2018 in spaceflight

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2018 in spaceflight

Highlights from spaceflight in 2018[a]
Orbital launches
First	8 January
Last	29 December
Total	114
Successes	111
Failures	2
Partial failures	1
Catalogued	112
National firsts
Satellite	New Zealand  Costa Rica  Kenya  Bhutan  Jordan
Suborbital launch	Norway
Rockets
Maiden flights	Falcon Heavy Falcon 9 Block 5 Zhuque-1
Retirements	Delta IV M+(5,2) SS-520 Falcon 9 Full Thrust (B3/B4) Ariane 5 ES Delta II Zhuque-1
Crewed flights
Orbital	3 (+1 failed)
Suborbital	1 (private)
Total travellers	11 (+2 failed)
EVAs	8
v t e

This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2018. For the first time since 1990, more than 100 orbital launches were performed globally.

Overview[edit]

Planetary exploration[edit]

The NASA InSight seismology probe was launched in May 2018 and landed on Mars in November. The Parker Solar Probe was launched to explore the Sun in August 2018, and reached its first perihelion in November, traveling faster than any prior spacecraft. On 20 October the ESA and JAXA launched BepiColombo to Mercury, on a 10-year mission featuring several flybys and eventually deploying two orbiters in 2025 for local study. The asteroid sampling mission Hayabusa2 reached its target Ryugu in June,^[1] and the similar OSIRIS-REx probe reached Bennu in December.^[2] China launched its Chang'e 4 lander/rover in December which performed the first ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon in January 2019;^[3][4] a communications relay was sent to the second Earth-Moon Lagrange point in May. The Google Lunar X Prize expired on 31 March without a winner for its $20 million grand prize, because none of its five finalist teams were able to launch a commercial lunar lander mission before the deadline.^[5]

Human spaceflight[edit]

The Soyuz MS-10 October mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was aborted shortly after launch, due to a separation failure of one of the rocket's side boosters. The crew landed safely, and was rescheduled for March 2019 on Soyuz MS-12.^[6] The United States returned to spaceflight on 13 December with the successful suborbital spaceflight of VSS Unity Flight VP-03. The flight did not reach the Kármán line (100 km) but it did cross the US definition of space (50 mi). As per United States convention, it was the first human spaceflight launched from the U.S. since the last Space shuttle flight STS-135 in 2011. Astronauts Mark P. Stucky and Frederick W. Sturckow both received their FAA Commercial Astronaut Wings on 7 February 2019. The return of the United States to human orbital spaceflight was further delayed to 2019, as Boeing and SpaceX, under NASA supervision, performed further tests on their commercial crew spacecraft under development: Starliner on Atlas V and SpaceX Dragon 2 on Falcon 9.^[7]

Rocket innovation[edit]

After a failed launch in 2017, the Electron rocket reached orbit with its second flight in January; manufactured by Rocket Lab, it is the first orbital rocket equipped with electric pump-fed engines.^[8] On 3 February, the Japanese SS-520-5 rocket (a modified sounding rocket) successfully delivered a 3U CubeSat to orbit, thus becoming the lightest and smallest orbital launch vehicle ever.^[9] On 6 February, SpaceX performed the much-delayed test flight of Falcon Heavy,^[10] carrying a car and a mannequin to a heliocentric orbit beyond Mars.^[11] Falcon Heavy became the most powerful active rocket until the maiden launch of the Space Launch System in 2022.^[12] On 27 October, LandSpace launched Zhuque-1, the first privately developed rocket in China; it failed to reach orbit.^[13] The company later announced that it would not repeat the launch attempt and shift its focus to the Zhuque-2 launch vehicle, making this the only launch attempt of Zhuque-1.^[14] On 13 December Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo reached 82.7 km, below the internationally recognized Kármán line but above the 50-mile definition of space used by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.^[15][16]

Accelerating activity[edit]

The global activity of the launch industry grew significantly in 2018. 114 launches were conducted over the full year, compared with 91 in 2017, a 25% increase. Only three missions failed fully or partially in 2018, compared with eight failures in 2017. In August, China surpassed its previous record of 22 launches in 2016, and ended the year with a total 39 launches, also more launches than any other country in 2018. The 100th orbital launch of the year occurred on 3 December,^[17] exceeding all yearly tallies since the end of the Cold War space race in 1991.

