Launch Preview: SLS, Falcon 9, Atlas V, and Soyuz launches comprise busy launch manifest
Nine orbital launches are slated for the week of April 1, 2026, spanning five launch sites in the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China. NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight to the Moon since 1972, will lift off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center on 1 April at 18:24 EDT. SpaceX will conduct four Starlink‑v2 Mini deployments, two from Cape Canaveral and two from Vandenberg, while United Launch Alliance prepares an Atlas V launch of Amazon’s Leo broadband satellites after a delay. Russia will fire a Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat‑M carrying the Meridian‑M 21L communications payload from Plesetsk on 1 April, and a Soyuz 5 will depart Baikonur on 6 April. China’s commercial sector will debut two new launchers: CAS Space’s Kinetica 2 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 30 March and Space Pioneer’s Tianlong‑3 on 2 April.
The Artemis II stack consists of the SLS Block 1 core stage, the Orion crew capsule “Integrity,” and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, which will place Orion into a high‑Earth orbit for a 23‑hour systems check before a trans‑lunar injection. Four cubesats—DLR’s TACHELES, Argentina’s ATENEA, South Korea’s K‑RadCube, and Saudi Arabia’s Space Weather CubeSat‑1—will be released from the ICPS. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster B1067‑34, set for its record‑tying flight count, will launch 29 Starlink‑v2 Mini satellites into a 252 × 267 km, 53.16° inclination orbit. The Atlas V will deliver a new batch of Leo satellites for Amazon, though payload mass is not disclosed. The Soyuz 2.1a will insert Meridian‑M 21L into a Molniya orbit, providing extended coverage over northern Russia; it may be the final Meridian launch before the Sfera‑V system replaces it. Kinetica 2, a two‑stage vehicle with two fixed strap‑on boosters, employs nine kerosene/LOX engines on the first stage and a single kerosene/LOX engine on the second, delivering up to 12 t to low‑Earth orbit or 7.8 t to a 500 km sun‑synchronous orbit. Its payloads include the Qingzhou cargo ship for the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a technology demonstrator, and an educational satellite. Tianlong‑3, a partially reusable launcher designed for up to 36 small satellites, will follow a southerly polar trajectory from a commercial pad at Jiuquan.
The clustered launch schedule underscores a period of heightened activity across government and commercial sectors. Artemis II serves as a critical milestone toward NASA’s lunar landing goal, targeted for Artemis IV in early 2028, while the high‑frequency Starlink deployments expand SpaceX’s broadband constellation. ULA’s Atlas V resumption reflects continued demand for heavy‑lift services, and Russia’s Meridian‑M flight marks a transition to next‑generation communications satellites. China’s introduction of Kinetica 2 and Tianlong‑3 signals intensified competition in the reusable launch market, with reuse capability projected for 2027, potentially reshaping payload access for both domestic and international customers.
Related Launch
Launch Provider
