Subj : Launch Roundup: China, Russia, Rocket Lab, ULA join SpaceX in flying t To : All From : NasaSpaceFlight Date : Mon Dec 08 2025 23:00:08 Launch Roundup: China, Russia, Rocket Lab, ULA join SpaceX in flying this week Date: Mon, 08 Dec 2025 22:50:25 +0000 Description: The upcoming launch week, starting on Monday, Dec. 8, is a very busy one as The post Launch Roundup: China, Russia, Rocket Lab, ULA join SpaceX in flying this week appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com . FULL STORY ====================================================================== The upcoming launch week, starting on Monday, Dec. 8, is a very busy one as 2025 enters its final stretch. At least six Chinese launches are planned from four different space centers across the country, while Russia expects to launch twice, once from Plesetsk and another from Baikonur. The United Launch Alliance is planning to fly an Atlas V mission from Florida, and Rocket Lab will fly from New Zealand. SpaceX plans seven Falcon 9 missions, six of which are Starlink flights, with the other Falcon 9 flight flying for the National Reconnaissance Office from Florida. Chang Zheng 6A | Unknown Payload The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main Chinese government launch provider, flew a Chang Zheng 6A (CZ-6A) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) in the Shanxi province of northern China. The CZ-6A lifted off at 22:10 UTC on Monday, Dec. 8, from LC-9A at TSLC. The mission flew a southerly trajectory typically used for sun-synchronous orbits. Though the payload is not currently known, reconnaissance, weather, and scientific observation satellites typically use these orbits, and China uses TSLC mainly for these types of launches. The medium-lift CZ-6A launch vehicles, capable of carrying up to 6,500 kg to a 500 km altitude sun-synchronous orbit, are newer than the CZ-2/3/4 families based on ICBM technology. The CZ-6A uses four solid rocket boosters along with first and second stages that use kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellants. This flight marks the 10th CZ-6A launch of the year and the types 19th overall launch. Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-92 The first Starlink mission of the week, Starlink Group 6-92, launched on Monday, Dec 8, at 5:26 PM EST (22:26 UTC) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center. Falcon 9 delivered another batch of 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to the Group 6 shell. This mission continued SpaceXs aggressive deployment campaign for this lower-inclination shell. After flying on a southeast trajectory out of the Cape, Falcon booster B1067 touched down atop the Just Read The Instructions droneship in the Atlantic. This mission marked the boosters 32nd flight, setting a new record for the number of flights completed by one booster. Chang Zheng 4C | Unknown Payload CASC plans to fly a Chang Zheng 4C (CZ-4C) from South Launch Site 2 (SLS-2) at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in the Inner Mongolia province of northwest China. The launch is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 03:40 UTC. The CZ-4C will use a southerly trajectory, which can be used by satellites going to a sun-synchronous orbit. Like the CZ-6A launch planned for this week, the CZ-4C will take its payload to an orbit typically used by civilian, scientific, and military Earth observation satellites, though this flights particular payload is not yet known. CZ-4C rockets, which can fly up to 2,800 kg to a sun-synchronous orbit, use storable but highly toxic liquid hypergolic propellants initially used in Chinese ICBMs. The three-stage CZ-4C, derived from CZ-4B, is flying its eighth mission of the year and its 59th since 2006. CZ-3B/E on LC-2 at Xichang. (Credit: CASC) Chang Zheng 3B/E | Unknown Payload CASCs third mission of the week will fly aboard a CZ-3B/E vehicle from Launch Complex 3 (LC-3) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) in Sichuan province in southwest China. Lift off is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 15:10 UTC. The three-stage CZ-3B/E will follow an eastward trajectory, which can be used by satellites going to a geostationary transfer orbit or for other missions that need to use the full benefit of Earths eastward rotation. The payload for this flight is not yet known, but XSLC is frequently used for geosynchronous orbit launches for civil and military purposes. This flight marks the 14th Chang Zheng 3 family launch of 2025. Falcon 9 | NROL-77 SpaceX is launching the NROL-77 flight aboard a Falcon 9 for the National Reconnaissance Office this week. NROL-77 is scheduled to launch on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 2:16 PM EST (19:16 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). Falcon 9 booster B1096-4, which previously flew the Amazon Leo KF-01, IMAP, and Starlink 6-87, will fly on a northeast trajectory and conduct a return to launch site (RTLS) maneuver before touching down at Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2). The second stage will carry the classified NROL-77 payload to orbit. This flight, the 159th Falcon 9 launch of 2025, could be one of the last to use LZ-2 as new landing pads are under construction at SLC-40 and Launch Complex 39A for future RTLS landings beginning next year. Kinetica 1 | Unknown Payload CAS Space, the commercial launch company owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, plans to launch the Kinetica 1 Y11 rocket from Site 130 at JSLC in northwest China on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 04:00 UTC. This flight is the types fifth launch of 2025. Like the CZ-6A and CZ-2D launches earlier in the week, Kinetica 1 will take a southward trajectory typically used by sun-synchronous or other polar-orbiting spacecraft. Sun-synchronous orbits allow spacecraft to observe any given point on Earth at the same local time of day when they fly over, and are therefore favored by many observation satellites. The four-stage Kinetica 1, also known as Zhongke-1 or Lijian-1, uses solid rocket motors for all four of its stages. The first stage is thought to be derived from the DF-31 ICBM, and the rocket can carry up to 1,500 kg to a sun-synchronous orbit. Lijian-1 (Kinetica-1) Y9 with decals celebrating the forthcoming 15th National Games of China. (Credit: CAS Space) Falcon 9 | Starlink 15-11 The second Falcon 9 launch of the week will carry 27 Starlink satellites to orbit from Space Launch Complex-4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. Falcon 9 B1082-18 is scheduled to fly on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 12:54 AM PST (08:54 UTC). The four-hour launch window closes at 4:54 AM PST (12:54 UTC). Booster B1082-18 will take a southeast trajectory parallel to the Southern California and Baja California coasts before recovering on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific. The booster previously flew USSF-62, OneWeb #20, NROL-145, and 14 Starlink missions. The second stage will place the Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a low-Earth orbit inclined 70 degrees to the Equator. This flight will be the 160th Falcon 9 launch of 2025, which extends a record cadence set earlier this year. Soyuz 2.1a | Obzor-R n1 & Others Roscosmos is planning to fly a Soyuz 2.1a from an unknown launch pad at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 14:00 UTC. The Soyuz rocket will take a northerly trajectory to place the Obzor-R no. 1 earth observation satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. This flight marks the sixth Soyuz 2.1a flight of 2025. Obzor no. 1 is an X-band radar earth observation satellite. The synthetic aperture radar has a ground resolution of 500 m and can observe targets at night and under clouds. The satellite will be joined by an unknown number of rideshare payloads, including a possible Iranian earth observation satellite. The Soyuz 2.1a rocket with Progress MS-15 arrives at Site No. 31/6s launch stand at Baikonur. (Credit: Roscosmos) Falcon 9 | Starlink 6-90 Falcon 9 is set to loft the Starlink 6-90 mission from SLC-40 at CCSFS on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 1:59 PM EST (18:59 UTC) at the start of a four-hour window. The window ends at 5:59 PM EST (22:59 UTC). SpaceX plans to use booster B1083-16 for this mission. It will fly a southeast trajectory, carrying 29 Starlink satellites to a low-Earth orbit inclined 43 degrees to the Equator. The booster will be landing on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas out in the Atlantic. B1083-16 started its career with Crew-8 and also flew Polaris Dawn, CRS-31, Astranis, Nova-C IM-2, Dror-1, and nine Starlink missions. Chang Zheng 12 | Unknown Payload CASCs fourth launch of the week will be a CZ-12 from the commercial LC-2 complex at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island south of mainland China. Launch is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11 at 23:00 UTC. The CZ-12 will fly to the southeast, and the medium-lift rocket can fly up to 12,000 kg to low-Earth orbit. The two stage rocket uses liquid oxygen and RP-1 kerosene as propellants, and is the basis of the partially reusable CZ-12A variant that is scheduled to start flying soon. The payload is not yet known. This flight is the years third mission for the CZ-12 rocket in its base configuration. The JAXA RAISE-4 payload is encapsulated in its fairing. (Credit: Rocket Lab) Electron | RAISE And Shine Although Rocket Lab originally scheduled this flight for last week, the Electron is now set to fly the RAISE And Shine mission on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 03:00 UTC from LC-1B on the Mhia Peninsula in New Zealand. The Electron will take a southerly trajectory to place the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys 110 kg RApid Innovative payload demonstration Satellite-4 (RAISE-4) satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. RAISE-4 was originally scheduled to fly on a Japanese Epsilon-S rocket, but issues with the Epsilons second stage motor caused JAXA to switch to the Electron. This satellite isdesigned to provide experimental data and features 15 demonstrations selected by the public. This flight is the 19th Electron launch of 2025, and the 16th orbital launch of the rocket type for this year, in addition to three HASTE suborbital hypersonic testbed launches. Falcon 9 | Starlink 15-12 SpaceX is planning to fly Starlink 15-12 from SLC-4E at VSFB on Friday, Dec. 13, at 9:34 PM PST (05:34 UTC on Saturday, Dec. 13) at the start of a four-hour window ending at 1:34 AM PST early Saturday morning. Falcon 9 booster B1093-9 will fly southeast on the same trajectory as on other Starlink Group 15 launches before landing on Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific. The second stage will carry 27 