We only have a few launches locked in for this week, South Korean startup Innospace plans to launch its Hanbit-TLV rocket (pictured) and Arianespace will launch a Vega C rocket with satellites from French Guiana. This week’s recap is quite long so check out the videos.

Monday, December 19

• The first launch of the week comes from Innospace, a South Korean rocket startup. It plans to launch its suborbital technology demonstration rocket, Hanbit-TLV. This rocket will be used to test the first stage engine which will eventually be used for another rocket called the Hanbit Nano orbital launcher that will orbit satellites. Monday’s launch is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. UTC from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil.

Tuesday, December 20

• The second and final launch of the week will see the Arianespace Vega C rocket launch two Pleiades Neo Earth observation satellites. Pleiades Neo is a constellation made up of four satellites that capture very high resolution images of the Earth. This launch will also carry a secondary payload, the QQ Technology nanosat. This mission is scheduled to launch at 01:47 UTC from French Guiana.

summarize

• The first launch we received last week was Long March 4C carrying the Shiyan-20 A/B satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. They will be used to monitor the space environment.

• Ariane 5 then launched the Meteosat Third Generation-Imager 1 (MTG-I1) satellites, Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36. The launch took place from French Guiana.

• On Wednesday, a Chinese Long March 2D aircraft launched Yaogan-36 05 into its planned orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

• Friday brought us the launch of Long March 11, again from the Xichang SLC. This rocket carried the Shiyan-21 satellite that will be used for in-orbit verification of new space technologies.

• Next, SpaceX launched NASA’s Ocean Water and Topography (SWOT) mission. It will conduct the first global survey of Earth’s surface water.

• It’s been a busy few days for SpaceX, as it then had to launch two SES O3b mPOWER satellites before landing the rocket’s first stage on a UAV.

• Finally, SpaceX rounds out our list this week with the launch of a Falcon 9 carrying 54 Starlink satellites into orbit. These will provide internet connectivity on Earth.

That’s all for this week, check back next week!