Launch Preview: Electron, Falcon 9, and Starship set for launches

4 min read · reported by NASASpaceflight

A total of five orbital launches are scheduled this week. SpaceX will launch its Falcon 9 vehicle to deliver a payload for the United States Space Force (USSF), while the company’s super heavy-lift Starship is expected to launch its first orbital mission at the beginning of next week.

Internationally, a Chang Zheng 6A and 8A will launch unknown payloads from China, while Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle will launch from the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand.

Chang Zheng 8A | Unknown Payload

The first mission of the week, launching on a Chang Zheng 8A, is scheduled to liftoff from Commercial Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China on Wednesday, Sept. 23. A 25-minute launch window opens at 13:24 UTC, with a planned liftoff at 13:30 UTC. The vehicle will launch on a southeasterly trajectory to deliver an unspecified payload to an unknown orbit.

The Chang Zheng 8A is a two-stage, medium-lift rocket developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The rocket utilizes two liquid-fueled boosters, each powered by a YF-100 engine that uses kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen as propellants. The first stage also employs two YF-100 engines, while the second stage is powered by two YF-75H engines fueled by liquid hydrogen (LH2) and LOX. The vehicle has a total liftoff thrust of 4,894 kilonewtons (kN) and can deliver up to 9,000 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO).

The mission will be the vehicle’s sixth mission in 2026 and the 11th overall.

Chang Zheng 6A | Unknown Payload

A Chang Zheng 6A is scheduled to launch on Thursday, Sept. 24, from Launch Complex 9A (LC-9A) at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China. The vehicle will launch during a 26-minute window beginning at 08:38 UTC, with a planned liftoff time of 08:45 UTC. The vehicle will launch on a southerly trajectory to deliver an unspecified payload to an unknown orbit.

Chang Zheng 6A is a two-stage vehicle with four FG-112 solid rocket boosters. The first stage is powered by two YF-100 engines and uses RP-1 and LOX as propellants. The second stage, also fuelled by the same propellants, uses a single YF-115 engine. The vehicle produces a total thrust of 7,230 kN at liftoff.

The mission will be the vehicle’s 27th launch and the eighth of 2026.

Electron | Owlright, Owlright, Owlright

The final international mission of the week is Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle, expected to launch from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) in the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand on Saturday, Sept. 26. The vehicle will launch on an easterly trajectory to deliver a 100 kg StriX satellite to LEO for Synspective.

Electron is a two-stage small-lift vehicle capable of delivering a total of 320 kg to LEO. The first stage of is powered by nine Rutherford engines fueled by RP-1 and LOX, while the second stage utilizes a single vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine fueled by the same propellants. The 18-m tall rocket has a total liftoff thrust of 224 kN.

The mission will be the 97th overall Electron launch and the 18th of 2026.

Electron during its 95th launch ‘Happily Ever Faster’ Credit: Rocket Lab)

Falcon 9 | USSF-385

The only Falcon 9 launch this week is scheduled from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday, Sept. 26. The vehicle will launch during a three-hour window beginning at 04:56 AM PDT. Falcon 9 will launch on a southeasterly trajectory to deliver a classified payload for the United States Space Force to LEO.

Falcon 9’s first stage, B1100, will be recovered downrange in the Pacific atop SpaceX’s droneship Of Course I Still Love You . This mission will serve as the booster’s 10th flight, having previously supported eight Starlink missions and the NROL-105 mission. Falcon 9 is a two-stage, partially reusable vehicle that uses nine Merlin 1D sea-level engines on its first stage and a single Merlin 1D vacuum-optimized engine on its second stage, with both stages utilizing RP-1 and LOX as propellants.

USSF-385 will be the 691st overall mission for Falcon 9 and the 108th of 2026.

Starship | Flight 14

Starship’s 14th flight test is scheduled to launch from Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, on Monday, Sept. 28. The rocket will launch during a one-hour 15-minute launch window beginning at 7:15 AM CDT.

Starship will launch on an easterly trajectory, deliberately flying a sub-orbital profile, similar to previous flights, before flight controllers will decide whether to perform an orbital insertion burn at T+25 minutes. Booster 21 will perform a boostback burn at T+2:27 minutes and a reentry burn at T+6:35 minutes, before a soft splashdown at an offshore landing point in the Gulf.

Ship 41 will deliver 26 operational Starlink v3 satellites to LEO, the first Starship mission to do so, before orbiting Earth six times over ten hours at an altitude of 275 km. The vehicle will have contingency checks at T+1 hour and T+6 hours, during which Starship can perform an early deorbit maneuver if necessary. Ship 41 will ultimately perform a soft splashdown landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile, assuming the mission goes to plan.

Starship/Super Heavy is a two-stage, super heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of delivering up to 100,000 kg to LEO. The vehicle’s first stage, Super Heavy, features 33 sea-level Raptor engines that use methane (CH4) and LOX as propellants. The second stage, Starship, is powered by three sea-level and three Raptor vacuum engines and is fueled by the same propellants.

The mission will be the 14th flight of Starship and the third of 2026.

Reported by NASASpaceflight. Reproduced unedited by Everything Space. View the original →