Launch Preview: Chinese, Rocket Lab, and Starlink flights scheduled

Date:
Mon, 08 Jun 2026 22:23:30 +0000

Description:
The upcoming week features flights from China, California, Virginia, and Florida. Three Starlink launches, two The post Launch Preview: Chinese,
Rocket Lab, and Starlink flights scheduled appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

The upcoming week features flights from China, California, Virginia, and Florida. Three Starlink launches, two from Vandenberg and one from Cape Canaveral, are set for this week along with a HASTE suborbital flight from Wallops.

Internationally, flights are scheduled from Jiuquan and Wenchang in China.ZhuQue-2E is set to make its first operational flight with a payload since the failed SatNet launch on Aug. 15, 2025, while a Chang Zheng 5 (CZ-5) is expected to fly out of Hainan Island. An additional Chinese commercial mission, flying on a Kinetica 1 rocket, is scheduled for the end of the week.

LandSpaces ZhuQue-2E Y2 ascends from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. (Credit: LandSpace)

ZhuQue-2E Block 2 | Unknown Payload

The first launch of the week is scheduled to be the return to operational service of the LandSpace ZhuQue-2E following a successful test flight on May 13. The test flight validated the Block 2 design improvements, and this weeks flight is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, at 08:20 UTC.

The rocket is set to fly from Site 96A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia province of northwest China. The flight will follow a southeast trajectory, and the payload is currently unknown. The two-stage ZhuQue-2E Block 2, the latest variant of the first methane-fueled rocket to successfully launch a payload to orbit, can carry up to 6,000 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO).

This is the second ZhuQue-2E flight of the year. LandSpace is also developing its partially reusable ZhuQue-3 rocket, which launched on a demonstration flight last December.



Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-44

A Starlink launch aboard a Falcon 9 is scheduled for Wednesday, June 10. Booster B1071 is set to launch 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites from Space Launch Complex-4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB). Launch is scheduled for 7:00 AM PDT (14:00 UTC), with the window lasting until 11:00 AM PDT (18:00 UTC).

The rocket will take the southerly trajectory standard with all Starlink
Group 17 flights, and B1071 will land atop SpaceXs Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Pacific. This mission will mark the 34th flight for B1071, making it the second most-flown booster in SpaceXs fleet.

B1071s career started with the NROL-87 mission, and the veteran booster has also flown NROL-85, SARah 1, SWOT, Transporter 8, Transporter 9, NROL-146, Bandwagon-2, NROL-153, NROL-192, Transporter 14, Transporter 15, CAS500-2,
and 20 Starlink missions, including one co-manifested with the ION SCV009 and another with the USA-549 and 550 payloads, all from California.

This flight will be the 67th Falcon 9 flight of 2026 and the fifth flight of June if schedules hold. The HASTE Curveball rocket vertical at LC-2 prior to flight. (Credit: Micah Pieczarka for NSF)

HASTE | Curveball

The suborbital variant of Rocket Labs Electron, the Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE), is scheduled to fly the Curveball mission
on Thursday, June 11, at 12:00 AM EDT (04:00 UTC) from Launch Complex 2
(LC-2) at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The launch window closes at 5:15 AM EDT (09:15 UTC).

The midnight launch will take a southeast trajectory to launch its payload on a suborbital test mission. These flights are used by the military to test hypersonic vehicle concepts, and not much is publicly known about the payloads.

This is the 10th Electron flight of 2026, as Rocket Lab is on pace to conduct 20 or more Electron flights from three launch pads on two continents. Tianwen-1 launches aboard the fifth flight of Chinas CZ-5 rocket on July 23, 2020. (Credit: CNSA)

Chang Zheng 5 | Unknown Payload

The Chang Zheng 5 (CZ-5) rocket, Chinas current heavy-lift launch vehicle, is scheduled to fly on Thursday, June 11, at 07:30 UTC from Launch Complex 101 (LC-101) at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island in southern
China. The launch window lasts until 08:40 UTC.

After liftoff, the CZ-5 will take an eastward trajectory. The payload is currently unknown, but the trajectory is suitable for a satellite bound for geosynchronous orbit. The variant of the CZ-5 flying on this mission uses three stages and four liquid propellant strap-on boosters. This
configurations last flight launched the classified TJSW-23 satellite into geosynchronous orbit on Dec. 20, 2025.

This is the first CZ-5 launch of 2026. The next CZ-5 is scheduled to fly no earlier than August to launch the Change 7 lunar lander to study the south polar region, which has gained attention due to the possibility of ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-54

A Starlink launch aboard Falcon 9 is scheduled for Friday, June 12, at 8:27
AM EDT (12:27 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape
Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch window lasts until 12:27 PM EDT (16:27 UTC). A Falcon 9 atop Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg. (Credit: SpaceX)

Falcon booster B1080, flying on its 27th mission, will take a northeast trajectory before touching down on A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic. The flight will carry 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO. B1080s career started with the Axiom Mission 2 crewed mission, with the booster going on to fly the Euclid, Axiom Mission 3, CRS-30, Astra 1P/SES-24, NG-21, and 21 Starlink missions.

Starlink Group 10-54 will be Falcon 9s 68th flight of 2026 if schedules hold.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-54

Another Starlink launch from SLC-4E is scheduled for Sunday, June 14, at 7:00 AM PDT (14:00 UTC). The four-hour launch window lasts until 11:00 AM PDT (18:00 UTC). Flying on its 14th mission, B1093 will take a southerly trajectory before landing on Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific.
Falcon 9 will loft 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into a Sun-synchronous
orbit (SSO).

B1093 started its career with the Starlink Group 11-11 mission and has also flown the Tranche 1 Transport Layer B and C missions along with Transporter
16 and nine other Starlink missions, all out of the west coast.

This flight will be the 69th Falcon 9 launch of 2026. A Kinetica 1 launch vehicle being prepared for flight. (Credit: CAS Space)

Kinetica 1 Y14 | Unknown Payload

CAS Space is planning to launch a Kinetica 1, also known as the Lijian-1, on Monday, June 15, at 03:40 UTC from Site 130 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The launch window closes at 03:55 UTC.

The rocket will follow a southerly trajectory suitable for payloads bound for SSO. There will be eight satellites on this mission, but the payloads identities are not known. The four-stage all-solid rocket can carry up to 1,500 kg to SSO.

This is the third Kinetica 1 flight of 2026. CAS Space also successfully debuted the Kinetica 2 rocket earlier this year and has plans for the
Kinetica 3, featuring reusability, as well as a New Shepard-like suborbital tourism vehicle.

(Lead image: Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/06/launch-preview-060826/


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