The Weekly Rocket Report #70
03/23/2026-03/29/2026
Ricky Whitmore
Space Writer
Ladies and Gentlemen it is time once again, for The Weekly Rocket Report! We had quite a week of rocket watching, and April is shaping up to me a month to look forward to. Let’s get into the launches of the week shall we.
The week began with mystery and intrigue. An unannounced launch from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome filled the rocket/space side of social media as people reported seeing a rocket streaking towards the sky. There was no prior announcement from the Russian government prior to this launch, but information has come out since. The launch, which took place Monday afternoon, saw a Soyuz 2.1b launching 16 Rassvet satellites. Rassvet 3 is a LEO constellation of broadband internet/communication satellites to serve Russia, similar to Starlink, or SatNet.
The next launch of the week came from China, where a Long March 2D blasted off Wednesday evening carrying SuperView Neo 2-05 & 06. SuperView is a set of SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellites used by a Chinese Mapping company.
Moving on to Falcon 9 which took off from Vandenberg Thursday evening carrying Starlink Group 17-17. The group of 25 satellites were deployed successfully, and the rocket’s booster was safely returned to Earth, where it touched down on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You”.
Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 17-17. Photo Credit: SpaceX.
Back to China where a Long March 2C carried Shiyan 33 to orbit overnight Thursday into Friday. Shiyan 33 is classified by the Chinese government as a “space environment research satellite”. As with all Shiyan launches, its true purpose is not known.
The final launch for the week took place on the coast of New Zealand at the Mahia Peninsula. Electron carried 2 Pathfinder satellites designed for “Position Navigation, and Timing”. These satellites are a demo mission to see how this future PNT constellation can coordinate with constellations like GNSS and Galileo. The mission was officially titled “Daughter Of The Stars”.
Mission patch for Electron’s “Daughter Of The Stars” mission. Photo Credit: Rocket Lab.
There we have it everyone, 5 launches, 5 rockets, always fun to see. Next week is shaping up to be an early contender for most exciting week of the year. Obviously the big ticket item is SLS and Artemis II, sending a crew on an orbital trip around the moon. We at TWS will have coverage and updates before, during and after the launch on X at https://x.com/TWSsocials. Not to be lost in the excitement of the moon is one of the last launches for Atlas V, as well as demo launches for China’s Tianlong 3 and Russia’s Soyuz 5. I will of course be back here to cover all of said excitement here on The Weekly Rocket Report!
As always feel free to write to me at rickyew2112@gmail.com, or find me on X @Rickyew2112
Sic Itur Ad Astra
(Thus They Journey to the Stars)