Orbital launches[edit]

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January[edit]
8 January 01:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-047	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Zuma / USA-280[21]	Unnamed U.S. government agency	Low Earth	Classified	8 January	Nominal launch;[22] Deployment failure
		After an initial lack of official comment on the mission, a preliminary report concludes that the payload adapter manufactured by Northrop Grumman failed to separate the satellite from the second stage, resulting in its re-entry shortly after launch.[18] SpaceX and the United States Air Force reviewed the Falcon 9 flight data and saw no issues with the launch vehicle itself that would affect future launches.[19][20]
9 January 03:24	Long March 2D		2D-Y40[23]	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		SuperView / Gaojing-1 03	Beijing Space View Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		SuperView / Gaojing-1 04	Beijing Space View Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
11 January 23:18	Long March 3B / YZ-1		3B-Y45[24]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		BeiDou-3 M7	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou-3 M8	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
12 January 03:58	PSLV-XL		C40[28]	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Cartosat-2F	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		ICEYE X1	ICEYE	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Microsat-TD	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	27 November 2020	Successful
		⚀ Arkyd-6A	Planetary Resources	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ CANYVAL-X 1, 2	Yonsei University, NASA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Carbonite-2	Surrey Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ CICERO 7	GeoOptics	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	14 November 2023[29]	Successful
		⚀ CNUSail-1	CNU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ DemoSat 2	Astranis	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration (radio)	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Flock-3p' × 4	Planet Labs	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	First: 28 March 2023[30] Last: 17 August 2023[31]	Successful
		⚀ Fox-1D	AMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ INS-1C	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	14 November 2023[32]	Successful
		⚀ KAUSAT 5	Korea Aerospace University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Landmapper-BC 3 v2	Astro Digital	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 4	Spire Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	First: 5 April 2023[33] Last: 9 May 2023[34]	Successful
		⚀ LEO Vantage 1	Telesat	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ MicroMAS 2a	MIT SSL	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	8 April 2023[35]	Successful
		⚀ PicSat	Paris Observatory	Low Earth (SSO)	Astronomy	3 October 2023[36]	Successful
		⚀ SpaceBEE 1–4	Swarm Technologies[40]	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	SpaceBEE 1: 2 August 2022[37] SpaceBEE 2: 6 September 2022[38] SpaceBEE 3: 3 October 2022[39] SpaceBEE 4: In orbit	Operational
		⚀ STEP Cube Lab	Chosun University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	23 May 2023[41]	Successful
		⚀ Tyvak 61C	Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems	Low Earth (SSO)	Astronomy	8 April 2023[42]	Successful
		Deployed 31 satellites.[25][26][27]
12 January 22:11	Delta IV M+(5,2)		D-379	Vandenberg SLC-6		ULA
		Topaz-5[43] / USA-281	US Air Force	LEO (retrograde)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		NROL-47 mission. Last flight of Delta IV M+(5,2) variant.
13 January 07:20	Long March 2D		2D-Y49[23]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		LKW-3	CAS	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
17 January 21:06:11	Epsilon		Epsilon-3[44]	Uchinoura		JAXA
		ASNARO-2	NEC	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
19 January 04:12	Long March 11		Y3[45]	Jiuquan LS-95A		CASC
		Jilin-1 Video-07 (Deqing 1)[46]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Jilin-1 Video-08 (Linye 2)[46]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Star of Enlai Huai'an Hao	Huai'an Youth Comprehensive Development Base	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology/Education	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Xiaoxiang 2	SpaceTY Aerospace Co.	Low Earth (SSO)	Stabilization technology	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Quantutong-1 (QTT-1)	Full-chart Location Network Co. (Quan Tu Tong Co.)	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ KIPP[47]	Kepler Communications	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		100th launch from Jiuquan. Carried and deployed 6 satellites in total.
