Launch Preview: 10 launches scheduled from sites across the world

A very busy launch manifest is expected in the upcoming week, with 10 launches scheduled from various sites across the world. Falcon 9 is expected to launch five of the 10 launches this week, with two Starlink missions, a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, a mission for AST SpaceMobile, and a demo of the company’s upcoming Starfall reentry vehicle. Internationally, an Ariane 64 will launch a batch of Amazon Leo satellites from French Guiana with upgraded solid rocket boosters, while Rocket Lab is scheduled to launch a synthetic aperture radar satellite for Synspective. Three Chinese rockets are also expected to launch this week, though the payloads being launched are unknown. Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-54 The first launch of the week saw a Falcon 9 launch a batch of 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into the Group 17 shell of SpaceX’s Starlink internet constellation. Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 8:34 AM PDT (15:34 UTC) on Monday, June 15. Flying on a southern trajectory from Vandenberg, Falcon 9 deployed the satellites into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Falcon booster B1093 supported the mission, flying for a 14th time. Following launch and stage separation, the stage landed on SpaceX’s west coast droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, downrange in the Pacific. This booster previously supported the Tranche 1 Transport Layer B, Tranche 1 Transport Layer C, Transporter 16, and 11 Starlink missions. The Starlink satellites before deployment in orbit. (Credit: SpaceX) Standing 70 m tall and 3.7 m in diameter, Falcon 9 is a two-stage partially reusable launch vehicle capable of lofting 22,000 kg to LEO and 8,300 kg to geostationary transfer orbit. Falcon 9’s reusable first stage features nine Merlin engines, while the second stage features a single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine. Both stages utilize liquid kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants. Chang Zheng 3B/E | Shijian-31 The first of three Chinese launches to fly in the span of 24 hours lifted off on Tuesday, June 16, at 08:45 UTC from Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China. A Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Chang Zheng 3B/E (CZ-3B/E) lofted a classified satellite named Shijian-31 on a southeastern trajectory. This mission marked the return to flight for the CZ-3B/E. The rocket’s most recent mission, the launch of the Shijian 32 mission on Jan. 16, failed during third stage flight, resulting in the payload not reaching orbit. The CZ-3B/E first flew in 2007 and has become one of China’s workhorse rockets. Comprised of three stages, the vehicle has a liftoff thrust of 5,986 kN and uses toxic but highly storable hypergolic propellants. The CZ-3B/E stands 56.3 m tall. The launch marked the 176th overall CZ-3B/E mission. CZ-12 undergoing pre-launch processing. (Credit: raz_liu) Chang Zheng 12 | Unknown Payload The next scheduled launch from China was a Chang Zheng 12 (CZ-12) on Wednesday, June 17, at 02:44 UTC from Commercial LC-2 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site. CZ-12 followed a southeastern trajectory into an unknown orbit to deploy an unknown payload. The CZ-12 is a two-stage medium-lift launch vehicle that stands 62 m tall and 3.8 m in diameter. Debuting in November 2024, the first stage features four YF-100K engines, and the second stage features two YF-115 engines. Both stages utilize RP-1 and LOX propellants. The rocket is capable of lofting 12,000 kg to a 200 km low-Earth orbit (LEO) and 6,000 kg to a 700 km SSO. This mission served as the sixth overall CZ-12 mission and the second of 2026. Kuaizhou 11 | Unknown Payload A Kuaizhou 11, manufactured by the Chinese state-owned spaceflight company ExPace, launched on Wednesday, June 17, at 03:40 UTC from Site 95A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The vehicle flew on a southeastern trajectory to deploy an unknown payload to an unknown orbit. Flying since 2020, the Kuaizhou 11 is a four-stage, 25.3 m-tall rocket capable of lifting 1,500 kg to LEO. This mission marked the rocket’s second mission of 2026 and sixth overall. Falcon 9 | BlueBird 8 to 10 Falcon 9 launched on Wednesday, June 17, at 2:39 AM EDT (06:39 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Three BlueBird Block 2 satellites, encapsulated atop Falcon 9, rode into LEO along a northeastern trajectory out of the Cape. The launch window lasted until 4:15 AM EDT (08:15 UTC). BlueBird Block 2 satellites are manufactured and operated by AST SpaceMobile and will contribute to AST’s goal of establishing 24/7 continuous cellular broadband service coverage across the United States. With over 5,600 coverage cells, the satellites support 40 MHz beams and 120 Mbps transmission rates, delivering nearly 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the