Here’s what’s launching from August 18 to August 24: A USSF mission carrying a robotic spaceplane, a Russian biosatellite, a NASA/SpaceX cargo run to the ISS, and multiple Starlink deployments.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster, seen here before the first test flight in 2023. The company is now targeting August 24, 2025 for its tenth flight, a crucial test for the rocket intended to return humans to the Moon. Credit: SpaceX, CC BY-NC 2.0
- SpaceX’s Starship Flight 10, scheduled for August 24th, aims to demonstrate crucial capabilities for Artemis 3, including in-space engine re-ignition and controlled splashdowns of both the upper stage and Super Heavy booster.
- Previous Starship flight tests (Flights 7 and 9) experienced significant failures, highlighting the challenges of developing a fully reusable launch system.
- Flight 10’s objectives encompass the deployment of eight Starlink satellite mass simulators.
- The article also details a busy week of global space launches involving various agencies and commercial entities, including multiple SpaceX, Chinese, and Russian missions.
Mission highlight: Starship Flight 10 scheduled for Sunday
With the future of NASA’s Artemis moon missions riding on its success, SpaceX is targeting this Sunday, August 24, for the tenth flight test of its Super Heavy Starship vehicle. Liftoff from the company’s Starbase facility in Texas is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT.
This flight is a critical step for SpaceX, which is under contract with NASA to provide a version of Starship as the human landing system for the Artemis 3 mission, slated to return astronauts to the lunar surface. However, a string of failures in previous Starship tests has cast a shadow on that timeline.
Most recently, on Flight 9 in May, while the Starship upper stage reached orbit for the first time in 2025, it failed to relight one of its Raptor engines, spiraled out of control, and was ultimately lost. The Super Heavy booster also exploded during its landing attempt. Earlier, in January, Flight 7 ended in a dramatic mid-air explosion over the Atlantic, attributed to a fuel leak that sparked a fire. These setbacks underscore the immense challenge of developing a fully reusable launch system.
For Flight 10, SpaceX aims to demonstrate key capabilities required for future missions. The plan includes the deployment of eight Starlink satellite mass simulators, an in-space relight of a Raptor engine, and a controlled splashdown of the upper stage in the Indian Ocean. The Super Heavy booster will again attempt a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. A successful flight would be a major step in proving Starship’s readiness for its vital role in humanity’s return to the Moon.
Last week’s recap
Last week’s launch activity spanned the globe with nine key international and commercial missions. The action began on Monday with a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching the Project Kuiper (KF-02) mission from Florida. This was followed by two major international launches on Tuesday: an Arianespace Ariane 62 rocket, which lifted off from French Guiana carrying the METOP-SG A1 weather satellite, and a ULA Vulcan rocket, which launched the USSF-106 mission from Cape Canaveral. On Wednesday, a Chinese Long March 5B/YZ-2 rocket launched a SatNet LEO Group mission from Wenchang. SpaceX conducted two Starlink launches on Thursday from Florida and California. The week’s activity concluded with three Chinese launches: a ZhuQue-2E on Thursday, a Long March 4C on Sunday, and a Long March 6A on Sunday.
Other missions this week
This week’s launch activity kicked off on Monday afternoon, with a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching the Starlink Group 17-5 batch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:26 p.m. EDT.
Early Tuesday morning, a CAS Space Kinetica 1 rocket is scheduled to launch an unknown payload from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China at 3:35 a.m. EDT. CAS Space is a Chinese commercial launch firm that is majority owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
On Wednesday afternoon, attention will turn to Kazakhstan, where a Roscosmos Soyuz 2.1a rocket is scheduled to launch the Bion-M n°2 biosatellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1:13 p.m. EDT.
Early Thursday morning, a Russian Angara 1.2 rocket is slated to launch a classified Cosmos payload from Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 4:30 a.m. EDT.
Later that evening, SpaceX will launch the clandestine USSF-36 (OTV-8) mission carrying the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B robotic spaceplane aboard a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center at 11:40 p.m. EDT.
SpaceX is back in action on Friday with a daytime launch from Vandenberg, carrying the Starlink Group 17-6 satellites at 11:44 a.m. EDT.
On Saturday morning, Blue Origin will conduct a suborbital flight of its New Shepard rocket from Launch Site One in West Texas at 7:30 a.m. EDT.
The week’s manifest concludes with two flights on Sunday. Early in the morning, a SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch the CRS SpX-33 cargo mission to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral at 2:45 a.m. EDT. Later in the afternoon, a Chinese Long March 8A rocket will launch an unknown payload from Wenchang at 3:25 p.m. EDT.
Looking ahead
Next week is shaping up to be a quieter one, with two SpaceX Starlink missions on the manifest. A Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch the Starlink Group 10-11 batch from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, followed by a launch from Vandenberg on Friday carrying the Starlink Group 17-7 satellites.