20 January 00:48	Atlas V 411		AV-076	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		SBIRS GEO-4 (USA-282)	U.S. Air Force	Geosynchronous	Missile warning	In orbit	Operational
21 January 01:30	Electron		"Still Testing"	Mahia LC-1A		Rocket Lab
		Humanity Star	Rocket Lab	Low Earth	Public awareness	22 March 2018	Successful
		⚀ Flock-2 (Dove Pioneer)[48]	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	22 September 2019[49]	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2-72[50]	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	9 November 2023[51]	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2-73	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	22 August 2023[52]	Successful
		First successful launch of the Electron rocket.
25 January 05:39	Long March 2C		2C-Y36[23]	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		Yaogan 30-04A	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 30-04B	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 30-04C	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Weina 1A[53] / NanoSat-1A[54]	Shanghai Micro Satellite Engineering Center	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
25 January 22:20	Ariane 5 ECA		VA241	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		SES-14 / GOLD	SES S.A.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial launch failure / Operational[59]
		Al Yah-3	Yahsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial launch failure / Operational
		Due to programming errors in the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC)[55] the satellites were placed on an off-nominal orbit.[56] Both payloads are undergoing corrective maneuvers and will be on line in August 2018.[57] These failures have ended the Ariane 5 record series of 82 successful launches in a row from April 2003 to December 2017.[58]
31 January 21:25	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-048	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SES-16 / GovSat-1	SES S.A.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		This flight re-used booster B1032 recovered from the NROL-76 mission in May 2017, and landed the first stage in the ocean with the intent to expend it. The booster unexpectedly remained intact, but was not recovered, and it was subsequently destroyed.[60]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February[edit]
1 February 02:07	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat-M			Vostochny Site 1S[61]		Roscosmos
		Kanopus-V No.3	Roscosmos	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Kanopus-V No.4	Roscosmos	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ S-Net 1–4[62]	TU Berlin	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration (inter-satellite communications)	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 4	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ D-Star One v.1.1 Phoenix	German Orbital Systems	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications (experimental)
2 February 07:50	Long March 2D		2D-Y13[23]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		CSES / Zhangheng-1[63]	CNSA / ASI	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Fengmaniu 1	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	16 March 2023[64]	Successful
		⚀ GOMX 4A	GOMSpace, Danish Ministry of Defence	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ GOMX 4B	GOMSpace, ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ÑuSat 4	Satellogic	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ÑuSat 5	Satellogic	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Shaonian Xing[65]	China Association for Science and Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
3 February 05:03	SS-520			Uchinoura		JAXA
		⚀ TRICOM-1R	University of Tokyo	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	21 August 2018	Successful
		The smallest rocket to successfully launch a satellite. Re-flight after a launch failure in January 2017.
6 February 20:45	Falcon Heavy		FH-001	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster	SpaceX	Heliocentric	Flight test	In orbit	Successful
		Maiden test flight of Falcon Heavy re-using two first-stage boosters. The two side boosters successfully touched down at the landing zones in Cape Canaveral, however the middle booster failed to land on the automated drone ship.[66] The test payload was launched in a heliocentric orbit with an aphelion of 1.70 AU, just beyond the orbit of Mars.[67]
12 February 05:10	Long March 3B / YZ-1		3B-Y47[24]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		BeiDou-3 M3	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou-3 M4	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
13 February 08:13	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-08 / 69P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	30 August	Successful
		Tanyusha-YuZGU 3, 4	South-West State University	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Tanyusha-YuZGU satellites were deployed on 15 August 2018 during a spacewalk.[68]
22 February 14:17	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-049	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Paz	Hisdesat	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Tintin A	SpaceX	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	29 August 2020[69]	Successful
		Tintin B	SpaceX	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	8 August 2020[70]	Successful
		Flew with a re-used first-stage booster that was expended at sea. One half of the payload fairing splashed down in the ocean and was recovered, but it did not land on a ship as attempted. Last flight of Block 3 version rocket.
