2017 in spaceflight

2017 in spaceflight

Highlights from spaceflight in 2017[a]
Orbital launches
First	5 January
Last	26 December
Total	91
Successes	83
Failures	6
Partial failures	2
Catalogued	86
National firsts
Satellite	Bangladesh  Finland  Ghana  Latvia  Mongolia  Slovakia  Angola
Rockets
Maiden flights	SS-520 Kaituozhe-2 Kuaizhou 1A Electron LVM3 Simorgh Vector-R
Retirements	Soyuz-U Delta II 7920 Zenit-3F
Crewed flights
Orbital	4
Total travellers	11
EVAs	10
v t e

Notable spaceflight activities in 2017 included the maiden orbital flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (also called LVM3) on 5 June and the first suborbital test of Rocket Lab's Electron rocket, inaugurating the Mahia spaceport in New Zealand. The rocket is named for its innovative Rutherford engine which feeds propellants via battery-powered electric motors instead of the usual gas generator and turbopumps.

Overview[edit]

China launched its new missile-derived Kaituozhe-2 variant on 2 March. The Japanese SS-520, a suborbital sounding rocket modified for orbital flight, failed to reach orbit in January.^[1] If successful, it would have become the smallest and lightest vehicle to ever put an object in orbit.^[2]

The venerable Russian Soyuz-U workhorse was retired after its 786th mission on 22 February. On 30 March, the SES-10 mission was launched with a previously flown Falcon 9 first stage, achieving a key milestone in the SpaceX reusable launch system development program; several other Falcon 9 first-stage boosters were re-used since then.

After a record-breaking 13-year mission observing Saturn, its rings and moons, the Cassini space probe was deliberately destroyed by plunging into Saturn's atmosphere, on 15 September 2017.^[3]

A record number of 466 satellites were attempted to be launched thanks to an increase in the number of small satellites. 289 of all satellites weighted less than 10 kg.^[4] The number of small satellites launched exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts.^[5]

Orbital launches[edit]

