Rocket Report: Indian startup nears first launch; SpaceX’s millenary milestone

火箭报告：印度初创公司即将迎来首次发射；SpaceX 达成千次里程碑

Welcome to Edition 9.01 of the Rocket Report! Back in January, I wrote about the 20 launches and landings we were most excited about in 2026. The list included things that were, at the time, officially scheduled to occur this year. I also gave my own view of the probability of each of these events actually happening before December 31. Halfway through the year, we can only count one of the events as completed, and that was NASA’s Artemis II mission in April. Many are now scheduled for next year, proving again that delays are a constant in the space industry. A couple of them—such as the launch of NASA’s Roman Space Telescope—do appear to be on track to happen soon. 欢迎阅读第 9.01 期《火箭报告》！今年一月，我曾撰文列举了我们对 2026 年最期待的 20 次发射与着陆任务。当时，这份名单涵盖了所有计划在今年执行的任务。我还对这些事件在 12 月 31 日前实际发生的可能性给出了个人评估。如今半年过去，我们仅能确认其中一项任务已经完成，即 NASA 在四月份执行的“阿尔忒弥斯 2 号”（Artemis II）任务。许多任务现已被推迟至明年，这再次证明了延迟是航天工业中的常态。不过，其中几项任务——例如 NASA 的罗曼太空望远镜（Roman Space Telescope）发射——目前看来进展顺利，有望在近期实现。

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Swift Boost Mission reaches orbit.

“雨燕”助推任务成功入轨。

A pioneering commercial mission to reboost the orbit of NASA’s Swift astronomy satellite launched early Friday after attempts earlier in the week were thwarted by bad weather and a technical issue. The Link servicing satellite developed by Katalyst Space Technologies soared to orbit on the tip of a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket that dropped from the belly of a modified L-1011 jetliner over the remote Pacific Ocean. Mission managers called off two launch attempts Tuesday and Wednesday due to poor weather around the L-1011’s staging base on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. On Thursday, “a launch vehicle issue temporarily prevented teams from deploying the rocket” after takeoff of the L-1011. 一项旨在为 NASA“雨燕”（Swift）天文卫星进行轨道提升的开创性商业任务于周五早间发射升空。此前，该任务曾因恶劣天气和技术故障多次推迟。由 Katalyst Space Technologies 开发的“链路”（Link）服务卫星搭载在诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司的“飞马座 XL”（Pegasus XL）火箭顶端，从一架改装的 L-1011 喷气式客机腹部投放，在遥远的太平洋上空飞向轨道。任务管理人员曾因马绍尔群岛夸贾林环礁（Kwajalein Atoll）L-1011 发射基地的恶劣天气，取消了周二和周三的两次发射尝试。周四，在 L-1011 起飞后，“运载火箭出现的问题暂时阻碍了团队部署火箭”。

A rarity these days… This was the last scheduled flight of the air-launched Pegasus rocket, which had success in the 1990s and 2000s as a small satellite launcher for NASA and the US military. Usage of the Pegasus rocket has declined amid the rise of more affordable commercial launch options, especially SpaceX and Rocket Lab. Upon reaching orbit, Katalyst’s Link satellite will spend several weeks approaching the Swift observatory, which is unable to counter atmospheric drag and is likely to reenter the atmosphere and burn up later this year. Launched in 2004, Swift was never designed to be serviced in orbit. The Link mission will attempt to raise the satellite’s altitude and extend its mission. 如今已属罕见……这是空射型“飞马座”火箭最后一次预定飞行。该火箭在 20 世纪 90 年代和 21 世纪初曾作为 NASA 和美国军方的小型卫星发射器取得过辉煌成就。随着更经济的商业发射方案（尤其是 SpaceX 和 Rocket Lab）的兴起，“飞马座”火箭的使用率已大幅下降。进入轨道后，Katalyst 的“链路”卫星将花费数周时间接近“雨燕”天文台。由于“雨燕”无法抵御大气阻力，预计将于今年晚些时候重返大气层并烧毁。“雨燕”于 2004 年发射，最初并未设计为可在轨维护。此次“链路”任务将尝试提升该卫星的高度，以延长其服役寿命。

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Launch window set for India’s first commercial rocket.

印度首枚商业火箭发射窗口确定。

Skyroot Aerospace is set to launch the first test flight of its Vikram-1 rocket between July 12 and August 4 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, marking India’s first private attempt to place a launch vehicle into orbit, the Economic Times reports. The mission aims to gather critical in-flight performance data across propulsion, stage separation, guidance, navigation and control, and overall vehicle performance. The test flight will originate from a launch pad originally built for India’s government space program. 据《经济时报》报道，Skyroot Aerospace 公司计划于 7 月 12 日至 8 月 4 日期间，从萨蒂什·达万航天中心（Satish Dhawan Space Center）发射其“维克拉姆-1”（Vikram-1）火箭的首次试飞。这将是印度首次尝试由私营企业将运载火箭送入轨道。该任务旨在收集推进系统、级间分离、制导导航与控制以及整体飞行性能等关键飞行数据。此次试飞将从最初为印度政府航天计划建造的发射台起飞。