27 February 04:34:00	H-IIA 202		F38[71]	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		IGS-Optical 6	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March[edit]
1 March 22:02:00	Atlas V 541		AV-077	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		GOES-17 (GOES-S)	NESDIS	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
6 March 05:33	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-050	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Hispasat 30W-6[72]	Hispasat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ PODSAT[73]	NovaWurks/DARPA	Geosynchronous transfer orbit	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		First-stage booster was expended at sea and was not recovered.
9 March 17:10:06	Soyuz ST-B / Fregat-MT		VS18	Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		O3b × 4	SES S.A.	Medium Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
17 March 07:10	Long March 2D		2D-Y50[23]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		LKW-4	CAS	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
21 March 17:44:23	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-08 / 54S	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 55/56	4 October 2018 11:45	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts
29 March 11:26	GSLV Mk II		F08[74]	Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		GSAT-6A	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Spacecraft failure[75]
29 March 17:38:43[76][77]	Soyuz-2-1v			Plesetsk Site 43/4		Roscosmos
		EMKA (Kosmos 2525)	Ministry of Defence	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	1 April 2021[78]	Successful
29 March 17:50	Long March 3B / YZ-1		3B-Y48[24]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		BeiDou-3 M9	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou-3 M10	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
30 March 14:14	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-051	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Iridium NEXT 41–50	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Re-used first-stage booster B1041.[79] First stage was not recovered, did a simulated landing test at sea. Fairing recovery attempt failed due to parafoil issues.
31 March 03:22	Long March 4C		4C-Y26[80]	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Gaofen-1 02	CNSA	SSO	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Gaofen-1 03	CNSA	SSO	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Gaofen-1 04	CNSA	SSO	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April[edit]
2 April 20:30	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-052	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-14	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	5 May 2018	Successful
		RemoveDEBRIS	University of Surrey	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	4 December 2021[84]	Successful
		⚀ DebrisSat 1	University of Surrey	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	2 March 2019	Successful
		⚀ DebrisSat 2	University of Surrey	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	30 May 2020	Successful
		⚀ Ubakusat	ITU/JPF/KIT	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	27 December 2020	Successful
		⚀ 1KUNS-PF	UoN	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	11 June 2020	Successful
		⚀ Proyecto Irazú	CAAE/ITCR	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	4 March 2020	Successful
		Re-used first-stage booster B1039, used to launch CRS-12 in 2017; and the Dragon capsule from CRS-8 in 2016.[81] First stage was not recovered. Ubakusat, 1KUNS-PF, and Proyecto Irazú were deployed from the ISS on 11 May 2018.[82] RemoveDEBRIS was deployed into orbit on 20 June 2018.[83]
5 April 21:34	Ariane 5 ECA		VA242	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Superbird-B3 / DSN-1	JSAT / DSN / JSDF	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		HYLAS-4	Avanti	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First flight of Ariane 5 since off-target launch of VA241 in January 2018.
10 April 04:25	Long March 4C[85]		4C-Y25[80]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Yaogan 31 A	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 31 B	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 31 C	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Weina 1B	Shanghai Micro Satellite Engineering Center[53]	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
11 April 22:34	PSLV-XL		C41	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		IRNSS-1I	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Satellite navigation (IRNSS)	In orbit	Operational
14 April 23:13	Atlas V 551		AV-079	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		AFSPC-11 / CBAS (USA-283)[86][87]	U.S. Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications (military)	In orbit	Operational
		EAGLE (USA-284 + USA-285/286/287)[88]	Air Force Research Laboratory	Geosynchronous	Technology experiments (Space Test Program)	In orbit	Operational
18 April 22:12	Proton-M / Briz-M		?	Baikonur		RVSN RF
		Blagovest-12L / Kosmos 2526	VKS	Geosynchronous	Communications (military)	In orbit	Operational
18 April 22:51	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-053	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		TESS	NASA	HEO	Space observatory	In orbit	Operational
		Block 4 first-stage booster, serial number B1045.
