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Space Launches July 2020

Here is your one-stop shop for space launches in July 2020. This month sees up to 138 satellites launched, 3 missions to Mars and one cargo delivery to the International Space Station. Read on to find out more!

Last updated: July 15th 2020

Satellite Launches

  • LAUNCH FAILURE 4th: US private company Rocket Lab launch several private satellites. They launch atop an Electron rocket from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. Nicknamed ‘Pics or it Didn’t Happen’, the mission will launch the CE-SAT-IB Earth-imaging satellite for Canon Electronics, five SuperDove Earth observation cubesats for Planet, and also the Faraday 1 cubesat for In-Space Missions. Delayed from July 3rd.
  • 15th: The US Air Force launches mission NROL-129, a Minotaur 4 rocket. It will contain a classified spy satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office. The launch site is NASA‘s Wallop Flight Facility in Virginia. Watch it live at 14:00 BST.
  • 19th: SpaceX launches Anasis 2, or KMilSatCom 1, aboard their Falcon 9 rocket. The communications satellite for the South Korean military will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Delayed from 14th. Watch it live from 9:45pm BST.
  • (No earlier than) 25th: Argentina’s space agency, CONAE, launch SAOCOM 1B, the second of 2 Earth observation satellites. It will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Originally launching from California, this launch was delayed from the last quarter of 2019, January, February and March 30th.
  • 28th: Arianespace launch an Ariane 5 ECA rocket (VA253) from Kourou in French Guiana. It will contain the Galaxy 30 communications satellite for IntelSat, the second Mission Extension Vehicle satellite servicing spacecraft for Space Logistics LLC and the BSat 4b broadcasting payload.
  • 30th: From the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Express 80 and Express 103 communications satellites launch. Owned by the Russian Satellite Communication Company, they launch aboard a Russian Proton rocket.
  • Undated: Delayed from June 26th and July 11th, SpaceX launches Starlink 9, containing about 60 satellites, from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will also contain 2 Earth observation microsatellites for BlackSky Global. Poor weather on the 8th led to this launch being scrubbed. Watch it live.
  • Undated: SpaceX launches Starlink 10, the latest mission to launch 58 more Starlink satellites as part of their broadband network. The Falcon 9 rocket will also contain 3 SkySat Earth-imaging satellites for Planet, launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Watch it live.

Mars Missions

  • 16th: The Hope Mars Mission launches for the United Arab Emirates, aboard a Japanese H-2A rocket. It will launch at 21:43 BST from Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan. Delayed from July 14th. Watch it live from 19:00 BST.
  • 30th: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida sees the launch of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover. It launches aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Delayed from July 17th, 20th and 22nd. Watch it live.
  • 23rd: Tianwen 1 is a Chinese mission to launch an orbiter and a small rover to Mars. It will launch from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan, China aboard a Long March 5 rocket.

Launches to the ISS

  • 23rd: The 76th Progress cargo spacecraft makes its way to the International Space Station. To get there, it will launch atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Watch it live from 3:00pm BST.

Check out more spaceflight news!

Sources: NASA, Space.com, Spaceflight Now