Space launches

Shenzhou 22 (Chinese: 神舟二十二号) will be the 22nd flight of the Shenzhou program. The spacecraft will be launched without crew to replace Shenzhou 20 that was damaged by orbital debris on the descent module porthole window, and thus deemed unsuitable for crew re-entry. The spacecraft will later return three Chinese astronauts on the 10th flight to the Chinese Space Station back to Earth, after launching on Shenzhou 21.

Soyuz MS-28 will carry three cosmonauts and one astronaut to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikayev and Oleg Platonov.

SpaceX Crew-12 is the twelfth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Ninth cargo delivery mission to the Chinese space station.

Thirteenth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imaging and other reconnaissance capabilities.

Details TBD.

34th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

Cargo Dragon 2 brings supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support science and research investigations that occur onboard the orbiting laboratory.

Details TBD.

Details TBD.

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.

The Globalstar global mobile communications network offers global, digital real time voice, data and fax services via its Low Earth Orbit satellite constellation. The constellation operates in a 1410 km orbit inclined at 52 degrees.

In early 2022, Globalstar contracted with MDA for the construction of 17 new 2nd generation refresh satellites to replenish the existing constellation. Rocket Lab is sub-contracted to build the satellites' buses and the launch dispensers.

Details TBD.

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.

Joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to investigate the interaction between Earth’s protective shield – the magnetosphere – and the supersonic solar wind.

Note: Launch vehicle name is provisional.

First orbital full version launch of the South Korean military small satellite launch vehicle, after 2 sub-orbital tests of individual stages on 30 March and 30 December 2022, and 1 orbital test flight without the 2nd stage on 4 December 2023. Details TBD.

GISAT-1A (GEO Imaging Satellite) is an Indian earth observing satellite operating from geostationary orbit to facilitate continuous observation of Indian sub-continent, quick monitoring of natural hazards and disaster.

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, this constellation will be managed by Kuiper Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. This constellation is planned to be composed of 3,276 satellites. The satellites are projected to be placed in 98 orbital planes in three orbital layers, one at 590 km, 610 km and 630 km altitude.

29 satellites are carried on this launch.

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.

A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.

Details TBD.

First test launch of CASC’s Long March 10B rocket.

Note: Payload identities uncertain.

Batch of 16 Rassvet-3 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Russian Byuro-1440 (Bureau 1440) constellation for broadband high-speed internet access in Russia.

Second test flight of the Isar Spectrum launch vehicle. This launch will carry 5 cubesats and 1 non-separable experiment as part of European Space Agency (ESA)'s “Boost!” program:

* CyBEEsat (TU Berlin)

* TriSat-S (University of Maribor)

* Platform 6 (EnduroSat)

* FramSat-1 (NTNU)

* SpaceTeamSat1 (TU Wien Space Team)

* Let It Go (Dcubed, non-separable experiment)

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, this constellation will be managed by Kuiper Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. This constellation is planned to be composed of 3,276 satellites. The satellites are projected to be placed in 98 orbital planes in three orbital layers, one at 590 km, 610 km and 630 km altitude.

35-40 satellites will be carried on each Ariane 6 launch.

Test flight of the H3-30 variant of the H3 launch vehicle with 3 LE-9 engines in the first stage and no SRBs. The flight will carry a dummy main payload (Vehicle Evaluation Payload 5, VEP-5) and several hitchhiking small satellites:

* PETREL

* STARS-X

* BRO-22

* VERTECS

* HORN-L/R

LOXSAT 1 is a demonstration satellite of a complete cryogenic oxygen fluid management system in orbit, developed by Eta Space and sponsored by NASA's Tipping Point program.

The system will be integrated on a Rocket Lab Photon-LEO satellite bus and collect critical cryogenic fluid management data in orbit for 9 months, demonstrating capabilities of in-space cryogenic storage and transferal. Eta Space plans to use technology developed for this mission to develop a truly commercial depot intended to serve multiple customers in the future.

Synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.

AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, required to achieve 24/7 continuous cellular broadband service coverage in the United States, with beams designed to support a capacity of up to 40 MHz, enabling peak data transmission speeds up to 120 Mbps, supporting voice, full data and video applications. The Block 2 BlueBirds, featuring as large as 2400 square foot communications arrays, will be the largest satellites ever commercially deployed in Low Earth orbit once launched.