25 April 17:57	Rokot / Briz-KM			Plesetsk Site 133/3		/ Eurockot
		Sentinel-3B	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
26 April 04:42	Long March 11		Y4[45]	Jiuquan LS-95A		CASC
		Zhuhai-1 OHS 2A–2D[89]	Zhuhai Orbita Control Engineering	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Zhuhai-1 OVS 2A[90]	Zhuhai Orbita Control Engineering	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May[edit]
3 May 16:05	Long March 3B/G2		3B-Y55[24]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		Apstar 6C	APT Satellite Holdings	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
5 May 11:05	Atlas V 401		AV-078	Vandenberg SLC-3E		ULA
		InSight	NASA / JPL	TMI to Martian Surface	Mars lander	26 November 19:52:59	Successful
		⚀ MarCO A (WALL-E)[92]	NASA / JPL	Heliocentric	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		⚀ MarCO B (Eva)[92]	NASA / JPL	Heliocentric	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		12th mission of the Discovery program. Mars lander mission dedicated to geological and seismological studies of the planet.[91]
8 May 18:28	Long March 4C		4C-Y20[80]	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Gaofen 5	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
11 May 20:14	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-054	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Bangabandhu-1	SPARRSO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First launch of a Falcon 9 Block 5 first-stage booster, serial number B1046. The booster was recovered.[93]
20 May 21:28	Long March 4C		4C-Y27[80]	Xichang LC-3[80]		CASC
		Queqiao	CNSA	Earth–Moon L2, halo orbit	Communications	In orbit	Operational[95][96]
		Longjiang-1	CNSA	Selenocentric, elliptical orbit	Radio astronomy	In orbit	Spacecraft Failure[97][98]
		Longjiang-2	CNSA	Selenocentric, elliptical orbit	Radio astronomy	31 July 2019[99] 14:20	Successful
		The relay satellite Queqiao, or "Magpie Bridge" will stay in a halo orbit around the second Earth-Moon Lagrange point (E-M L2) and support communications from the Chang'e 4 rover exploring the far side of the Moon.[94]
21 May 08:44	Antares 230			MARS LP-0A		Orbital ATK
		Cygnus CRS OA-9E S.S. J.R. Thompson	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	30 July 2018 09:17	Successful
		⚀ Aerocube 12A	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	26 May 2023[103]	Successful
		⚀ Aerocube 12B	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	14 August 2023[104]	Successful
		⚀ CubeRRT	OSU	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	26 November 2020[105]	Successful
		⚀ EnduroSat One	EnduroSat / Space Challenges Program	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	15 October 2020[106]	Successful
		⚀ EQUiSat	Brown University	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	26 December 2020[107]	Successful
		⚀ HaloSat	UI	Low Earth (ISS)	X-ray astronomy	4 January 2021[108]	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 4	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	First: 13 January 2023 Last: 13 February 2023[109]	Successful
		⚀ MemSat[110]	Rowan University	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	27 September 2020[111]	Successful
		⚀ Radix	Analytical Space	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	7 April 2020[112]	Successful
		⚀ RadSat-g[113]	MSU	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	5 April 2021[114]	Successful[115]
		⚀ RainCube	JPL	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	24 December 2020[116]	Successful
		⚀ TEMPEST-D	CSU/JPL	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	21 June 2021[117]	Successful
		RainCube, Radix, CubeRRT, HaloSat, TEMPEST-D, EnduroSat One, EQUISat, MEMSat, RadSat-g are carried aboard Cygnus to be deployed from ISS later.[100] CubeRRT, EQUISat, HaloSat, MemSat, RadSat-g, RainCube, TEMPEST-D, EnduroSat One, Radix were deployed on 13 July 2018.[101] Four Lemur-2s and two Aerocubes were carried in the external deployer of Cygnus and deployed into orbit on 16 July 2018 after it departed from ISS.[102]
