UPDATE 4: September 15, 2013, 10:30 am ET:   This will be the last update for this article.  Check back at SpacePolicyOnline.com for further information on the launches that have not yet occurred.   This morning, Elon Musk tweeted that the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch was being delayed until September 29 or 30.

UPDATE 3: September 14, 2013, 3:30 pm ET:  The Antares launch has slipped at least one day, from September 17 to September 18.

UPDATE 2: September 14, 2013, 8:05 am ET:  Japan succeeded in launching its new Epsilon rocket at 1:00 am EDT this morning (2:00 pm Japan Standard Time).

UPDATE:  September 13, 2013, 4:25 pm ET.   As we said, launch dates can always slip, and SpaceX’s already has.  The Canadian Space Agency, whose CASSIOPE satellite will be aboard the rocket, tweeted and updated its website about 4:00 pm EDT to say the launch has been delayed to a “later date.”  We’ve updated the link about the SpaceX launch to a story we just posted about the launch, including the postponement.

ORIGINAL STORY: September 13, 2013.  Four especially important space launches are on tap in the next several days beginning overnight tonight Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).   Japan, the United States and Russia all have a lot riding on the outcome of these events.

First up is Japan’s second attempt to launch its new Epsilon rocket.   That is scheduled for 12:45 am EDT Saturday (in the wee hours overnight  tonight, but officially tomorrow).  It will be mid-afternoon local time at the launch site in Ucihnoura, Japan — 1:45 pm Japan Standard Time.  The launch window is open for 45 minutes. 

Next up on Sunday, according to the latest rumors, will be SpaceX’s first launch of a new version its Falcon 9 rocket, the Falcon 9 v1.1.   It also will be the first SpaceX launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.    SpaceX has released little information, but a NASA launch manifest currently shows the launch on Sunday, September 15, between 1600-1800 Z (12:00 pm -2:00 pm EDT, or 9:00-11:00 am local time at the launch site).   [Other sources also report that this is the launch date and time, but H/T to @Jeff_Foust for pointing out this NASA manifest, which is the most official of those sources.]

On Tuesday, September 17,  Orbital Sciences Corporation is planning the first flight of its Antares rocket with a Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station.  This is Orbital’s demonstration launch for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.  Launch is from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the coast of Virginia at 11:16 am EDT.

Last is the return-to-flight of Russia’s Proton rocket.  The launch date is uncertain.  It was to have taken place on Sunday, but has been postponed while engineers check out an anomalous reading detected in the rocket’s first stage earlier this week.

Obviously all launch dates and times are subject to change due to weather or technical considerations.

In summary, these four very important launches are expected to take place as follows:

• SATURDAY, 12:45 am EDT/1:45 pm Japan Standard Time.  First launch of JAXA’s Epsilon rocket, Uchinoura, Japan
• SUNDAY, 12:00 – 2:00 pm EDT/9:00-11:00 am Pacific Daylight Time.   First launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 v1.1, Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
• TUESDAY, 11:16 am EDT.   First launch of Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Antares rocket with Cygnus spacecraft to International Space Station, Wallops Island, VA
• TBD.   Return to flight of Russia’s Proton rocket, Baikonur, Kazakhstan (was scheduled for Sunday, but last minute anomalous reading being investigated)

SpaceX is getting ready for the first launch of its new version of the Falcon 9, the Falcon 9 v1.1, carrying a Canadian scientific satellite and five smaller satellites.  SpaceX is being cautious about announcing a launch date, and until moments ago indicators were that it would be on Sunday.  One of the customers announced about 4:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), however, that the launch has been postponed to an unspecified “later date.”

SpaceX’s website makes no mention of the launch (at least we cannot find anything).   The FAA granted a safety waiver for the launch last month and identified September as the launch time frame.  This is SpaceX’s first launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA and the waiver was needed because of weather conditions common off the California coast in September.

Other sources have suggested various dates for the launch, but the most official indications have come from two of the customers and a NASA launch manifest, all of which were showing Sunday, September 15, as the launch date until moments ago.   The planned launch time apparently was 12:00 noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), or 9:00 am Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) at the launch site.

The main payload is the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA’s) Cascade SmallSat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer (CASSIOPE) satellite to study the space environment and demonstrate telecommunications technology.  CSA issued a press release earlier today stating that the launch was scheduled for Sunday at 12:00 noon EDT.  Another customer, the University of Colorado-Boulder, already had announced that the launch would be on September 15.  Students at UC-Boulder built one of the five smaller satellites that will be launched along with CASSIOPE.   The Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer (DANDE) satellite will study the Earth’s thermosphere.   A NASA manifest of launches of interest to the agency also shows September 15 as the launch date, with the time listed as 1600-1800Z, which would be 12:00-2:00 pm EDT, consistent with the CSA announcement.

Meanwhile, however, SpaceX founder and CTO Elon Musk (@elonmusk) tweeted at 2:04 EDT this morning (Friday) that anomalies were detected during a static fire test yesterday and the launch date is “TBD.”   At about 4:00 pm EDT, CSA tweeted (@csa_asc) and updated its website with the message that the launch “is delayed to a later date.”

Jeff Foust reports in his NewSpace Journal blog that SpaceX officials speaking the AIAA’s Space 2013 conference over the past few days emphasized that the Falcon 9 v1.1 is “trying a lot of things for the first time” and is “a bit of a nail-biter.”

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today reveals that DOD and NASA plan to spend a total of about $44 billion on space launch activities over the next 5 years and $7 billion of that is for developing NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). 

GAO explains that today’s report  (a two page letter followed by a set of briefing charts) is only a first step in responding to a request from the House Homeland Security Committee on impediments to economical procurement of government launch vehicles and services.   This report presents data on how much DOD and NASA plan to spend in FY2014-2018 on procurement and on research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) related to launch vehicles and services.  It makes no recommendations.

Using “then-year” dollars, which are adjusted for expected inflation, GAO found that DOD and NASA plan to spend “nearly $44 billion” over that time period, of which about $28 billion (65 percent) is for procurement and approximately $11 billion (26 percent) is for RDT&E.  The rest is for “other,” such as personnel and facilities.

Procurement funding is split $16 billion for DOD and $12 billion for NASA.  DOD’s costs are largely for procurement of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) services for national security satellites.  NASA’s figure includes funding not only to launch its own satellites and for commercial crew launches, but launching weather satellites for NOAA.

RDT&E spending is split $719 million for DOD and $10.5 billion for NASA.  Of NASA’s $10.5 billion, $7 billion is for the Space Launch System and associated ground systems. 

GAO does not specify how much of the RDT&E funding is for commercial crew, but notes that NASA’s RDT&E funding drops “steeply, over $300 million from FY 16 to FY 17, largely due to decreased funding for the Commercial Crew Program…..”   It also says that NASA could not separate launch costs from International Space Station cargo and crew transportation costs so GAO included all cargo and crew transportation costs.