Launch Preview: Swift rescue mission, final Atlas satellite launch

Date:
Tue, 30 Jun 2026 21:18:24 +0000

Description:
Several orbital launches are scheduled worldwide this week. A mission to rescue the Swift observatory The post Launch Preview: Swift rescue mission, final Atlas satellite launch appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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Several orbital launches are scheduled worldwide this week. A mission to rescue the Swift observatory spacecraft is planned along with the first full flight of a South Korean military launcher. This week could also see the
final satellite launch by an Atlas family rocket. There is also an Electron launch from New Zealand.

The Swift rescue mission is flying out of Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, mounted inside the final air-launched Pegasus launch vehicle built. The
Amazon Leo LA-08 and Starlink Group 10-50 flights will launch from Cape Canaveral, while Starlink Group 17-46 is set to fly from California. Across the Pacific, the South Korean military launcher will be joined by three Chinese launches and an Electron launch for iQPS.

The South Korean ADD solid fuel launch vehicle launching on a test flight in December 2023. (Credit: Yonhap)

ADD GYUB Solid-Fuel SLV | Demo Flight

The first launch planned for the coming week is the South Korean Agency for Defense Developments solid-fuel satellite launch vehicle, which will make its debut flight in its full configuration. The rocket was scheduled to fly from an offshore launch platform off of Jeju Island in the Yellow Sea, on Tuesday, June 30 at 05:00 UTC, with a window lasting until 09:00 UTC, but was
scrubbed. The next attempt is to be determined.

The four stage satellite launch vehicle, also known as Goche Yeonlyo Uju Balsache in Korean or GYUB, will take a southeasterly path, and the launch will be the first all-up flight of the entire vehicle. The launcher has flown before, with two suborbital launches testing individual stages in 2022 along with one orbital test flight without the second stage in late 2023.

The rocket can carry up to 500 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO), and it was developed by the South Korean military as a rapid-response solution to launch synthetic aperture radar reconnaissance satellites into orbit. The first
three stages are solid-fueled and the liquid-fueled fourth stage is designed to place satellites into a precise orbit.

The South Korean military ultimately plans to develop its own launcher that can carry up to seven tonnes to Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) or over three and a half tonnes into geostationary transfer orbit. Electron on the launch pad before an earlier iQPS mission. (Credit: Rocket Lab)

Electron | The Grain Goddess Provides

Rocket Lab has scheduled an Electron launch for the Japanese company iQPS to start its month of July. The Grain Goddess Provides is set to fly on Wednesday, July 1, at 01:15 UTC from the companys private launch site on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.

The rocket will take an eastbound trajectory and launch the 100 kg QPS-SAR-13 satellite into a circular 575 km LEO inclined 42 degrees to the equator. The satellite, also known as Mikura-I, is designed to observe Earth through cloud and in darkness with its synthetic aperture radar and is the latest in a planned constellation of 36 satellites to fly.

This flight will mark the 13th flight of Electron in 2026. It is also the
92nd flight of Electron overall as Rocket Lab draws closer to 100 launches
for Electron since 2017. Northrop Grummans L-1011 carrier aircraft Stargazer and the last Pegasus XL seen at Wallops Flight Facility on June 17, 2026. (Credit: NASA/Ron Beard)

Pegasus XL | Swift Boost Mission

Northrop Grumman is planning to launch the last ever mission of a Pegasus air-launched rocket from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific on Wednesday, July 1, at 09:43 UTC. The rocket, first launched from a B-52 in 1990, was the worlds first privately developed space launch vehicle and is now at the end of its career.

The rocket is mounted on the belly of the worlds last flying Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, known as Stargazer and originally modified by the rockets developer, Orbital Sciences Corporation, to fly operational Pegasus missions for customers. Stargazer supported its first Pegasus launch in 1994 and has launched missions from Florida, Virginia, California, Kwajalein Atoll, and
the Canary Islands.

For this mission, Stargazer will launch a Pegasus XL over the Pacific, and
the rocket will carry the 400 kg Katalyst LINK robotic servicing spacecraft into an initial circular orbit at around 400 km altitude. The spacecrafts orbit will be inclined 20.6 degrees to the equator to match the orbit of
NASAs Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Artists impression of the Katalyst Link servicing craft approaching the Swift observatory. (Credit: Katalyst Space Technologies)

Swift, launched in 2004, is a multi-wavelength observatory designed to study gamma-ray bursts in deep space. However, the spacecraft, designed for a two-year prime mission, is also used to observe other phenomena and characterize these events with equipment capable of observing in visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays.

Recently, an uptick in solar activity caused the Swift observatorys orbital altitude to start declining, and NASA was faced with the mission ending in a fiery reentry likely before the end of 2026. In 2025, the agency issued a contract to Katalyst Space Technologies, headquartered in Flagstaff, Arizona, to develop and build the LINK spacecraft to be ready within a year.

The LINK spacecraft will rendezvous with Swift and use three robotic arms to latch onto the veteran observatory. LINK will gradually raise Swifts altitude to allow it to continue its mission. Meanwhile, the Pegasus program will have ended after its 46th and last launch, and the L-1011 Stargazers disposition
is to be determined. A Chang Zheng 4C launching from Jiuquan. (Credit: China Daily News)

Chang Zheng 4C | Unknown Payload

A Chang Zheng 4C (CZ-4C) is scheduled to fly on Wednesday, July 1, at 23:45 UTC from Site 94 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The payload is not publicly known, but the rocket will take a southerly trajectory suitable for satellites using SSOs.