22 May 19:47:58[121]	Falcon 9 Full Thrust[122]		F9-055	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Iridium NEXT 51–55	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		GRACE-FO 1, 2	DLR	Low Earth	Gravitational science	In orbit	Operational
		DLR arranged a rideshare of GRACE-FO on a Falcon 9 with Iridium following the cancellation of their Dnepr launch contract in 2015.[118] Iridium CEO Matt Desch disclosed in September 2017 that GRACE-FO would be launched on the sixth Iridium NEXT mission.[119] Re-used a first-stage booster.[120]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June[edit]
2 June 04:13	Long March 2D		2D-Y20[23]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Gaofen 6	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Luojia 1	Wuhan University	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
4 June 04:45	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-056	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SES-12	SES S.A.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
5 June 13:07[123]	Long March 3A		3A-Y25[24]	Xichang LC-2		CAST
		Fengyun 2H	CMA	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
6 June 11:12:41	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-09 / 55S	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 56/57	20 December 2018 01:42	Successful
		SiriusSat 1, 2	SPUTNIX	Low Earth (ISS)	Space research, Education	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts. SiriusSat satellites were deployed on 15 August 2018 during a spacewalk.[124] Crew return was delayed due to the launch failure of Soyuz MS-10; it was rescheduled for 20 December, after the MS-11 crew arrives on 3 December.
12 June 04:20[125]	H-IIA 202		F39[71]	Tanegashima		MHI
		IGS Radar-6	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
16 June 21:30	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		GLONASS-M 756 / Kosmos 2527	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
27 June 03:30	Long March 2C		2C-Yxx[23]	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		XJSS A	CAST[126]	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		XJSS B	CAST	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
29 June 09:42	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-057	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-15	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	3 August 2018	Successful
		⚀ BHUTAN-1	Kyushu Institute of Technology	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	18 November 2020[127]	Successful
		⚀ Maya-1	UP / DOST	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	20 November 2020[128]	Successful
		⚀ UiTMSAT-1	UiTM	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration	20 November 2020[129]	Successful
		Last orbital flight of a Block 4 booster version. Bhutan-1, Maya-1, UiTMSAT-1 were deployed into orbit from ISS on 10 August 2018.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July[edit]
9 July 03:56	Long March 2C / SMA		2CSMA-Y3[23]	Jiuquan LC-43/94		CASC
		PRSS-1	SUPARCO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		PakTES-1A	SUPARCO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
9 July 20:58	Long March 3A		3A-Y27[24]	Xichang LA-2		CASC
		BeiDou IGSO-7	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
9 July 21:51:34	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-09 / 70P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	25 January 2019	Successful
		Fastest rendezvous with the ISS, with a new two-orbit procedure taking less than four hours.[130]
22 July 05:50	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-058	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Telstar 19V	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
25 July 11:25:01	Ariane 5 ES		VA244	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Galileo FOC 19, 20, 21, 22	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Third Galileo launch with Ariane 5 (10th overall), carrying Tara, Samuel, Anna, and Ellen. Last flight of Ariane 5 ES variant; further Galileo launches will be carried by Ariane 6.
