Jonathan's Space Report
No. 857 draft 2026 Jun 4 Bromley, UK
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Update:
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Construction on my new Space Library near London is finally proceeding.
Updates at https://www.gofundme.com/f/fund-jonathans-space-report-library-transition
ISS
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Expedition 74 continues.
Progress MS-34, docked to the Zvezda module, fired its engines at 0500 UTC Jun 10 to reboost the ISS orbit.
Starlink launches
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Starlink Group 10-43 (29 Ku sats) was launched on Jun 4 from Canaveral.
Starlink Group 17-43 (21 Ku sats) was launched on Jun 7 from Vandenberg along with two Starshield satellites
Starlink Group 10-35 (29 Ku sats) was launched on Jun 8 from Canaveral.
Starlink Group 17-44 (24 Ku sats) was launched on Jun 11 from Vandenberg.
Starlink Group 10-54 (29 Ku sats) was launched on Jun 12 from Canaveral.
SAST launches
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On Jun 4, SAST and CGWIC launched a CZ-6A from Taiyuan with eighteen Qianfan internet satellites (Group 11).
CALT launches
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On Jun 5, CALT and China Commercial Rocket launched a CZ-8 from Hainan with eighteen Qianfan internet satellites
(Group 12)
On Jun 11 CALT launched a CZ-5 from Wenchang with the Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing 25 (Comms Technology Sat 25).
Commercial Chinese launches
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On Jun 9, Landspace launched a Zhuque-2E with the first direct-to-cell Qianfan satellite and
a satellite for China Mobile. The upper stage is reported by US Space Force to have disintegrated
at 0847 UTC Jun 9, which would be about the right time for an upper stage disposal burn following
deployment of the payloads.
H3-30
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JAXA launched the first H3-30 on Jun 12. In contrast to the previous H3-22S and H3-24W models, H3-30
has no solid boosters, but has 3 instead of 2 main engines in the core stage. The main payload
was a 1500 kg Vehicle Evaluation Payload, VEP-5, which remained attached to the upper stage
and was deorbited with it after the deployment of six small satellites in orbit.
The satellites are - Umitsubame (PETREL), an imaging sat from Science Tokyo;
BRO-22, a radio monitoring satellite from the French company Unseen Labs; HORN-L and HORN-R,
from Japan's BULL Co., demonstrators for a deployable drag sail; STARS-X, a satellite from
Shizuoka university which will deploy a 1 km tether; and VERTECS from Kyushu Tech, with an
astronomy experiment to measure the diffuse visible background light radiation.
Rocket Lab
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On Jun 11 Rocket Lab launched a HASTE test vehicle (modified Electron) from the Mid Atlantic
Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island, with the CURVEBALL military test vehicle.
HASTE is usually suborbital but the US Space Force cataloged two rocket stages (presumably
the Electron stage 2 and kick stage) in orbit as a result of the flight.
No detailed orbital elements have been released but the satellite catalog page shows
stage 2 in a 189 x 204 km x 40.0 deg orbit and the kick stage in a 198 x 199 km x 40.0 deg orbit,
consistent with the 40-41 deg inclination suggested by the launch warning areas in the western
Atlantic. I would guess that both objects probably reentered by Jun 13 or so.
The likely implication is that HASTE placed CURVEBALL in a low orbit, and then CURVEBALL immediately
used its own propulsion to deorbit itself in the Atlantic. Since it remained up for less than an orbit
it was not cataloged, but the rocket stages did stay up for a day or so, and so were recorded in the SATCAT.
Table of Recent Orbital (and near-Orbital) Launches
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Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. Catalog Perigee Apogee Incl Notes
Jun 1 0840 Qianfan Jigui 08-01, 08-02 Chang Zheng 12B Jiuquan Comms 121 1020 x 1047 x 89.0
Jun 3 1540 Starlink Group 17-47 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 122 257 x 271 x 97.3
Jun 4 1026 Starlink Group 10-43 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 123 245 x 246 x 53.1
Jun 4 1139 Qianfan Jigui 11-01 to 11-18 Chang Zheng 6A Taiyuan Comms 124
Jun 5 0634 Qianfan Jigui 12-01 to 12-18 Chang Zheng 8 Hainan Comms 125
Jun 7 0424 Starlink Group 17-43 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 126 311 x 326 x 97.3
USA 608, USA 609 Unk 126
Jun 8 1013 Starlink Group 10-35 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 127 254 x 257 x 53.2
Jun 9 0823 Qianfan DTC 01 Zhuque 2E Jiuquan Comms 128 395 x 406 x 55.0
Zhongguo Yidong 02 Comms 128
Jun 11 0730 TJS 25 Chang Zheng 5 Wenchang Sigint? 129A 224 x 45755 x 16.5
Jun 11 0800? CURVEBALL Electron Wallops MARS Hypersonic 130 189 x 204 x 40.0
Jun 11 1505 Starlink Group 17-44 Falcon 9 Vandenberg SLC4E Comms 131 255 x 269 x 97.3
Jun 12 0054 VEP-5 H3-30 Tanegashima Y Tech 132 556 x 571 x 97.7
Umitsubame Imaging 132
STARS-X Tech 132
BRO-22 Sigint 132
VERTECS Astron 132
HORN-L Tech 132
HORN-R Tech 132
Jun 12 1237 Starlink Group 10-54 Falcon 9 Canaveral LC40 Comms 133 241 x 254 x 53.2
Table of Recent Suborbital Launches
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Date UT Payload/Flt Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission Apogee/km Target
May 31 0633 SubOrb Exp. 5 Red Kite/Red Kite Kiruna Micrograv 260 ESRANGE
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| Jonathan McDowell | |
| Bromley, UK | inter : planet4589 at gmail |
| | twitter: @planet4589 |
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| JSR: https://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html |
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| JSR is currently no longer available by email |
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