2020 in spaceflight

2020 in spaceflight

Highlights from spaceflight in 2020[a]
Orbital launches
First	7 January
Last	29 December
Total	114
Successes	104
Failures	10
Partial failures	0
Catalogued	104
National firsts
Spaceflight	Sealand (first payload)
Satellite	Guatemala  Slovenia  Monaco
Suborbital launch	Netherlands
Rockets
Maiden flights	Ceres-1 Kuaizhou 11 LauncherOne Long March 5B Long March 7A Long March 8 Qased Rocket 3
Retirements	H-IIB Atlas V 411
Crewed flights
Orbital	4
Suborbital	0
Total travellers	12
EVAs	8
v t e

This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2020.

Overview[edit]

Astronomy and astrophysics[edit]

The GECAM A and B satellites were launched on 9 December. They were built for research in electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves.

Exploration of the Solar System[edit]

Three missions to Mars were launched in 2020, including two rovers, two orbiters, and a lander. NASA has launched the Mars 2020 mission, which includes the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, and will cache samples for eventual return to Earth.^[1] The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has launched its Tianwen-1 mission, which includes an orbiter, a lander, a small rover and a group of deployable and remote cameras;^[2] it is China's first mission to another planet using its own delivery vehicle.^[1] Finally, the United Arab Emirates, in partnership with American universities, has launched the Hope Mars Mission orbiter on a Japanese rocket.^[1]

In November, China launched Chang'e 5, the first sample-return mission to the Moon since Luna 24 in 1976. Chang'e 5 used the recently developed Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket. The mission performed the first-ever robotic lunar orbit rendezvous^[3] and returned 1.7 kg (3.7 lb) of lunar soil and rock samples on 16 December.^[4]

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission landed on asteroid 101955 Bennu in October to obtain a surface sample for return to Earth. JAXA's Hayabusa2 mission returned samples of 162173 Ryugu to Earth on 5 December 2020, with its re-entry vehicle recovered in Woomera, Australia.^[5]

Heliophysics[edit]

One solar mission was launched: ESA's Solar Orbiter, on 10 February 2020, intended to study the Sun's heliosphere.^[6] Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, decreased its minimal distance to the Sun further to 14.2 million km.^[7]

Earth sciences satellites[edit]

ESA's Sentinel-6 ocean topography measuring satellite was launched on 21 November.

The launch of the TARANIS satellite, planned to study transient events in the Earths atmosphere, failed on 17 November.

Human spaceflight[edit]

In the United States, SpaceX's Dragon 2 spacecraft made its first crewed flight to the International Space Station on 31 May 2020 as part of the Commercial Crew Program,^[8] enabling American human orbital spaceflight capability for the first time since the Space Shuttle's retirement in 2011. Dragon 2 became the first commercial system to fly humans to Earth orbit. The second crewed Dragon mission and its first operational mission, Crew-1, launched on 15 November 2020.^[9]

China conducted an uncrewed flight test of a next generation crewed spacecraft in May 2020,^[10] and continues preparations for the 2021 launch of the Tianhe Core Cabin Module of the Chinese Space Station.^[11]

NASA astronaut Christina Koch set a women's record-breaking 328 days spaceflight ending on 6 February 2020. Francisco Rubio holds the all-time American record with 370 days; Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, still holding the record, had the all-time spaceflight length record of 437 days but died in 2022. Koch also participated in the first all-female spacewalk with Jessica Meir on 18 October 2019.^[12]

Rocket innovation[edit]

SpaceX made three atmospheric test flights with prototypes of its fully reusable two-stage-to-orbit vehicle Starship.^[13][14]

The trend towards cost reduction in access continued and several rockets made their maiden flights in 2020. Despite the increasing competition the cost of delivering cargo to the ISS went up.^[15]

Satellite innovation[edit]

SpaceX started operation of its Starlink constellation in late 2020.^[16] As of 2 December 2020, 955 satellites have been launched and Starlink is in a public beta testing phase. OneWeb planned to start service in 2020 as well,^[17] but filed for bankruptcy in March 2020 after 74 satellites were launched.^[18] OneWeb emerged from bankruptcy and plans to restart launches in December 2020.^[19]

The Mission Extension Vehicle MEV-1 became the first telerobotically-operated spacecraft to service another satellite on-orbit when it completed the first phase of a 5-year mission to extend the life of the Intelsat 901 (I-901) satellite. In February 2020, MEV-1 captured the communications satellite, which had been moved to graveyard orbit some months before. In April 2020, MEV-1 successfully brought Intelsat-901 it back to position in geosynchronous orbit where it is now expected to operate for another five years. This was a space industry first as satellite servicing had previously been accomplished only with on-orbit human assistance, during the missions to service the Hubble Space Telescope in the early 2000s.^[20]