25 July 11:39:26	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-059	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Iridium NEXT 56-65	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
29 July 01:48	Long March 3B / YZ-1		3B-Y49[24]	Xichang		CASC
		BeiDou-3 M5	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou-3 M6	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
31 July 03:00	Long March 4B		4B-Y37[80]	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Gaofen 11	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August[edit]
7 August 05:18	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-060	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Telkom 4 / Merah Putih[131]	Telkom Indonesia	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 August 07:31	Delta IV Heavy		D-380	Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		ULA
		Parker Solar Probe	NASA	Heliocentric	Heliophysics	In orbit	Operational
		Heliophysics observation mission planned to make in situ studies of the Sun's outer corona at a perihelion distance of 8.5 solar radii (5.9 million kilometers) – the closest any spacecraft will come to the Sun to date.
22 August 21:20:09	Vega		VV12	Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		ADM-Aeolus	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	27 July 2023[132]	Successful
24 August 23:52	Long March 3B / YZ-1		3B-Y50[24]	Xichang		CASC
		BeiDou-3 M11	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou-3 M12	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September[edit]
7 September 03:15	Long March 2C		2C-Y48[23]	Taiyuan LC-9		CAST
		HaiYang 1C	CAST	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
10 September 04:45	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-061	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Telstar 18V	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 September 13:02	Delta II 7420		D-381	Vandenberg SLC-2W		ULA
		ICESat-2	NASA	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ELFIN × 2 (ELFIN, ELFIN-STAR)	UCLA	Low Earth	Magnetospheric research	ELFIN A: 17 September 2022[133] ELFIN B: 30 September 2022[134]	Successful
		⚀ DAVE (CP-7)	Cal Poly	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	12 February 2023[135]	Successful
		⚀ SurfSat	UCF	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	27 January 2023[136]	Successful
		Last flight of the Delta II series; final flight of the Thor rocket family.
16 September 16:37	PSLV-CA		C42[28]	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		SSTL S1-4	SSTL	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		NovaSAR-S	SSTL / British Government	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
19 September 14:07[137]	Long March 3B / YZ-1		3B-Y51[24]	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		BeiDou-3 M13	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou-3 M14	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
22 September 17:52:27	H-IIB		F7[71]	Tanegashima LA-Y2		MHI
		HTV-7	JAXA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	10 November 2018	Successful
		⚀ SPATIUM-I[138]	Kyushu Institute of Technology / Nanyang Technological University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	23 September 2021[139]	Successful[140]
		⚀ RSP-00	Ryman Sat Project	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	14 March 2021[141]	Spacecraft failure[142][143]
		⚀ STARS-Me (Tenryū)	Shizuoka University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	26 June 2021	Successful[144]
		SPATIUM-1, RSP-00, and STARS-Me were carried by HTV-7 to be deployed into orbit from the International Space Station. They were deployed on 6 October 2018.
25 September 22:38	Ariane 5 ECA		VA243	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Azerspace-2 / Intelsat 38[147]	Azercosmos / Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		/ Horizons-3e	Intelsat / JSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Hundredth Ariane 5 mission.[145] Flight VA243 was delayed from 25 May due to issues with GSAT-11.[146]
29 September 04:13	Kuaizhou 1A		F2	Jiuquan LS-95A		CASIC
		Centispace-1-S1[148]	Beijing Future Navigation Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October[edit]
8 October 02:21	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-062	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		SAOCOM 1A[149][150]	CONAE	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		First RTLS at Vandenberg
9 October 02:43	Long March 2C / YZ-1S		2C-Y38[23]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Yaogan 32 A	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 32 B	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		First flight of the Yuanzheng-1S upper stage variant
11 October 08:40	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-10 / 56S	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 57/58	11 October 2018	Launch failure
		Crewed flight with two cosmonauts. Launch failure, astronauts landed safely in Soyuz capsule.