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January[edit]
5 January 15:18	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y39[6]	Xichang LC-2[6]		CASC
		TJS-2	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 January 04:11:12	Kuaizhou 1A			Jiuquan LS-95A		CASIC
		Jilin-1 Video-03 (Lingqiao 1-03)[7]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Caton-1	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Xingyun Shiyan 1	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
14 January 17:54:39	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-029	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Iridium NEXT 1–10	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Return to flight mission for Falcon 9 after an accident in September 2016. First stage landed on a drone ship.
14 January 23:33	SS-520[8]			Uchinoura		JAXA
		TRICOM-1	University of Tokyo	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	14 January	Launch failure
		Contact lost at +20 sec after launch. Aborted ignition of 2nd stage.[1]
21 January 00:42	Atlas V 401		AV-066	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-273 / SBIRS GEO-3	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Missile warning	In orbit	Operational
24 January 07:44	H-IIA 204		F32	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		DSN-2	DSN / JSDF	Geosynchronous	Communications (military)	In orbit	Operational
28 January 01:03:34	Soyuz ST-B / Fregat-MT			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		Hispasat AG1	Hispasat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First GTO launch by Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February[edit]
14 February 21:39	Ariane 5 ECA		VA235	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Intelsat 32e / SkyBrasil-1	Intelsat / SKY Brasil	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Telkom-3S	Telkom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 February 03:58	PSLV-XL		C37	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Cartosat-2D	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		INS-1A, 1B	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Al-Farabi 1	KazGU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ BGUSAT	Ben Gurion University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	24 February 2023[9]	Successful
		⚀ DIDO-2	SpacePharma	Low Earth (SSO)	Microgravity research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Flock-3p × 88	Planet Labs	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 8	Spire Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Nayif 1	EIAST/AUS	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ /// PEASS	PEASS Consortium	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Second largest number of satellites launched on a single rocket (104).
19 February 14:38:59	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-030	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-10	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	19 March 2017, 14:46	Successful
		First SpaceX launch from LC-39A. Carries the SAGE III and Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) Earth-observation instruments to the ISS. First stage returned to Landing Zone 1.
22 February 05:58	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-05 / 66P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	20 July	Successful
		786th and final flight of Soyuz-U.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March[edit]
1 March 17:50	Atlas V 401		AV-068	Vandenberg SLC-3E		United Launch Alliance
		USA-274 / Intruder 8	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		NROL-79 mission.
2 March 23:53	Kaituozhe-2			Jiuquan		CASIC
		Tiankun-1	CASIC	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	7 July 2023[10]	Successful
		Maiden flight.
7 March 01:49:24	Vega			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		Sentinel-2B	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
16 March 06:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-031	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Echostar 23	EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Due to the satellite's heavy mass (~5,600 kg),[11] the rocket flew in its expendable configuration and the first-stage booster was not recovered.[12]
17 March 01:20:00	H-IIA 202		F33	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		IGS-Radar 5	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
19 March 00:18	Delta IV M+(5,4)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-275 / WGS-9	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
30 March 22:27	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-032	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		SES-10	SES S.A.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First flight of a Falcon 9 re-used first stage.[13] SpaceX recovered the stage again.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April[edit]
12 April 11:04:04	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y43[6]	Xichang LC-2[6]		CASC
		Shijian 13[14]	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
18 April 15:11	Atlas V 401		AV-070	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Cygnus CRS OA-7 SS John Glenn[15]	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	12 June 2017	Successful
		⚀ Altair 1	Millennium Space Systems	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ IceCube	GSFC	Low Earth	Technology demonstration Atmospheric research	3 October 2018[16]	Successful
		⚀ CSUNSat 1	CSUN	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	5 May 2019[17]	Successful
		⚀ CXBN 2	MSU	Low Earth	X-ray astronomy	1 March 2019[18]	Successful
		⚀ /// SHARC (Biarri-Point)	Project Biarri / AFRL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	4 May 2019[19]	Successful
		QB50 x 31	Various	Low Earth	Technology demonstration Atmospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		QB50 mission includes first Finnish satellite Aalto-2, Greek satellite UPSat
20 April 07:13:44	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-04 / 50S	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 51/52	3 September 2017 01:22	Successful
		Crewed flight with two cosmonauts.[20]
20 April 11:41:35	Long March 7		Y2[22]	Wenchang LC-2		CASC
		Tianzhou 1	CMSA	Low Earth (Tiangong 2)	Tiangong 2 resupply	22 September 2017 10:00	Successful