Orbital launches[edit]

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January[edit]
7 January 02:19:21[21][22]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L2[23]	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
7 January 15:20:14[24][25]	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y62[26]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		TJSW-5	Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs	Geosynchronous	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
15 January 02:53[27]	Long March 2D		2D-Y58	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Jilin-1 Kuanfu-01	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		ÑuSat 7 (Sophie)	Satellogic	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		ÑuSat 8 (Marie)	Satellogic	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	3 October 2023[28]	Successful
		Tianqi-5[29]	Guodian Gaoke	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
16 January 03:02[30]	Kuaizhou 1A		Y9[31]	Jiuquan LS-95A		ExPace
		Yinhe-1 / GS-SparkSat-03 / Galaxy-1[32]	Galaxy Space	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
16 January 21:05[33]	Ariane 5 ECA		VA251	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Eutelsat Konnect[34]	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		GSAT-30	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		GSAT-30 will replace INSAT-4A.
29 January 14:06:49 [35][36]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L3	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
31 January 02:56[37]	Electron		"Birds of a Feather"	Mahia LC-1A		Rocket Lab
		USA-294	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		First launch contracted via the NRO's Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) program, designated NROL-151.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February[edit]
6 February 21:42:41[38][39]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat		ST27[40]	Baikonur Site 31/6		Arianespace / Starsem
		OneWeb × 34	OneWeb	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Second OneWeb mission. Baikonur flight 1.
9 February 01:34[41]	H-IIA 202		F41[42]	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		IGS-Optical 7	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
9 February 15:45[43]	Simorgh			Semnan LP-2		ISA
		Zafar 1[44]	IUST	Low Earth	Earth observation	9 February	Launch failure
		Satellite failed to reach orbit.
10 February 04:03[45]	Atlas V 411		AV-087[46]	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		Solar Orbiter	ESA	Heliocentric	Heliophysics	In orbit	Operational
15 February 20:21:04[51]	Antares 230+			MARS LP-0A		Northrop Grumman
		Cygnus NG-13 S.S. Robert H. Lawrence	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	29 May	Successful
		Red-Eye 2 (Merlot)	DARPA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	16 November 2022[52]	Successful
		Red-Eye 3 (Cabernet)	DARPA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	16 November 2022[53]	Successful
		⚀ DeMi	MIT	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	8 March 2022[54]	Successful
		⚀ TechEdSat-10 (TES-10)[55]	NASA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	15 March 2021	Successful
		Red-Eye 2, Red-Eye 3, DeMi, and the ELaNa 30 satellite TES-10 were carried within the Cygnus spacecraft and will be released into orbit at a later date.[47] Red-Eye 2 was deployed into orbit from ISS on 17 June 2020.[48] Red-Eye 3 was deployed into orbit on 23 June 2020.[49] DeMi and TechEdSat-10 were deployed on 13 July.[50]
17 February 15:05:55[56]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L4	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
18 February 22:18[57]	Ariane 5 ECA		VA252[58]	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		JCSAT-17[59]	JSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		GEO-KOMPSAT-2B[60][61]	KARI	Geosynchronous	Ocean monitoring	In orbit	Operational
19 February 21:07[62][63]	Long March 2D		2D-Y61[64]	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		XJS-C	SAST	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	13 July 2023[65]	Successful
		XJS-D	SAST	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		XJS-E	HIT	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		XJS-F	CAST	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		First Long March 2D launch from Xichang.
20 February 08:24:54[66][67]	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat-M			Plesetsk Site 43/3		RVSN RF
		Meridian-M 9 (19L)[68]	Ministry of Defence	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March[edit]
7 March 04:50:31[73]	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-082	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-20	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	7 April 18:50	Successful[74]
		⚀ G-SATELLITE	TOCOG / University of Tokyo	Low Earth	Space advertising	18 April 2022[75]	Successful
		⚀ Quetzal-1 (Guatesat-1)[76]	UVG	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	1 March 2022[77]	Successful
		⚀ Lynk-04 (Lynk the World)[78][79]	Lynk Global	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Final flight of Dragon 1. G-SATELLITE (Gundam Satellite) carries two miniature Gundam figurines to promote the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Quetzal-1 is Guatemala's first satellite.[69] G-SATELLITE and Quetzal-1 were deployed into orbit from the ISS on 28 April 2020.[70][71] Lynk the World, Lynk's fourth satellite, was launched to the ISS on this flight and deployed into space by the Cygnus NG-13 spacecraft on 13 May.[72]
9 March 11:55[80]	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y69[26]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		BeiDou-3 G2Q[81]	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
16 March 13:34[82][83]	Long March 7A		Y1	Wenchang LC-2		CASC
