Three Chinese military satellites launched Saturday aboard a Long March 4C rocket, joining six others China has sent into orbit since the start of the year on ocean surveillance missions.
The U.S. Space Force announced Tuesday that it awarded $384 million in contracts to United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, giving each company two missions to launch military satellites in 2023.
United Launch Alliance recently raised a Delta 4-Heavy rocket, one of four left in the company’s backlog, vertical on its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for liftoff with a top secret U.S. government spy satellite at the end of April.
Weeks after the launch of an earlier trio of Chinese military satellites, another spacecraft triplet successfully took off Feb. 24 aboard a Long March 4C rocket on a clandestine mission that analysts believe may involve spying on foreign naval forces.
SpaceX plans two Falcon Heavy launches this year for the U.S. Space Force in July and October, and United Launch Alliance has four national security space missions on its 2021 schedule, according to a military spokesperson.
A mysterious Chinese government satellite, believed to be a military-operated early warning station, successfully launched into orbit Feb. 4 on top of a Long March 3B rocket.
Russia sent a spy satellite into orbit aboard a Soyuz rocket Feb. 2 from a snowy launch pad at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, setting off on a mission to detect, locate, and characterize foreign military radio signals.
China launched three Yaogan military satellites Friday on a Long March 4C rocket, adding to a fleet of spacecraft independent analysts believe are designed to spy on naval forces.
Military officials in charge of the Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral project more than 50 launches from Florida’s Space Coast this year, with SpaceX responsible for most of the launch activity, the vice commander of the 45th Space Wing said this week.
Check out imagery from Arianespace and the French space agency showing the launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket Dec. 29 from the Guiana Space Center in South America.