This launch will feature 3 satellites.

Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.

Contracted by NASA under the Small Business Innovation Research Phase 3 contract, Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK servicing spacecraft will rendezvous and attach to NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to re-boost its orbit. This aims to demonstrate a key capability for the future of space exploration and extending the Swift mission’s science lifetime in gamma ray astronomy.

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, this constellation will be managed by Kuiper Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. This constellation is planned to be composed of 3,276 satellites. The satellites are projected to be placed in 98 orbital planes in three orbital layers, one at 590 km, 610 km and 630 km altitude.

29 satellites are carried on this launch.

The SpaceLogistics MRV-1 is a mission extension payload including a mission robotic vehicle (MRV) and multiple mission extension pods (MEPs).

Tranche 1 Tracking Layer A is one of five missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Tracking Layer constellation, which will provide global indications, warning, tracking, and targeting of advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems.

Tranche 1 Tracking Layer C is one of five missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Tracking Layer constellation, which will provide global indications, warning, tracking, and targeting of advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems.

Tranche 1 Tracking Layer E is one of five missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Tracking Layer constellation, which will provide global indications, warning, tracking, and targeting of advanced missile threats, including hypersonic missile systems.

Tranche 1 Transport Layer A is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites.

The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance.

This launch carries 21 satellites manufactured by Northrop Grumman.

Tranche 1 Transport Layer D is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites.

The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance.

Tranche 1 Transport Layer E is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites.

The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance.

Tranche 1 Transport Layer F is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites.

The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance.

First test launch of CASC’s Long March 12B rocket.

First low-altitude hop test of a Themis demonstrator, with a targeted altitude up to 100 m.

First flight of the RFA One launch vehicle. Will carry 7 satellites for various companies and organizations coordinated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

* AllBertEinStein

* ARTICA

* Curium Two

* ERMINAZ

* PCIOD

* Separation Ring Mission

* SpaceDREAM

Shenzhou 23 will be the 23rd flight of the Shenzhou program.

First test launch of Deep Blue Aerospace’s Nebula-1 rocket.

The test flight profile is reported to be sub-orbital.

Soyuz MS-29 will carry three cosmonauts and one astronaut to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, as well as NASA astronaut Anil Menon.

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.

Second flight of the upgraded Japanese HTV-X spacecraft designed to resupply the International Space Station.

Aspera houses an ultraviolet telescope and will examine hot gas in the intergalactic medium, thought to be contributing to the birth of stars and planets. Aspera will be the first NASA astrophysics mission to gather and map these ultraviolet light signatures, potentially unlocking a deeper understanding of the origins of stars, planets, and life in the universe.

Third of EUMETSAT's third generation of weather satellite.

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.

35th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

Cargo Dragon 2 brings supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support science and research investigations that occur onboard the orbiting laboratory.

Classified mission launched by the Space Development Agency (SDA) for Tranche 2 Transport Layer.

Chang'e 7/CE-7 is scheduled to launch in 2026, including an orbiter, a lander, a mini-hopping probe, and a rover. The mission will land in the South Pole regions of the Moon to study lunar surface environment around the South Pole, especially in looking for water ice in lunar soil.

Sentinel-3C is the third satellite in the Sentinel-3 constellation, which provides high-accuracy optical, radar and altimetry data for marine and land services.

The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) satellite is a part of ESA's Earth Explorer program. The satellite will map vegetation fluorescence to quantify photosynthetic activity.

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX Crew-13 is the thirteenth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

3 high-throughput communications satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) built by Boeing and operated by SES.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a NASA infrared space telescope with a 2.4 m (7.9 ft) wide field of view primary mirror and two scientific instruments. The Wide-Field Instrument (WFI) is a 300.8-megapixel multi-band visible and near-infrared camera, providing a sharpness of images comparable to that achieved by the Hubble Space Telescope over a 0.28 square degree field of view, 100 times larger than imaging cameras on the Hubble. The Coronagraphic Instrument (CGI) is a high-contrast, small field of view camera and spectrometer covering visible and near-infrared wavelengths using novel starlight-suppression technology. Roman objectives include a search for extra-solar planets using gravitational microlensing, and probing the expansion history of the Universe and the growth of cosmic structure, with the goal of measuring the effects of dark energy, the consistency of general relativity, and the curvature of spacetime.

