"Vulcan's Maiden Voyage and SpaceX Rivalry Intensify as Moon Landings Loom"

The upcoming week features several notable space launches, including the maiden flight of ULA's Vulcan rocket carrying the Peregrine lunar lander, two SpaceX Falcon 9 launches deploying Starlink satellites, and three Chinese launches with varying degrees of information available. ULA's Vulcan is set to launch on Jan. 8, while SpaceX's missions are scheduled for Jan. 7 and Jan. 8 from Florida and California, respectively. Additionally, a new Chinese private venture, Orienspace, will attempt a sea-launch of its first vehicle, Gravity-1, on Jan. 9. The week will also see the launch of ExPace's Kuaizhou 1A rocket with an unknown payload and CAS Space's Kinetica-1 on its third flight.