Global Launch Flurry Puts Vulcan USSF-87, Crew-12 and Ariane 64 Debut in the Spotlight

Overview

• United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur VC4S is slated for Feb. 12 from Cape Canaveral to deliver GSSAP 7 and 8 plus a Propulsive ESPA training spacecraft to geosynchronous orbit.
• SpaceX and NASA plan to launch Crew-12 on Feb. 12 at 6:01 a.m. EST, sending Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev to the ISS aboard Crew Dragon Freedom for an extended eight to nine month stay.
• The Crew-12 Falcon 9 will target the first booster landing at the new Landing Zone 40 after stage separation, with B1101 flying its second mission.
• Ariane 6’s first 64-configuration flight is scheduled to carry 32 Amazon Leo internet satellites to low Earth orbit from Kourou, marking a key step for Europe’s launcher and Amazon’s constellation plans.
• Additional launches on the manifest include Russia’s Proton-M/DM-3 with the Elektro-L n°5 weather satellite and China’s Jielong 3 with an undisclosed payload that outside reports have suggested could be Pakistani, alongside three Starlink missions using reused Falcon 9 boosters.