		SilkRoad-1 / Silu 1[21]	Xi'an Institute of Surveying and Mapping	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		SilkRoad-1 was released on 1 August from Tianzhou 1.[21]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May[edit]
1 May 11:15	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-033	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		NROL-76 / USA-276	NRO	Low Earth[23]	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		First stage returned to Landing Zone 1.
4 May 21:50	Ariane 5 ECA		VA236	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Koreasat-7	KT Corporation	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SGDC-1	Telebras	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
5 May 11:27	GSLV Mk II		F09	Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		GSAT-9	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 May 23:21	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-034	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Inmarsat-5 F4	Inmarsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Due to the satellite's heavy mass (6,070 kg),[24] the rocket flew in its expendable configuration and the first-stage booster was not recovered.[12]
18 May 11:54:53	Soyuz ST-A / Fregat-MT[25]			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		SES-15	SES S.A.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
25 May 04:20:00	Electron		It's a Test	Mahia LC-1A		Rocket Lab
		It's a Test	Rocket Lab	Low Earth	Rocket stage / Flight test	25 May	Launch failure
		First Electron launch. Flight terminated by range safety at an altitude of 224 kilometres (139 mi) due to an error in ground tracking equipment. Carried instruments on the upper stage rather than a payload.[26]
25 May 06:33	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		EKS-2	VKS	Molniya	Missile early warning	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June[edit]
1 June 00:17:46	H-IIA 202		F34	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		QZS-2	CAO	Tundra/Quasi-Zenith Orbit[27]	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
1 June 23:45	Ariane 5 ECA		VA237	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		ViaSat-2	ViaSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Eutelsat 172B	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		This mission carried the heaviest and most expensive commercial payload ever launched, valued at $800 million[28] with a combined payload mass of 9,969 kg for both satellites (10,865 kg total launch mass with dual-deployment hardware).[29]
3 June 21:07	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-035	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-11	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	3 July 2017	Successful
		NICER[31]	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	X-ray astronomy	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ BRAC ONNESHA	BRACU	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	6 May 2019[32]	Successful
		⚀ GhanaSat-1	All Nations University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	22 May 2019[33]	Successful
		⚀ Mazaalai	National University of Mongolia	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	11 May 2019[34]	Successful
		⚀ Nigeria EduSat-1	FUTA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	13 May 2019[35]	Successful
		⚀ TOKI	KIT	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	3 May 2019[36]	Successful
		First stage returned to Landing Zone 1. TOKI, GhanaSat-1, Mazaalai, BRAC ONNESHA, and Nigeria EduSat-1 were carried to ISS as the cargo of SpaceX CRS-11 and deployed into orbit on 7 July 2017.[30]
5 June 11:58	GSLV Mk III		D1	Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		GSAT-19	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden orbital flight.
8 June 03:45	Proton-M / Briz-M		935-61[37]	Baikonur Site 81/24		International Launch Services
		Echostar 21	EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
14 June 09:20	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-06 / 67P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	28 December	Successful
		Sfera-53 2		Low Earth	Radar calibration target	29 November 2018[40]	Successful
		Tanyusha-YuZGU 1	South-West State University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	30 July 2019[41]	Successful
		Tanyusha-YuZGU 2	South-West State University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	8 September 2019[42]	Successful
		TNS-0 2	RISDE	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	15 October 2019[43]	Successful
		Tanyusha-YuZGU, Sfera-53 2, TNS-O No. 2 were small satellites deployed into orbit from the ISS by cosmonauts during an EVA on 17 August 2017.[38][39]
15 June 03:15	Long March 4B		4B-Y31[44]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		HXMT	CAS / IHEP	Low Earth (SSO)	X-ray astronomy	In orbit	Operational
		Zhuhai-1 01	Zhuhai Orbital Control Engineering	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Zhuhai-1 02	Zhuhai Orbital Control Engineering	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		ÑuSat 3	Satellogic	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		CAS-4A	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		CAS-4B	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
18 June 16:12	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y28[6]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		ChinaSat 9A (Zhongxing-9A)[47]	China Satcom	Geosynchronous (intended)	Communications	In orbit	Partial launch failure Operational
		Payload was inserted into a wrong orbit.[45][46] After 16 days of orbit raising maneuvers, the satellite raised its orbit from 16,420 km to 36,000 km, and corrected its longitude to 101.4°E.[citation needed]
