Space launches

🇳🇿 Electron – Bridging The Swarm (NeonSat-1A) – Rocket Lab (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

Unknown Pad — Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

The NeonSat-1A, carrying a high-resolution optical camera, is designed to test the constellation capabilities of the South Korean government's Earth observation micro-satellite constellation NeonSat (New-space Earth Observation Satellite), in particular technology improvements identified from operations of NeonSat-1 after its launch in April 2024. These technologies will in turn be incorporated into the next 10 NeonSat under construction, as well as providing more site re-visiting capabilities along with NeonSat-1.

The NeonSat constellation is the first satellite system developed by the government using a mass-production approach for precise monitoring of the Korean Peninsula, lead by the Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea’s leading university dedicated to science and technology. Designed to capture near-real time natural disaster monitoring for the Korean peninsula, KAIST’s NEONSAT constellation is a collaboration across multiple Korean academic, industry, and research institutions, including SaTReC, which is leading the program’s system design and engineering.

The NEONSAT program is funded by the Korean government’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT).

🇯🇵 Kii-based Advanced & Instant ROcket System – Flight 3 – Space One (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Test Flight

Space One Launch Pad (no Wikipedia article) — Spaceport Kii, Japan

Third flight of the KAIROS launch vehicle.

4 satellites will be on board:

* TATARA-1R

* SC-Sat1a

* HErO

* AETS-1

🇳🇴 Spectrum – Onward and Upward – Isar Aerospace (Private) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Test Flight

Orbital Launch Pad — Andøya Spaceport

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)

🇺🇸 Falcon 9 Block 5 – Transporter 16 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) – SpaceX (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Dedicated Rideshare

Space Launch Complex 4E — Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

SpaceX 🇺🇸 (Commercial)

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

🇳🇿 Electron – Kakushin Rising (JAXA Rideshare) – Rocket Lab (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Technology

Unknown Pad — Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency 🇯🇵 (Government)

JAXA-manifested rideshare of eight separate spacecraft that includes educational small sats, an ocean monitoring satellite, a demonstration satellite for ultra-small multispectral cameras, and a deployable antenna that can be packed tightly using origami folding techniques and unfurled to 25 times its size.

The satellites were originally planned to launch with RAISE-4 on a Japanese Epsilon-S rocket, but the Epsilon-S was heavily delayed due to test firing failures.

The 8 satellites are:

* MAGNARO-II

* KOSEN-2R

* WASEDA-SAT-ZERO-II

* FSI-SAT2

* OrigamiSat-2

* Mono-Nikko

* ARICA-2

* PRELUDE

🇳🇿 Electron – StriX Launch 8 – Rocket Lab (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

Unknown Pad — Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synspective 🇯🇵 (Private)

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.

🇮🇳 PSLV XL – EOS-10 (Oceansat-3A) – ISRO (Government) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad — Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

Oceansat-3A is a part of ISRO's Oceansat program. Its main purpose is ocean observation, which includes gathering ocean color data, sea surface temperature measurements and wind vector data.

🇺🇸 Falcon 9 Block 5 – Transporter 17 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) – SpaceX (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Dedicated Rideshare

Space Launch Complex 4E — Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

SpaceX 🇺🇸 (Commercial)

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

🇧🇷 HANBIT-Nano – Flight 2 – Innospace (Private) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Test Flight

HANBIT Pad — Alcântara Space Center, Federative Republic of Brazil

Innospace 🇰🇷 (Private)

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

🇬🇫 Vega-C – Sentinel-3C & FLEX – Avio S.p.A (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) — Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

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.

🇬🇫 Ariane 62 – Metop-SG B1 – Arianespace (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

Ariane Launch Area 4 — Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

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

🇺🇸 Firefly Alpha Block 2 – QuickSounder – Firefly Aerospace (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

Space Launch Complex 2W — Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 🇺🇸 (Government)

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.

🇰🇷 KSLV-2 Nuri – NeonSat-2 to 6 – Korea Aerospace Research Institute (Government) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

LC-2 — Naro Space Center, South Korea

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.

🇺🇸 Falcon 9 Block 5 – Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) – SpaceX (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Dedicated Rideshare

Space Launch Complex 4E — Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

SpaceX 🇺🇸 (Commercial)

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

🇺🇸 Falcon 9 Block 5 – KOMPSAT-7A – SpaceX (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

Unknown Pad — Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Korea Aerospace Research Institute 🇰🇷 (Government)

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.

🇬🇫 Vega-C – KOMPSAT-6 & PLATiNO 1 – Arianespace (Commercial) — Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) — Earth Science

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV) — Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Italian Space Agency 🇮🇹 (Government) , Korea Aerospace Research Institute 🇰🇷 (Government)

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.