15 October 04:23	Long March 3B / YZ-1		3B-Y52[24]	Xichang		CASC
		BeiDou-3 M15	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou-3 M16	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
17 October 04:15	Atlas V 551		AV-073	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		AEHF-4[151] (USA-288)[152]	U.S. Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications (military)	In orbit	Operational
20 October 01:45	Ariane 5 ECA		VA245	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		BepiColombo	ESA / JAXA	Mercurian orbit	Mercury probes	In orbit	En route
		Third and final cornerstone mission of the Horizon 2000+ programme. Joint ESA / JAXA Mercury mission consisting of two orbiters, the ESA Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the JAXA Mio (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter)
24 October 22:57[153]	Long March 4B		4B-Y34[154]	Taiyuan LC-9		CAST
		HaiYang 2B	CAST	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
25 October 00:15[155]	Soyuz-2.1b			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Lotos-S1 №3 / Kosmos 2528	VKS	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
27 October 08:00[13]	Zhuque-1			Jiuquan (mobile launcher)		LandSpace
		⚀ Weilai 1 / Future 1 (CCTV)	China Central Television[157]	Low Earth (SSO)	Space science / remote sensing	27 October 2018	Launch failure[13]
		Maiden flight of the Zhuque-1 solid-propellant rocket[156]
29 October 00:43[158]	Long March 2C		2C-Y22[23]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		/ CFOSAT	CNSA / CNES	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Xiaoxiang-1 (2)[159]	LaserFleet	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration (laser communications)	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Zhaojin-1 (Tongchuan-1)[159]	Tsinghua University	Low Earth (SSO)	Gamma ray detector (gravitational wave research)	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Tianfuguoxing-1 (Xinghe)[159]	Guoxing Yuhang (ADA Space)	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration (remote sensing)	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Changshagaoxin[159]	Changsha City	Low Earth (SSO)	Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ CubeBel-1 (BSUSat-1)[159]	Belarusian State University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
29 October 04:08[160]	H-IIA 202		F40[71]	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		GOSAT-2 (Ibuki 2)	JAXA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		KhalifaSat	EIAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ AUTcube2	Aichi University of Technology	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		/ Diwata-2b	DOST / TU	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Stars-AO	Shizuoka University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Ten-Koh[161]	Kyushu Institute of Technology	Low Earth	Magnetosphere observation / Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → November[edit]
1 November 15:57[162]	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y41[24]	Xichang		CASC
		BeiDou-3 G1Q	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
3 November 20:17[163]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			× × €4.95 / month Favourites List Audio Listining Color Mode Monthly New Updates Fullname * Email * Credit or debit card Subscribe A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Notice Message: Undefined variable: userid Filename: user/popup_modal.php Line Number: 68 Backtrace: File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Line: 68 Function: _error_handler File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Line: 478 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once "> Subscribe Now Premium Membership × €4.95 € 9.90 / month Create a Premium Account quick and easy Save your Favourite Pages Listen to any page in Audio Colour Night Mode Create your Account Modal title × Close Save changes Cancel Subscription × 2018_in_spaceflight" id="cancelSubscription" name="cancelSubscription" class="mb-0"> Are you sure you want to cancel your membership with us? A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Notice Message: Undefined variable: user_membership Filename: user/popup_modal.php Line Number: 192 Backtrace: File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Line: 192 Function: _error_handler File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Line: 478 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Warning Message: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() Filename: user/popup_modal.php Line Number: 192 Backtrace: File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Line: 192 Function: _error_handler File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Line: 478 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Notice Message: Undefined variable: userid Filename: user/popup_modal.php Line Number: 208 Backtrace: File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Line: 208 Function: _error_handler File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Line: 478 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once "> Yes Cancel Continue Subscription Harry Potter Books × A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Notice Message: Undefined variable: products Filename: user/popup_harry_book.php Line Number: 24 Backtrace: File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_harry_book.php Line: 24 Function: _error_handler File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Line: 479 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once A PHP Error was encountered Severity: Warning Message: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() Filename: user/popup_harry_book.php Line Number: 24 Backtrace: File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_harry_book.php Line: 24 Function: _error_handler File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Line: 479 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/controllers/Main.php Line: 107 Function: view File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/index.php Line: 315 Function: require_once