23 June 03:59[49]	PSLV-XL		C38	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Cartosat-2E	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		CE-SAT 1	Canon	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Max Valier Sat	Max Valier school, Bozen	Low Earth (SSO)	X-ray astronomy Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		NIUSAT	Noorul Islam University	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Venta-1	Ventspils University College	Low Earth (SSO)	AIS ship tracking	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Aalto-1	Aalto University	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Blue Diamond	Sky and Space Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Green Diamond	Sky and Space Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Red Diamond	Sky and Space Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ CICERO-6	GeoOptics Inc	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ COMPASS-2	FH Aachen	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ D-SAT	D-Orbit	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ InflateSail	University of Surrey	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	3 September 2017 01:27	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 8	Spire Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ LituanicaSAT-2	Vilnius University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ NUDTSat	NUDT	Low Earth (SSO)	Ionosphere research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Pegasus	FH Wiener Neustadt	Low Earth (SSO)	Thermosphere research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ROBUSTA-1B	University of Montpellier	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ skCUBE	University of Zilina	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ SUCHAI-1	University of Chile	Low Earth (SSO)	Ionosphere research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Tyvak-53b	Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	14 March 2023[50]	Successful
		⚀ UCLSat	University College London	Low Earth (SSO)	Ionosphere research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ URSA MAIOR	Sapienza University	Low Earth (SSO)	Thermosphere research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ VZLUSat-1	VZLU	Low Earth (SSO)	Thermosphere research	In orbit	Operational
		Venta-1 was the first Latvian satellite. COMPASS-2, InflateSail, LithuanicaSAT-2, NUDTSat, Pegasus, UCLSat, URSA MAIOR and VZLUSat-2 are part of the QB-50 project led by Von Karman Institute to create a network of cubesats conducting measurements of Earth's lower termosphere and ionosphere.[48]
23 June 18:04	Soyuz-2-1v / Volga			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2519	VKS	Low Earth	Geodesy	23 December 2021[52]	Successful
		Kosmos 2521	VKS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	12 September 2019[53]	Successful
		Napryazhenie / 14F150 / Nivelir.[51] Kosmos 2521, also known as Sputnik Inspektor, was later deployed by Kosmos 2519.
23 June 19:10	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-036	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		BulgariaSat-1	Bulsatcom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Second flight of a Falcon 9 re-used first stage.[54]
25 June 20:25:14	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-037	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Iridium NEXT 11–20	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 June 20:59	Ariane 5 ECA		VA238	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		EuropaSat / Hellas Sat 3	Inmarsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		GSAT-17	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July[edit]
2 July 11:23:23	Long March 5		Y2[56]	Wenchang LC-1		CASC
		Shijian 18[14]	CAST	Geosynchronous	Communications Technology demonstration	2 July 2017	Launch failure
		The cause of the failure was confirmed by CASC later, related to the anomaly happened on one of the YF-77 engine in the first stage.[55]
5 July 23:38	Falcon 9 Full Thrust[58]		F9-038	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Intelsat 35e	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Due to the satellite's heavy mass (6,761 kg),[57] the rocket flew in its expendable configuration and the first-stage booster was not recovered.[12]
14 July 06:36:49	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat-M			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Kanopus-V-IK[64]	Roscosmos	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		CICERO × 3	GeoOptics	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Flying Laptop	Institute of Space Systems	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		NORSAT-1	Norsk Romsenter	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		NORSAT-2	Norsk Romsenter	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		TechnoSat	TU Berlin	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		WNISAT-1R	Weathernews	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Corvus-BC 1, 2 (Lanmapper-BC 1, 2)	Astro Digital	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Failure[65]
		⚀ / Ecuador-UTE-YuZGU	UTE / YuZGU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Flock-2k × 48	Planet Labs	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Iskra-MAI-85	MAI	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 8	Spire Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Mayak	MPU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Partial failure
		⚀ MKA-N × 2	Roscosmos / Dauria Aerospace	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Failure[60][66]
		⚀ NanoACE	Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Delivery of 73 satellites in three orbital altitudes with a single launch.[59] Some cubesats were deployed into unintended orbit or having communication problem.[60] Mayak fails to deploy solar reflector.[61] Glavcosmos has later confirmed upper stage anomaly during the launch.[62][63]
27 July	Simorgh			Semnan		ISA
			ISA	Low Earth		27 July 2017	Launch failure
		The first orbital attempt for Simorgh.[67] Iranian official sources state that the rocket has reached orbit.[68][69] U.S. Strategic Command confirmed that no satellite deployed from the rocket as the rocket suffered a "catastrophic failure" shortly after liftoff.[70][71] The U.S. Air Force's Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base reported that it had not detected any satellite released into low-Earth orbit by the Simorgh SLV.[72] Finally, the United States, France, Germany and Britain have condemned Iran's test of a satellite-launching rocket.[73]
28 July[74] 15:41[75]	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-05 / 51S	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 52/53	14 December 2017 08:48	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August[edit]
2 August 01:58	Vega			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		OPTSAT-3000	Italian Defense Ministry	Low Earth (SSO)	IMINT (Reconnaissance)	In orbit	Operational
		/ VENμS	ISA / CNES	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
14 August 16:31	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-039	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-12	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	17 September 2017	Successful