These orbits are typically used by Earth observation, reconnaissance, and scientific satellites. The three stage CZ-4C, developed from ICBM technology and using storable but toxic hypergolic fuels, can carry up to 2,800 kg to SSO.

This flight will be the second CZ-4C launch of 2026 and the 60th mission overall of the type. Although China increasingly uses more modern rockets,
the CZ-4 series is still used to fly payloads into orbit. Starlink Group
17-35 launching onboard B1103 from VSFB on April 6. (Credit: SpaceX)

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-46

SpaceX is planning to launch the Starlink Group 17-46 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) on
Wednesday, July 1, at 7:00 PM PDT (02:00 UTC on July 2). The launch window lasts until 11:00 PM PDT on July 1 (06:00 UTC on July 2).

Booster B1100, flying on its seventh mission, will take a southerly
trajectory and land aboard Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific. The mission will carry 24 Starlink v2 Mini satellites into SSO before the second stage is disposed of in the atmosphere.

The booster started its career with the Starlink Group 11-30 mission, and B1100 also has flown four other Starlink missions along with NROL-105, all from SLC-4E at VSFB. This flight is to be the 77th Falcon 9 launch of 2026. The final Atlas V 551 vehicle receiving its satellite payload for the LA-08 mission. (Credit: ULA)

Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo LA-08

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) is scheduled to fly the final Atlas V 551 configuration vehicle on the Amazon Leo LA-08 mission on Thursday, July 3, at 12:24 AM EDT (04:24 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The window lasts until 12:53 AM EDT (04:53 UTC).

The rocket will take a northeast trajectory after launch from SLC-41, and
will launch 29 Amazon Leo broadband internet satellites to LEO. LA-08 is the eighth and final launch of Amazon Leo aboard the Atlas rocket, which is being phased out in favor of ULAs Vulcan.



This launch is also the final flight for the Atlas V 551 configuration, which uses five GEM-63 solid rocket boosters, a five meter fairing, and a single engine Centaur upper stage. LA-08, the fourth Atlas V launch of 2026 and the 110th overall of the family, also could be the final launch of any Atlas rocket, if the troubled Boeing Starliner does not fly again.

ULA has six Atlas V rockets left, but they are all of the N22 configuration with no fairing, two solid rocket boosters, and the dual-engine Centaur. NASA has scheduled the Starliner-1 cargo flight as the spacecrafts return to flight, but the launch date is to be determined. Chang Zheng 8A lifts off on its maiden launch from Wenchang. (Credit: SpaceLens)

Chang Zheng 8A | Unknown Payload

China is set to fly a Chang Zheng 8A (CZ-8A) on Thursday, July 2, at 13:50
UTC from the Commercial LC-1 launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island off the southern coast of China. The window closes at 14:12
UTC.

The two stage CZ-8A will take a southerly trajectory. The payload is not currently known, but the trajectory is suitable for a SSO widely used by
Earth observation, reconnaissance, and science satellites. The vehicle has
two strap-on boosters, and future versions of the rocket family could be partially reusable with the boosters returning to Earth along with the core.

The rocket is capable of flying up to 7,000 kg to SSO, 8,100 kg to LEO, or 2,800 kg to geostationary transfer orbit. The CZ-8A subtype was originally introduced in 2025 and this flight is the fifth mission of 2026 for the CZ-8 family as a whole. Starlink satellites before deployment in orbit. (Credit: SpaceX)

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-50

SpaceX is planning to fly the Starlink Group 10-50 mission on a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at CCSFS on Friday, July 3, at 7:20 AM EDT (11:20 UTC). The window lasts until 11:20 AM EDT (15:20 UTC).

On its 13th mission, booster B1090 will take a northeast trajectory before landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas , marking Falcon 9s 650th recovery
attempt. The mission will launch 29 Starlink v2 Mini satellites to LEO.

The boosters career started with the O3b MPOWER 7 & 8 flight, and B1090 also has launched Crew-10, Bandwagon-3, O3b MPOWER 9 & 10, CRS-33, and seven Starlink missions. Starlink Group 10-50 will be the 78th Falcon 9 mission of the year. A CZ-6A launching from Taiyuan with 18 Qianfan broadband
satellites. (Credit: Ourspace)

Chang Zheng 6A | Qianfan Jigui 13A-R

China plans to launch a Chang Zheng 6A (CZ-6A) rocket on Saturday, July 4, at 09:21 UTC from Launch Complex 9A (LC-9A) at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in central China. The launch window lasts until 09:41 UTC.

The rocket will take a southerly trajectory suitable for a payload going to a SSO. The two stage rocket, equipped with four solid rocket boosters, carries up to 6,500 kg to a 500 km SSO.

The flight is carrying Qianfan broadband internet satellites. Taiyuan frequently supports Qianfan and Guowang broadband internet satellite and
Earth observation launches. This flight is the sixth launch of the year for the CZ-6A.

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



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/06/launch-preview-063026/


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