Launch Preview: SLS, Falcon 9, Atlas V, and Soyuz launches comprise busy launch manifest
Nine launches are scheduled this week, with rockets expected to liftoff from Florida, California, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China. Most notably, NASA’s long-awaited Artemis II mission is scheduled to launch the first humans to the Moon in over 50 years on Wednesday. SpaceX has four Starlink missions scheduled for the week, with Falcon 9 launching two from Florida and two from California. The United Launch Alliance is also expected to launch a new batch of Amazon Leo internet satellites on an Atlas V following a launch delay from last week.
Internationally, Russia is set to launch a Soyuz 2.1a from Plesetsk on Wednesday and the debut flight of the Soyuz 5 from Baikonur on Saturday. Chinese commercial launch companies CAS Space and Space Pioneer are also set to debut new rockets this week with their Kinetica 2 and Tianlong 3, respectively.