		⚀ OSIRIS-3U	Penn State	Low Earth	Space weather	7 March 2019[81]	Successful
		Kestrel Eye 2M	U.S. Army	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	28 August 2021[82]	Successful
		⚀ Dellingr/RBLE	GSFC	Low Earth	Technology demonstration / Heliophysics	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ASTERIA	MIT/JPL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Successful[83]
		First flight of Falcon 9 "block 4" upgrade.[76] Last flight of a newly-built Dragon capsule; further missions will use refurbished spacecraft.[77] Carried cosmic-ray detector ISS-CREAM to be installed on the station, and several cubesats to be later deployed from the ISS. Kestrel Eye was deployed into orbit from ISS on 24 October 2017.[78] ASTERIA and Dellingr/RBLE were deployed on 20 November 2017,[79] and OSIRIS-3U was deployed on 21 November 2017.[80]
16 August 22:07	Proton-M / Briz-M		?[37]	Baikonur Site 81/24		RVSN RF
		Blagovest-11L[84]	VKS	Geosynchronous	Communications (military)	In orbit	Operational
18 August 12:29	Atlas V 401		AV-074	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		TDRS-M	NASA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
19 August 05:29	H-IIA 204		F35	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		QZS-3	CAO	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
24 August 18:50	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-040	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		FormoSat-5	NSPO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
26 August 06:04	Minotaur IV / Orion 38			Cape Canaveral SLC-46		Orbital ATK
		ORS-5	ORS	Low Earth	Space surveillance	In orbit	Operational
31 August 13:30	PSLV-XL		C39	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		IRNSS-1H	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Navigation	2 March 2019	Launch failure
		Payload fairing failed to separate, leaving the satellite adrift within the fairing after internally separating from the fourth stage of the rocket.[85] The stage, along with IRNSS-1H, re-entered the atmosphere together on 2 March 2019.[86]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September[edit]
7 September 14:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-041	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		X-37B / OTV-5 / USA-277	U.S. Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration (classified)	27 October 2019 07:51	Successful[87]
11 September 19:23:41	Proton-M / Briz-M		935-65[37]	Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Amazonas 5	Hispasat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 September 21:17:02	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-06 / 52S	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 53/54	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts.[20][88]
22 September 00:02:32	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2522 / GLONASS-M 752	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
24 September 05:49:47	Atlas V 541		AV-072	Vandenberg SLC-3E		United Launch Alliance
		NROL-42 / Trumpet / USA-278	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
28 September 18:52:16	Proton-M / Briz-M		937-03[37]	Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		AsiaSat 9	AsiaSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
29 September 04:21	Long March 2C		2C-Y29[89]	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		Yaogan-30 A	CAS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan-30 B	CAS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan-30 C	CAS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
29 September 21:47	Ariane 5 ECA		VA239	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Intelsat 37e	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BSAT-4a	BSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October[edit]
9 October 04:13	Long March 2D		2D-Y30[89]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		VRSS-2	ABAE / MPPCTII	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
9 October 12:37	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-042	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Iridium NEXT 21–30	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 October 22:01:37	H-IIA 202		F36	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		QZS-4	CAO	Tundra	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
11 October 22:53	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-043	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		SES-11 / EchoStar 105	SES S.A. / EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Third time a Falcon 9 first stage is re-used.[90]
13 October 09:27:44	Rokot / Briz-KM			Plesetsk Site 133/3		/ Eurockot
		Sentinel-5 Precursor	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
14 October 08:46:53	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-07 / 68P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	26 April 2018	Successful
		/ Iskra 5	Moscow Aviation Institute / Space Kidz India	Low Earth	Communications
		Originally intended to debut a new two-orbit rendezvous profile, profile reverted to standard 34-orbit profile after the first launch attempt was scrubbed.[91]
15 October 07:28	Atlas V 421		AV-075	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		NROL-52 / Quasar 21 / USA-279	NRO	Geosynchronous (TBC)[92]	Communications (military)	In orbit	Operational
30 October 19:34	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-044	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Koreasat 5A	KT Corporation	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
31 October 21:37	Minotaur-C			Vandenberg LC-576E		Orbital ATK
		SkySat x 6	Terra Bella	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Flock-3m x 4	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Return to flight mission for Minotaur-C after a failed launch in March 2011.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → November[edit]
5 November 11:45:00	Long March 3B / YZ-1		3B-Y46[6]	Xichang		CASC
		BeiDou-3 M1	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou-3 M2	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
8 November 01:42:30	Vega			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		Mohammed VI-A (MN35-13)	Morocco	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
12 November 12:19:51[94]	Antares 230			MARS LP-0A		Orbital ATK
		Cygnus CRS OA-8E SS Gene Cernan[95]	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	18 December 2017	Successful