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to a low-Earth orbit inclined 70 degrees to the Equator, as in other Group 15 flights. The booster started its career with Starlink 11-11, with its only non-Starlink flights being the Tranche 1 Transport Layer B and C flights. If this flight launches on time, it will be the 162nd Falcon 9 launch of 2025 and will lift off just under 72 hours after Starlink 15-11 flies from SLC-4E. Falcon 9 launches a record 29 Starlink satellites from LC-39A on May 4. (Credit: SpaceX) Falcon 9 | Starlink 6-99 The Starlink 6-99 mission is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 8:37 AM EST (13:37 UTC) at the start of a four-hour window ending at 12:37 PM EST (17:37 UTC). The booster, B1094-6, will fly 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites on a southeast trajectory, and the second stage will place these satellites into a low-Earth orbit inclined 43 degrees to the Equator while the booster attempts to land on drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic. B1094 started its career with the Starlink 12-10 flight and also flew the Axiom-4 and Crew-11 missions as well as NG-23 and Starlink 6-81. This launch will be the 163rd Falcon 9 flight of 2025. Falcon 9 | Starlink 6-82 Just over 12 hours after Starlink 6-99s launch, SpaceX is planning to fly Starlink 6-82 from SLC-40 at CCSFS, which is adjacent to KSC. The launch is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 14, at 9:43 PM MST (02:43 UTC on Monday, Dec. 15) at the start of a four-hour window ending at 1:43 AM MST (06:43 UTC) early Monday morning. B1092-9 will fly southeast like all other recent Starlink flights from Florida. The second stage will carry 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to low-Earth orbit inclined 43 degrees to the Equator like other Group 6 launches while B1092 will recover on A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. This flight is the 164th Falcon 9 launch of 2025 and the second Falcon 9 launch of the day. A stack of Starlink v2 Mini satellites before being enclosed in their fairing. (Credit: SpaceX) Shuangquxian 1 | Unknown Payload Chinese company iSpaces Shuangquxian 1, also known as Hyperbola 1, is set to lift off from Site 95A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China on Monday, Dec. 15. The two-hour window for this mission opens at 04:00 UTC. The rocket will launch a currently-unannounced payload along a southerly trajectory. This mission will be the 20.8 m tall rockets second flight of the year, and its ninth total since its first flight in 2019. The rocket consists of four solid stages, capable of lifting 300 kg into a low-Earth orbit. Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo LA-04 The United Launch Alliance will fly only its sixth mission of 2025 and the fifth of the Atlas V on Monday, Dec. 15, at 3:35 AM EST (08:35 UTC) on the fourth Atlas mission for the Amazon Leo formerly Kuiper constellation. Twenty-seven Amazon Leo satellites, massing a total of 15,422 kg, will be on board the Atlas V 551, the most powerful configuration of the expendable Atlas V launcher. The Amazon Leo payload for the LA-04 mission enclosed in the Atlas V fairing. (Credit: ULA) The Atlas V, with five solid rocket boosters, a five-meter fairing, and a single-engine Centaur, will fly on a northeast trajectory before placing the satellites in a circular low-Earth orbit inclined 51.9 degrees to the Equator, with an altitude of 630 km. After this flight, the Amazon Leo constellation will have 180 production satellites in orbit. The company plans to fly up to 3,236 satellites to offer a broadband service competitive with Starlink. As for the Atlas V itself, there are four more Atlas V 551 Amazon Leo flights left on the rockets manifest before it retires. Proton-M/DM-3 | Elektro-L no. 5 The last launch of this week is also one of the final launches of the venerable Soviet/Russian Proton launch vehicle, one that helped to build the International Space Station and launched numerous geosynchronous orbit payloads as well as lunar and planetary probes. The Blok DM-3 upper stage for the Elektro-L no. 5 mission. (Credit: Energia) The four-stage Proton-M, using storable but toxic hypergolic fuel for its first three stages, and liquid oxygen and RP-1 kerosene for the Blok DM-3 fourth stage, is scheduled to launch on Monday, Dec. 15, at 11:52 UTC from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Proton-M, flying due east, will launch the Elektro-L no. 5 geostationary weather satellite, which will observe Earth with seven infrared and three visible light channels. The satellite also carries a heliophysics payload to study solar radiation as well as a signal relay for the COSPAS/SARSAT emergency call system. This flight is the first Proton launch since early 2023, as Protons replacement, the Angara A5, begins to slowly ramp up its flight rate. The vehicle is close to retirement, although there are other launches manifest for the Proton. (Lead image: ULA hoists the Kuiper now Amazon Leo KA-02 mission payload atop the Atlas V rocket in the Vertical Integration Facility-G. Credit: ULA) The post Launch Roundup: China, Russia, Rocket Lab, ULA join SpaceX in flying this week appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com . ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/12/launch-roundup-120825/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Science News (1337:1/100) .