The sky’s the limit… Skyroot has raised approximately $160 million to date, including a $60 million fundraising round announced in May, boosting its valuation over $1 billion. The Vikram-1 rocket is powered by three stages burning solid propellant and a fourth stage with liquid-fueled engines for the final maneuvers to place payloads into orbit. It is designed to place nearly a half-ton of payload mass into low-Earth orbit. 天空才是极限……Skyroot 迄今已筹集约 1.6 亿美元资金，其中包括 5 月宣布的 6000 万美元融资，使其估值超过 10 亿美元。“维克拉姆-1”火箭采用三级固体燃料推进，并配备第四级液体燃料发动机，用于将载荷送入轨道的最后机动。该火箭旨在将近半吨的载荷送入近地轨道。

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Rocket engines delivered for Rosalind Franklin.

“罗莎琳德·富兰克林”号火星车制动发动机已交付。

NASA has delivered the braking engines for the European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin mission to Mars, European Spaceflight reports. The braking engines are one of three major contributions NASA has committed to the mission, along with launch services and Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) to keep the rover’s instruments warm during cold Martian nights. The Rosalind Franklin rover is set for launch in late 2028 after years of delays, most of which were caused by geopolitical tensions and not technical issues. 据《欧洲航天飞行》（European Spaceflight）报道，NASA 已为欧洲航天局（ESA）的“罗莎琳德·富兰克林”（Rosalind Franklin）火星任务交付了制动发动机。制动发动机是 NASA 对该任务承诺的三大主要贡献之一，另外两项分别是发射服务和用于在寒冷的火星夜晚为火星车仪器保暖的放射性同位素加热器（RHUs）。在经历了多年的延误后，“罗莎琳德·富兰克林”号火星车定于 2028 年底发射，此前的大部分延误是由地缘政治紧张局势而非技术问题引起的。

American-made… NASA is providing the braking engines as part of the US contribution to the ESA-led mission, which aims to place the first European rover on the surface of Mars. The throttling MR-80 engines, which burn hydrazine fuel, were manufactured by L3Harris, formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne. Four of them will control the lander’s final descent. NASA and L3Harris will deliver a fifth spare engine to Europe to round out the propulsion contribution. The same kinds of engines were used for the landings of NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers on Mars in 2012 and 2021. 美国制造……NASA 提供制动发动机是美国对这项由 ESA 主导的任务贡献的一部分，该任务旨在将首辆欧洲火星车送上火星表面。这些使用肼燃料的 MR-80 节流发动机由 L3Harris（前身为 Aerojet Rocketdyne）制造。其中四台发动机将控制着陆器的最后下降过程。NASA 和 L3Harris 将向欧洲交付第五台备用发动机，以完成推进系统的贡献。同样的发动机曾用于 NASA“好奇号”（Curiosity）和“毅力号”（Perseverance）火星车在 2012 年和 2021 年的着陆任务。

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NASA taps Rocket Lab for three launches.

NASA 委托 Rocket Lab 执行三次发射任务。

NASA has selected Rocket Lab to launch a pair of science missions on three Electron rockets in 2027, Space News reports. One of the missions is the Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer, or PolSIR, which consists of two suitcase-sized satellites to measure the rise and fall of ice crystals in tropical clouds. The PolSIR satellites will launch on back-to-back Electron rockets from Rocket Lab’s spaceport in New Zealand no earlier than June 2027. 据《太空新闻》（Space News）报道，NASA 已选择 Rocket Lab 在 2027 年使用三枚“电子号”（Electron）火箭发射两项科学任务。其中一项任务是“极化亚毫米冰云辐射计”（PolSIR），由两颗手提箱大小的卫星组成，用于测量热带云层中冰晶的升降。PolSIR 卫星将于 2027 年 6 月之后，从 Rocket Lab 位于新西兰的航天港通过两枚“电子号”火箭先后发射。

Going solo… The other launch NASA awarded to Rocket Lab is for the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2, or TSIS-2, mission set to fly from New Zealand in early 2027. The TSIS-2 spacecraft will be the successor to TSIS-1, an instrument mounted on the outside of the International Space Station to measure the amount of solar energy entering the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA decided to build a dedicated satellite for TSIS-2 and launch it on a rideshare mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Now, TSIS-2 will… 独立发射……NASA 授予 Rocket Lab 的另一项发射任务是“总太阳与光谱辐照度传感器-2”（TSIS-2），计划于 2027 年初从新西兰发射。TSIS-2 航天器将是 TSIS-1 的继任者，后者是安装在国际空间站外部用于测量进入地球大气层太阳能总量的仪器。NASA 原计划为 TSIS-2 建造一颗专用卫星，并通过 SpaceX“猎鹰 9 号”火箭的拼车任务发射。现在，TSIS-2 将……