With the primary weeks of the autumn season underway, October is already shaping as much as be an eventful month in house. Alongside satellite tv for pc launches from Amazon, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA), this month can even see milestones in NASA’s Artemis program—a sequence of lunar missions designed to organize for eventual human journeys to Mars—with contributions from SpaceX and Blue Origin.
Abroad, China and Japan are additionally slated to launch their respective flights to house stations. China will ship a mission to its Tiangong house station, and Japan will conduct its first launch of a cargo resupply car to the Worldwide Area Station.
Listed here are eight house missions to look at in October:
Oct. 3 and Oct. 6: SpaceX to launch two batches of Starlink satellites. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch two batches of 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit—one from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Oct. 3 and one other from Vandenberg Area Pressure Base in California on Oct. 6.
Oct. 9: Amazon launches 24 Kuiper satellites. Amazon will ship up a batch of 24 Kuiper satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This marks SpaceX’s third and last Kuiper launch for Amazon’s deliberate web megaconstellation, which is predicted to incorporate 3,236 satellites ultimately. In late September, JetBlue introduced it will be the primary airline to accomplice with Amazon to make use of Kuiper satellites for in-flight Wi-Fi.
Oct. 13: SpaceX conducts eleventh Starship take a look at flight. SpaceX plans to hold out the ultimate Starship V2 take a look at flight of the yr. The mission will stress-test “weak areas” of the car and additional consider its huge reusable Tremendous Heavy booster. Will probably be the second time SpaceX reuses a Tremendous Heavy booster flown on a earlier mission.
Oct. 20: Japan launches its first HTV-X cargo car to the ISS. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will use their H3 rocket to ship an HTV-X cargo resupply craft to the ISS—the primary of its sort. The HTV-X succeeds the H-II Switch Automobile, which flew its final mission in Could 2020.
Oct. 24: China launches Shenzhou 21 mission. China will ship three astronauts to the Tiangong house station aboard a Lengthy March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Middle within the Gobi Desert. The crew, whose names haven’t but been launched, will keep on Tiangong for about six months, departing as soon as the Shenzhou 22 crew arrives in 2026.
TBD: Blue Origin launches Blue Moon Mark 1 mission. Blue Origin is predicted to launch its Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander for the primary time. The lander, able to delivering as much as three metric tons to the lunar floor, will carry a NASA rover to the Moon’s South Pole, a area of curiosity for its water deposits and distinctive craters. The mission will use Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, marking solely the rocket’s second flight.
TBD: Blue Origin launches twin Mars probes.
Later this month, Blue Origin can also be anticipated to launch its New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral, carrying twin satellites named Blue and Gold. The probes will embark on a virtually year-long journey to Mars, the place they may examine the planet’s magnetosphere and plasma dynamics from orbit. The mission has been delayed a number of occasions—from mid-August to late September, and most lately from Oct. 13, 2025.
TBD: Blue Origin launches twin probes to Mars. Blue Origin is predicted to launch its New Glenn Rocket from Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station later this month, carrying twin satellites. Named Blue and Gold, the 2 satellites will make a virtually year-long journey to Mars, the place they may conduct a science mission orbiting the Crimson Planet, finding out its magnetosphere and plasma dynamics. The mission has been delayed 3 times, from mid-August to late September and most lately from Oct. 13, 2025.
