This month has had well over a dozen rocket launches worldwide with a big focus on the Moon & a spacewalk on the International Space Station. Here's a recap for August 2023. All dates are relative to UTC and this article may take a little while to load as where possible a relevant image is used.
August 2nd - Antares 230+ with Cygnus NG-19
Starting off the month Northrop Grumman launched its last Antares 230+ rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia at 00:31 UTC on August the 2nd 2023. This launch was the nineteenth Cygnus launch to the International Space Station. You can read more about the launch and Antares 230+ here.
August 3rd - Long March 4C with Fengyun-3F
Starting off August the 3rd a Long March 4C carrying Fengyun-3F lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to sun-synchronous orbit. Fengyun-3 is an improved generation of polar-orbiting heliosynchronous weather satellites for China. This was China's 32nd launch of the year and the 481st flight of a Long March rocket.
August 3rd - Falcon 9 with Galaxy 37/Horizons-4
A few hours later a Falcon 9 lifted off from SLC-40 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Galaxy 37/Horizons-4 satellite was placed into geosynchronous transfer orbit by the rocket. Falcon 9 lifting off from SLC-40 in Florida carrying Galaxy 37/Horizons-4. You can read more about the satellite and Falcon 9 here.
August 4th - Cygnus NG-19 berthing to the International Space Station
A few days after its launch, Cygnus NG-19 berthed to the Unity module on the International Space Station with 8,200 pounds of cargo and science experiments. The spacecraft will stay with the International Space Station for roughly three months before it will be sent on a destructive re-entry into the atmosphere.
August 7th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-8
August the 7th saw SpaceX launch 22 more satellites into low earth orbit for its growing space-based internet constellation called Starlink. The booster for this mission was B1078 making its fourth launch and landed on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'.
August 7th - Soyuz 2.1b with Glonass-K2 No. 13
Later on during August the 7th a Soyuz 2.1b lifted off from Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying the Glonass-K2 No. 13 satellite. GLONASS is a Russian space-based navigation system similar to GPS, Glonass-K2 is the fourth generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellites.
August 8th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-20
SpaceX launched yet more Starlink satellites, this time carrying 15 satellites from SLC-4E from Vandenberg, California. This launch used B1075 for its fifth launch and landed on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.
August 8th - Long March 2C with Huanjing-2F
A Long March 2C lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying Huanjing-2F into a sun-synchronous orbit. Huanjing-2F is a Chinese S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite with a 5-meter resolution, not much more is known. This was China's 33rd launch of the year and the 482nd flight of a Long March rocket.
August 9th - Russian International Space Station segment spacewalk
On August 9th Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin went out on a spacewalk to attach three debris shields to the Rassvet module outside of the International Space Station. They also tested the sturdiness of a work platform that will be attached to the end of the European robotic arm attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. This was the tenth spacewalk on the International Space Station of 2023 and the 267th overall for station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
August 10th - Ceres-1 with seven satellites
A Ceres-1, made by Galactic Energy, launched seven satellites into sun-synchronous orbit from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on August 10th. The satellites were; Xiguang-1 (01), Star Pool-1B satellite, GeoSat Intelligent Emergency-1, and the Xi’an Hangtou -88, -96, -104 and -112. This was China's 34th launch of the year.
August 10th - SpaceShipTwo for Galactic 02
Also on the 10th of August, Virgin Galactic launched its first private astronauts into space aboard VSS Unity. The Galactic 02 mission is Virgin Galactic's second commercial spaceflight with three paying passengers; Anastatia Mayers who is 18, Jon Goodwin who is 80, and Keisha Schahaff who is 46. You can read more about the mission and Virgin Galactic here.
August 11th - Soyuz 2.1b with Luna 25
August 11th had Russia launch its first Lunar landing mission in almost fifty years from Vostochny Cosmodrome, Siberia. Luna 25 is a Russian Lunar lander that planned to land at the Boguslavsky crater at the south pole of the Moon. You can read more about Luna 25 and the Soyuz 2.1b here.
August 11th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-9
A few hours later Starlink Group 6-9 lifted off on a Falcon 9 from SLC-40 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The booster for this was B1069 flying for the ninth time and landing on the drone ship 'Just Read the Instructions'. Some online have questioned if B1069 being assigned to Group 6-9 was intentional or purely coincidental.
August 12th - Long March 3B/E with L-SAR4-01 (LTDC-4A)
On August the 12th 2023, a Long March 3B/E lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying the L-SAR4-01 (LTDC-4A) satellite into an inclined geosynchronous orbit. This launch was believed to be carrying the world's first synthetic aperture radar satellite up in geosynchronous orbit where it will stay above a fixed point of the Earth. This was China's 35th launch of the year and the 483rd flight of a Long March rocket. You can read more about the satellite and the rocket here.
August 14th - Kuaizhou-1A with HEAD-3A/B/C/D/E
A Kuaizhou-1A, made by ExPace, lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying five commercial ship/traffic tracking satellites into low Earth orbit. Not much more is known about the mission. This was China's 36th launch of the year.