		⚀ AeroCube (OSCD) × 2	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	5 August 2022 (OSCD B) 12 August 2022 (OSCD C)	Successful
		⚀ Asgardia-1	Asgardia	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	12 September 2022[96]	Successful
		⚀ CHEFsat	NRL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	2 January 2022[97]	Successful
		⚀ EcAMSat	NASA	Low Earth	Microbiology	8 December 2021[98]	Successful
		⚀ ISARA	JPL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 8	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ PropCube 2 (Fauna)[99]	NPS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	30 July 2022[100]	Successful
		⚀ TechEdSat-6	SJSU/UI/NASA Ames	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	15 May 2018[101]	Successful
		EcAMSat was deployed into orbit from ISS on 20 November 2017,[79] and TechEdSat-6 was deployed on 21 November 2017.[80] Other small satellites were deployed from Cygnus after it departed from ISS.[93]
14 November 18:35	Long March 4C		4C-Y21[44]	Taiyuan LA-9[44]		CAST
		Fengyun 3D[102]	CMA	Low Earth (polar)	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
		HEAD-1[102]	HEAD Aerospace	Low Earth (polar)	AIS ship tracking	In orbit	Operational
18 November 09:47:36	Delta II 7920			Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		NOAA-20	NOAA	Low Earth (SSO)	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
		Buccaneer RMM	UNSW, DSTO	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		EagleSat	ERAU	Low Earth (SSO)	Education	In orbit	Operational
		MakerSat 0	NNU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		MiRaTA	MIT	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		RadFxSat (Fox 1B)	AMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Last flight of the Delta II 7920 configuration, penultimate flight of Delta II
21 November 04:50	Long March 6		Y2[103]	Taiyuan LA-16		CASC
		Jilin-1 Video-04 (Lingqiao 1-04)[104]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Jilin-1 Video-05 (Lingqiao 1-05)[104]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Jilin-1 Video-06 (Lingqiao 1-06)[104]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
24 November 18:10	Long March 2C		2C-Y30[89]	Xichang		CASC
		Yaogan 30-02A	CNSA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 30-02B	CNSA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 30-02C	CNSA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
28 November 05:41:46[75]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			Vostochny Site 1S[106]		Roscosmos
		Meteor-M No. 2-1	Roscosmos	Low Earth (SSO)	Meteorology	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		AISSat-3	NSC	Low Earth (SSO)	Traffic monitoring	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		Baumanets 2	Bauman University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		IDEA-OSG 1	Astroscale	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		LEO Vantage 2	TeleSat Canada	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications (experimental)	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		⚀ Corvus-BC 3	Astro Digital	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		⚀ D-Star One	German Orbital Systems	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications (experimental)	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 10	Spire Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		⚀ SEAM	Multiple users	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	28 November 2017	Launch failure
		The Fregat upper stage suffered an apparent programming failure resulting in the loss of all 19 satellites.[105]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → December[edit]
2 December 10:43:26	Soyuz-2.1b			Plesetsk		RVSN RF
		Kosmos-2524 (Lotos No. 2 803)		Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
3 December 04:11	Long March 2D		2D-Y47[89]	Jiuquan LC-43		CASC
		LKW-1[107]	CAS	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
10 December 16:41 [108]	Long March 3B		3B-Y40[6]	Xichang LC-2		CAST
		Alcomsat-1	Algerian Space Agency	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First Algerian geostationary communications satellite
12 December 18:36:07	Ariane 5 ES		VA240	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Galileo FOC 15-18	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Second Galileo launch with Ariane 5 (9th overall), carrying Nicole, Zofia, Alexandre, and Irina.
15 December 15:36	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-045	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-13	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	13 January 2018	Successful
		Re-used the first-stage booster from CRS-11 (2017) and the Dragon capsule from CRS-6 (2015)[109]
17 December 07:21	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-07 / 53S	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 54/55	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts.
23 December 01:26:22[110]	H-IIA 202		F37	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		GCOM-C	JAXA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		SLATS	JAXA	Low Earth	Atmospheric sciences Technology demonstration	1 October 2019	Successful
23 December 01:27:23[75]	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-046	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Iridium NEXT 31–40	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Re-using a first-stage booster.[111] This rocket flew in its expendable configuration so the first-stage booster was not recovered[112]
23 December 04:14[113]	Long March 2D		2D-Y48[89]	Jiuquan LC-43		CASC
		LKW-2	CAS	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
25 December 19:44	Long March 2C		2C-Y34[89]	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		Yaogan-30 G	CAS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan-30 H	CAS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan-30 J	CAS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
26 December 19:00:03	Zenit-3F / Fregat-SB			Baikonur Site 45/1		S7 Space[116]
		AngoSat 1	Republic of Angola	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Spacecraft failure[117]
		First satellite of Angola. Launch was successful but contact was lost quickly afterwards.[114] On 28 December 2017, communication was temporarily restored and telemetry was received.[115]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

Suborbital flights[edit]