		Xinjishu Yanzheng-6 (XJY-6)	TBA	Geosynchronous	Technology demonstration	16 March	Launch failure
		First flight of Long March 7A. Failed to reach orbit.
16 March 18:28:10[84]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		GLONASS-M 760 (Kosmos 2545)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
18 March 12:16:39[85]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L5	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Fifth flight of booster B1048; recovery was not successful.
21 March 17:06:58[86]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat		ST28[87]	Baikonur Site 31/6		Arianespace / Starsem
		OneWeb × 34	OneWeb	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Baikonur flight 2.
24 March 03:43[88]	Long March 2C		2C-Y42[89]	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		Yaogan 30-06 01	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 30-06 02	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 30-06 03	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
26 March 20:18[91]	Atlas V 551		AV-086[46]	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		AEHF-6 (USA-298)[92]	U.S. Space Force	Geosynchronous	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ TDO-2[93]	U.S. Space Force	Highly elliptical	Laser ranging	28 September 2022[94]	Successful
		The TDO-2 Cubesat was also known as OrCa (Orbital Calibration) by the team which designed it at Georgia Tech.[90]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April[edit]
9 April 08:05:06[95]	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-16	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 62/63	22 October 02:31	Successful
		First crewed flight of Soyuz-2.1a.
9 April 11:46[97]	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y71[26]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		Nusantara Dua (Palapa-N1)	PSN / Indosat	Geosynchronous	Communications	9 April	Launch failure
		Intended to replace Palapa-D. Failed to reach orbit.[96]
22 April 03:59[98]	Qased			Shahroud Space Center		IRGC
		⚀ Noor 1[99]	IRGC	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	13 April 2022[100]	Successful
		Maiden flight of the Qased launch vehicle.
22 April 19:30:30[101]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L6	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
25 April 01:51:41[102]	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-14 / 75P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	29 April 2021 00:42:27[103]	Successful
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May[edit]
5 May 10:00[10]	Long March 5B		Y1[107]	Wenchang LC-1		CASC
		Chinese next-generation crewed spacecraft	CMSA	Highly elliptical	Flight test	8 May 05:49	Successful
		Flexible Inflatable Cargo Return Module[108]	CASIC	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	6 May	Spacecraft failure
		First flight of Long March 5B, testing a new crewed spacecraft.[11] The capsule successfully returned to Earth on 8 May, following on-orbit testing.[104][105] An experimental secondary payload, meant to test inflatable heat shield reentry technologies, malfunctioned during its return to Earth on 6 May.[106]
12 May 01:16[109]	Kuaizhou 1A		Y6[110]	Jiuquan LS-95A		ExPace
		Xingyun-2 01	Xingyun Satellite Co.	Low Earth (SSO)	IoT	In orbit	Operational
		Xingyun-2 02	Xingyun Satellite Co.	Low Earth (SSO)	IoT	In orbit	Operational
		Xingyun-2 01/02 are the first two small satellites launched for the Xingyun narrow-band Internet of Things constellation to perform data relay and tracking services. The constellation will eventually consist of 80 such satellites.[109]
17 May 13:14:00[111][112]	Atlas V 501		AV-081[46]	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		X-37B OTV-6	U.S. Space Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	12 November 2022 10:22[113]	Successful
		FalconSAT-8	U.S. Air Force Academy	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		USSF-7 mission.
20 May 17:31:00[114]	H-IIB		F9	Tanegashima LA-Y2		MHI
		HTV-9	JAXA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	20 August 07:07	Successful
		Final HTV cargo launch, and final flight of the H-IIB rocket. The HTV-X and H3 rocket will replace them, respectively.
22 May 07:31:17[115][116]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		EKS-4 (Tundra 14L)[117]	VKS	Molniya	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
25 May 19:50[118]	LauncherOne		F1	Cosmic Girl, Mojave		Virgin Orbit
		Dummy payload	Virgin Orbit	Low Earth	Flight test	25 May	Launch failure
		Starshine 4[120]	NASA	Low Earth	Education	25 May	Launch failure
		First orbital flight of LauncherOne. Mission was terminated shortly after first stage ignition.[118][119]
29 May 20:13[121][122]	Long March 11			Xichang LC-4[123]		CASC
		XJS-G	CAS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		XJS-H	NUDT	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
30 May 19:22:45[126][127]	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-085	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		SpX-DM2 Endeavour	SpaceX / NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 63 / Crewed flight test	2 August 18:48	Successful
		Crew Dragon Demo 2: Crewed flight test of SpaceX Dragon 2 as part of the Commercial Crew Development program. Mission successfully concluded on 2 August after two months in space.[124] First crewed orbital spaceflight with a private spacecraft.[125]
31 May 08:53[128][129]	Long March 2D		2D-Y51	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Gaofen-9 02[130]	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		HEAD-4[131]	HEAD Aerospace	Low Earth (SSO)	AIS ship tracking	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June[edit]