Five Astranis MicroGEO communications satellite to be inserted in a custom geostationary orbit, from where they conduct on-orbit maneuvers to reach their individual slots.

The 5 satellites include:

* Apco 1 & Apco 2 (Mexico)

* Thaicom-9 (Thailand)

* 1x for Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan)

* 1x for MB Group (Oman)

Classified mission launched by the Space Development Agency (SDA) for Tranche 2 Tracking Layer.

Classified mission launched by the Space Development Agency (SDA) for Tranche 2 Tracking Layer.

QuickSounder is the first satellite mission of the Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON) program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which aims to replace the current Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) series of polar orbit weather satellites. This pathfinder mission will demonstrate NOAA's ability to launch a small satellite within 3 years, flying a refurbished Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) instrument to polar orbit.

True Anomaly’s Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle (AOV) will support U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command’s VICTUS HAZE Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) mission with operations in orbit proximity with another spacecraft built by Rocket Lab National Security.

The spacecraft, once completed, will remain on call until the U.S. Space Force provides the notice to launch. The Firefly team will then have 24 hours to transport the payload fairing to the pad, mate the fairing to the Alpha rocket, fuel the rocket, and launch within the first available window.

Second orbital launch attempt for the South Korean start-up Innospace and its HANBIT-Nano small launch vehicle.

First flight of Blue Origin's Blue Moon MK1 lunar lander, MK1-SN001 "Endurance".

NeonSat-2 to 6 are part of the South Korean government's Earth observation micro-satellite constellation NeonSat (New-space Earth Observation Satellite). The NeonSat constellation is the first satellite system developed by the government using a mass-production approach for precise monitoring of the Korean Peninsula.

Second of EUMETSAT's second generation of Metop weather satellites.

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.

Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.

The Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) is a NASA Earth science mission led by Colorado State University that will investigate the behavior of tropical storms in order to better represent these storms in weather and climate models. It consists of 3 SmallSats flying in tight coordination to study why convective storms, heavy precipitation, and clouds occur exactly when and where they form.

Each satellite will have a high frequency precipitation radar that observes rapid changes in convective cloud depth and intensities. 1 of the 3 satellites also will carry a microwave radiometer to provide the spatial content of the larger scale weather observed by the radars. By flying so closely together, the satellites will use the slight differences in when they make observations to apply a novel time-differencing approach to estimate the vertical transport of convective mass.

MMX is a Japanese scientific mission to land on Phobos, one of the two moons of Mars, to collect samples before bringing them back to Earth.

The mission includes a small French/German rover to explore the surface of Phobos.

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.

KOMPSAT-7 and 7A are the follow-up satellites of KOMPSAT-3A, whose mission is to provide high-resolution satellite images to satisfy South-Korea's governmental and institutional needs.

Korean Multi-purpose Satellite 6 (KOMPSAT-6) is the sixth South Korean Earth observation satellite of the KOMPSAT series. It is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar with a ground resolution between 0.5 and 20 meters.

PLATiNO 1 is an experimental X-band SAR earth observation satellite project by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), with a radar payload from Thales Alenia Space Italia. The X-band SAR will first operate in passive mode at 619 km altitude, then in active mode after the satellites moves lower to a 410 km orbit.

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.

2nd lunar lander developed by Firefly Aerospace. The Blue Ghost lander will be of a new two-stage version utilizing an Elytra Dark transfer vehicle to place it and the European Space Agency's Lunar Pathfinder experimental communication satellite into Lunar orbit.

The lander will land on the far side of the Moon with 2 NASA payloads:

* Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment (LuSEE-Night)

* User Terminal (UT)

Classified mission launched by the Space Development Agency (SDA) for Tranche 2 Transport Layer.

Classified mission launched by the Space Development Agency (SDA) for Tranche 2 Transport Layer.

Up to 18 satellites manufactured by MDA for Canadian satellite operator Telesat's Lightspeed constellation.

Payload consists of two satellites for Europe's Galileo navigation system.

