Photo credit: arstechnica.com

SpaceX and India Kick Off 2025 with Notable Launches

SpaceX successfully deploys Falcon 9. On Wednesday, SpaceX launched the SpainSat NG-1 satellite from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Pad 39A. The Falcon 9’s first-stage booster, marking its final flight, completed a remarkable 21 missions. According to Florida Today, the decision not to recover the booster stemmed from the additional thrust required to achieve the satellite’s designated orbit.

Booster’s journey … Over its operational lifespan, the Falcon 9 booster was involved in a diverse array of launches, including 13 missions for Starlink, SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, GSAT-20, and Thuraya-4. The SpainSat NG-1, built by Airbus, is the inaugural satellite of two to be launched for Hisdesat as part of a collaboration with the European Space Agency, making this Falcon 9 launch particularly significant.

India’s inaugural launch of 2025. Late Tuesday, India undertook its first launch of the year, successfully placing a next-generation navigation satellite into a geostationary orbit. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk II was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, carrying the NVS-02 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. This satellite is the second in a series of five advanced spacecraft for the Navigation with Indian Constellation initiative, as reported by Space News.

A year full of potential … This launch marks the beginning of an ambitious schedule for India, which aims to complete a record-setting ten orbital launches in 2025. Key missions on the horizon include a collaborative Earth science venture with NASA and ISRO known as NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, scheduled for a March launch aboard a GSLV rocket, alongside an uncrewed Gaganyaan human spaceflight program test flight on a human-rated LVM-3 launcher. Additionally, Skyroot Aerospace is expected to conduct its first launch of the Vikram-1 rocket this year.

Blue Origin’s Path Forward with New Glenn

Significant progress for Blue Origin. The successful launch of the New Glenn rocket has marked an important milestone for Blue Origin, as discussed in a feature by Ars Technica. The immediate focus for the company is to enhance its manufacturing capabilities, streamline rocket assembly, and execute regular launches of the New Glenn. During an interview, Blue Origin’s founder, Jeff Bezos, echoed sentiments often expressed by SpaceX’s Elon Musk regarding the necessity of building more efficient production systems. When asked about Blue Origin’s current goals, Bezos emphasized, “Rate manufacturing and driving urgency around the machine that makes the machine.”

Source
arstechnica.com