August 17th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-10
On August 17th SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites into orbit from SLC-40 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Booster for this mission was B1067 launching for the 13th time and landing on the drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas'.
August 19th - Loss of Luna 25
On August the 19th, Luna 25 suffered from a failure during the lowering of its orbit around the Moon. The failure caused the engine to burn 1.5 times longer than expected, lowering its orbit in the Lunar surface and crashing. You can read more about the loss of Luna 25 here.
August 20th - Long March 4C with Gaofen-12 04
August the 20th had a Long March 4C lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center with a Gaofen-12 04 satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. Gaofen 12-04 is a remote sensing satellite used for land census, urban planning, land rights determination, road network design, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and mitigation. This was China's 37th launch of the year and the 484th flight of a Long March rocket.
August 22nd - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 7-1
August 22nd once again had SpaceX launch more satellites for its growing Starlink constellation in low Earth orbit. The booster for this mission was B1061 launching for the fifteenth time and landing on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You'.
August 23rd - Soyuz 2.1a with Progress MS-24
August the 23rd had a Soyuz 2.1a lift-off from Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying Progress MS-24 toward the International Space Station. The Progress MS-24 spacecraft will deliver supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station and will dock to the Russian segment.
August 23rd - Chollima-1 with Malligyong-1b
A few hours later on the 23rd, a Chollima-1 lifted off from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea carrying the Malligyon-1b satellite for military reconnaissance. The rocket suffered from a failure during flight and failed to reach low Earth orbit. Not much more is known about the launch other than that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will attempt another launch in October.
August 23rd - Chandrayaan-3 lands on the Moon
At 12:32 UTC on the 23rd of August, Chandrayaan-3 successfully touched down on the Lunar surface! This landing makes India the fourth country to successfully touchdown with a soft landing on the Moon. You can read more about the landing and lander here.
August 24th - Electron for 'We Love the Nightlife'
On August the 24th 2023, Rocket Lab's Electron rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The rocket deployed one of Capella Space's next-generation synthetic aperture radar satellites to a 640km low Earth orbit. This launch also re-flew an engine for the first time for Rocket Lab. You can read more about the mission here.
August 25th - Progress MS-24 docking to the International Space Station
After launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome the Progress MS-24 spacecraft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda service module on the Russian segment of the International Space Station. The spacecraft brought up almost three tons of food, fuel, and supplies to the current crew of the International Space Station ahead of the Crew-7 launch.
August 25th - Ceres-1 with Jilin-1 Wideband-02A
Galactic Energy launched another Ceres-1, this mission was to sun-synchronous orbit. The payload for the mission was an Earth observation satellite for the Jilin-1 commercial Earth observation satellite constellation. The satellite aims to provide remote sensing data services for surface monitoring and natural disaster warnings in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and other regions. It will also gather data for land and resource censuses and serve applications with agricultural and forestry development. This also makes the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology the first university in Hong Kong to initiate a satellite mission. This was China's 38th launch of the year.
August 26th - Falcon 9 with Crew-7
Early in the morning of August 26th, 2023, SpaceX launched Crew-7 to the International Space Station for NASA. Crew-7 is currently planning to spend 180 days at the International Space Station to perform a variety of science experiments in space. The astronauts on Crew-7 are; Konstantin Borisov (Roscosmos - Russia), Andreas Mogensen (European Space Agency - Denmark), Jasmin Moghbeli (NASA - United States of America), and Satoshi Furukawa (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency - Japan). Crew-7 used on Crew Dragon Endurance, which has already flown for Crew-3 and Crew-5, to fly to the International Space Station. The booster for this mission was B1081 for its first flight and landed at Landing Zone 1 back at Cape Canaveral, Florida. You can read more about the launch of Crew-7 here.
August 27th - Falcon 9 with Starlink Group 6-11
SpaceX launched twenty-two more Starlink satellites for its space-based internet constellation. The booster for this mission was B1080 for its third flight and landed on SpaceX's drone ship 'Just Read The Instructions'.
August 27th - Crew-7 docking to the International Space Station
After orbiting the Earth a few times Crew Dragon Endurance docked to the Harmony module of the International Space Station. With Crew-7 now onboard the International Space Station there are now eleven crew members onboard from five countries. The countries on the International Space Station are; the United States of America, Russia, Japan, Denmark, and the United Arab Emirates.
August 31st - Long March 2D with Yaogan 39 Group 1
The last launch of the month came from China with a Long March 2D rocket launching from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the Sichuan province in Southwest China. The payloads were three Yaogan-39 remote-sensing satellites that will be used for detecting and monitoring the physical characteristics of an area. This was China's 39th launch of the year and the 485th flight of a Long March rocket.
Summary
And that's it for this month! As per usual you can send any feedback or suggestions to me via the links on my author page.