CHORUS is MDA's next generation Earth observation constellation, consisting of 2 radar satellites (C-band SAR and X-band SAR), in a 53.5 degree 600 km altitude LEO, with the X-band trailing the C-band by 60 minutes. A collaborative multi-sensor constellation, CHORUS will bring together diverse and unique imagery and data sources and provide a new level of near real-time insight and innovative Earth observation services. Operating in a unique mid-inclination orbit, CHORUS will be able to image day or night, regardless of weather conditions, with daily access of up to 95% of the coverage area. From an industry-leading 700km-wide imaging swath down to sub-metre high resolution, CHORUS will provide the most extensive and unrivalled Earth observation radar imaging capacity available on the market in a single mission.

This is the 25th flight of the Orbital ATK's uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its 24th flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

Inmarsat-7 is the seventh generation of satellites for the London-based global mobile satellite communications operator Inmarsat. The three satellites of the series - GX-7, 8 & 9 - will have an improved fully reconfigurable Ka-band payload for Inmarsat's Global Xpress services. They are optimized for real-time mobility and feature thousands of dynamically-formed beams that direct capacity with laser-like precision over high-demand areas, to provide HTS (High Throughput) broadband connectivity for the mobility market.

The satellites will be based on Airbus’ new standard and fully reconfigurable satellite product line OneSat. Fully reconfigurable and featuring on board processing and active antennas, the three Ka-band spacecraft will be able to adjust their coverage, capacity and frequency.

This is the third mission to the Moon for Intuitive Machines with its Nova-C lunar lander. It is to deliver 130 kg of payloads to the lunar surface. This mission also includes a rideshare possibility due to available excess capacity on the launch vehicle.

Maiden flight of the Neutron launch vehicle.

ΣYNDEO-3 is a satellite built by Redwire Corporation for the European Union/European Space Agency (ESA)’s In-Orbit Demonstration and In-Orbit Validation Programme (IOD/IOV), which will carry 10 different technological demonstration payload from institutions of Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the European Commission. The satellite is built on Redwire's Hammerhead spacecraft platform.

First flight of the Dream Chaser Spaceplane, on a free-flying mission in Low Earth Orbit.

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, this constellation will be managed by Kuiper Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. This constellation is planned to be composed of 3,276 satellites. The satellites are projected to be placed in 98 orbital planes in three orbital layers, one at 590 km, 610 km and 630 km altitude.

35-40 satellites will be carried on each Ariane 6 launch.

The Globalstar global mobile communications network offers global, digital real time voice, data and fax services via its Low Earth Orbit satellite constellation. The constellation operates in a 1410 km orbit inclined at 52 degrees.

In early 2022, Globalstar contracted with MDA for the construction of 17 new 2nd generation refresh satellites to replenish the existing constellation. Rocket Lab is sub-contracted to build the satellites' buses and the launch dispensers.

Demonstration flight of the Astrobotic Griffin lander and its engines, initially contracted for the cancelled NASA VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission. The vacated payload spot will now host the FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) lunar rover from Astrolab.

Shenzhou 24 will be the 24th flight of the Shenzhou program.

First uncrewed orbital test flight of the Gaganyaan capsule.

No description.

First flight of Astra Space's second generation small satellite launch vehicle.

Starliner-1 is the first operational flight of a Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Due to problems with the Starliner spacecraft's RCS attitude control system during the Crew Flight Test mission in 2024, this mission has been re-scoped to not carry a crew by NASA. It will instead deliver necessary cargo to the orbital laboratory and allow in-flight validation of the system upgrades implemented following the Crew Flight Test mission last year.

Starliner-2 is the second crewed operational flight of a Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

HawkEye 360 is a a space-based civil global intelligence satellite network using radio frequency (RF) technology to help monitor transportation across air, land and sea and assist with emergencies, and to provide civil SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) mission.

The constellation of small satellites (named Hawk ) will collect information on specific radio signals worldwide to provide high-precision radio frequency mapping and analytics from Low Earth orbit (LEO).

BlackSky Gen-3 Earth-imaging satellites

BlackSky Gen-3 Earth-imaging satellites

BlackSky Gen-3 Earth-imaging satellites

BlackSky Gen-3 Earth-imaging satellites