Proton launches military communications satellite
A Russian Proton rocket today successfully launched a military communications satellite into orbit.
This was the third Proton launch this year, the most since 2017. It also put Russia in the lead for most launches in 2019, the first time that country has been in first since 2015:
12 Russia
11 China
9 SpaceX
5 Europe (Arianespace)
4 India
The U.S. still leads Russia in the national rankings, 15-12.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
A Russian Proton rocket today successfully launched a military communications satellite into orbit.
This was the third Proton launch this year, the most since 2017. It also put Russia in the lead for most launches in 2019, the first time that country has been in first since 2015:
12 Russia
11 China
9 SpaceX
5 Europe (Arianespace)
4 India
The U.S. still leads Russia in the national rankings, 15-12.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
If the US has 15 overall but just 9 from SpaceX, who launched the other 6? Presumably ULA did most of them? It would be useful to see a breakdown of the smaller players at some point.
ULA launched a Delta IV Heavy and the last single-stick Delta IV Medium. NGIS launched an Antares-Cygnus to ISS. Rocket Lab launched three Electrons from New Zealand.
ULA may launch three or four Atlas V’s during the rest of 2019. SpaceX has at least three more Falcon 9 launches left in 2019 for customers plus an unknown number of Starlink deployment launches for itself. NGIS has another Antares-Cygnus and a Minotaur 4 scheduled. It may also finally manage to launch a Pegasus XL with NASA’s ICON satellite but that is still uncertain. Rocket Lab has up to 13 more launches manifested for 2019, but how many of them will actually launch this year is unknown. Rocket Lab has scheduled at least one Electron launch this year from its new launch facility now under construction at Wallops Island, VA. Virgin Orbit has two LauncherOne missions scheduled to launch this year.
The U.S. orbital or deep space launch total for 2019 seems all but certain to be at least in the high 20’s, will most likely be in the low 30’s and, if Rocket Lab really goes on a tear, could even top 40, but that seems unlikely. Still, never say never. ZimmerBob will, as usual, keep us all informed as things go along and do his usual year-end launch report in very early Jan. 2020.
DavidK,
This is from January, summarizing orbital/deep space launches from 1980 through last year. It includes those who had few launches, and it includes Robert’s thoughts on the topic.
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/essays-and-commentaries/the-2018-global-launch-race-plus-predictions-for-2019/