad.(Credit: CAS Space)

Kinetica 1 Y15 | Unknown Payload

CAS Space is planning to fly its Kinetica 1 small satellite launcher on Thursday, July 23, at 23:30 UTC from Site 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia region of northwest China. The launch window closes at 23:50 UTC.

The rocket will take a southbound trajectory suitable for satellites that use SSOs. The payload is not currently known, but the four-stage solid-fueled Kinetica 1 is capable of carrying up to 1,500 kg to such an orbit. Five satellites are thought to be on board the flight.

This flight is the fourth launch of 2026 for the Kinetica 1, also known as Lijian-1, and the 15th launch of the rocket overall. A view of a stack of Starlink satellites including a Starlink Direct To Cell satellite at the top. The deployable antenna and its hinge can clearly be seen in this image. (Credit: SpaceX)

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-51

The final launch of the week is also scheduled for Saturday, July 25, at 7:00 AM PDT (14:00 UTC) from SLC-4E at VSFB. The launch window lasts until 11:00
AM PDT (18:00 UTC).

Booster B1100, flying its eighth mission, will take a southerly trajectory
and recover on Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific. The mission will launch 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to an SSO typical for Group 17 flights.

The booster started its career with the Starlink Group 11-30 mission, and has also flown five other Starlink launches in addition to NROL-105. All of
B1100s flights thus far have been from California. The launch will be the
87th Falcon 9 launch of 2026, and the 176th orbital launch attempt worldwide in 2026.

(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)



The post Launch Preview: Falcon 9, Starship, and Chinese rockets scheduled to launch appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/07/launch-preview-072026/


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