4 June 01:25:33[21][132]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L7	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Fifth flight of booster B1049; recovery was successful (first booster to be recovered after 5th flight).
10 June 18:31:24[133][134]	Long March 2C		2C-Yxx[64]	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		HaiYang 1D	Ministry of Natural Resources	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
13 June 05:12:12[140]	Electron		"Don't Stop Me Now"[141]	Mahia LC-1A		Rocket Lab
		Photon (Pathfinder)[142]	Rocket Lab	Low Earth	Flight test	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ANDESITE Mule + Node × 8[138]	Boston University	Low Earth	Auroral science Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ USA-301[143]	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ USA-302[143]	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ USA-303[143]	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ M2 Pathfinder	UNSW Canberra	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Launch of the ELaNa 32 mission,[135] plus additional payloads.[136] ANDESITE will conduct magnetospheric research using an experimental fractionated formation of eight picosatellites, to be deployed after reaching orbit.[137][138] Three NRO payloads were deployed as part of RASR-2.[139]
13 June 09:21:18[144]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L8	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Starlink × 58	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SkySat 16–18[145]	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		First SmallSat Rideshare mission launch.
17 June 07:19[146][147]	Long March 2D		2D-Y52	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Gaofen-9 03[130]	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		HEAD-5	HEAD Aerospace	Low Earth (SSO)	AIS ship tracking	In orbit	Operational
		Pixing-3A	Zhejiang University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
23 June 01:43[149][150]	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y68	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		BeiDou-3 G3Q[81]	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Last satellite of the BeiDou-3 constellation to be launched, completing the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.[148]
30 June 20:10:46[152][153]	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-088	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		GPS IIIA-03 Matthew Henson	U.S. Space Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Named after African-American polar explorer Matthew Henson. Originally named Columbus.[151]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July[edit]
3 July 03:10[154][155]	Long March 4B		4B-Y43	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Gaofen DUOMO (Multi-Mode)	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Xibaipo (BY70-2)	Luquan No.1 Middle School	Low Earth (SSO)	Popular science	In orbit	Operational
4 July 21:19:36[157]	Electron		"Pics Or It Didn't Happen"	Mahia LC-1A		Rocket Lab
		CE-SAT-IB	Canon Inc.	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	4 July	Launch failure
		⚀ Flock-4e × 5	Planet Labs	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	4 July	Launch failure
		⚀ Faraday-1	In-Space Missions	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	4 July	Launch failure
		Failed during second stage flight.[156]
4 July 23:44[158]	Long March 2D		2D-Y29[64]	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Shiyan 6-02	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
6 July 01:00[159][160]	Shavit-2			Palmachim Airbase		IAI
		Ofek-16	Israel Ministry of Defence	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
9 July 12:11:04[161][162]	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y64	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		APStar 6D	APT Satellite Co.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
10 July 04:17[164][165]	Kuaizhou 11			Jiuquan LS-95A		ExPace
		Bilibili Video Satellite (Jilin-1 Gaofen-02E)[166]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	10 July	Launch failure
		CentiSpace-1 S2 (Xiangrikui 2)	Beijing Future Navigation Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	10 July	Launch failure
		First flight of Kuaizhou 11.[163] The rocket failed to reach space.
15 July 13:46[168]	Minotaur IV / Orion 38			MARS LP-0B		Northrop Grumman
		USA-305	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		USA-306	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		USA-307	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		USA-308	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		NROL-129 mission.[167]
19 July 21:58:14[169][170]	H-IIA 202[171]		F42	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		Hope (Al-Amal)	Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre	TMI to Areocentric	Mars orbiter	In orbit	Operational
		Emirates Mars Mission; first Emirati space probe.
20 July 21:30[172]	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-089	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		ANASIS-II[173]	Republic of Korea Army	Geosynchronous	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		South Korea's first dedicated military communications satellite.
23 July 04:41[174]	Long March 5		Y4[107]	Wenchang LC-1		CASC
		Tianwen-1	CNSA	TMI to Areocentric	Mars orbiter and rover	In orbit	Operational
		Tianwen-1 Deployable Camera	CNSA	TMI (Martian flyby)	Photography	In orbit	Successful
		Drop Camera[175]	CNSA	TMI to Areocentric	Mars lander / Photography	In orbit	Successful
		China's first independent Mars mission.
23 July 14:26:21[178]	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-15 / 76P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	9 February 2021 09:13[179]	Successful
		It was initially planned for this Progress vehicle to deorbit the Pirs module to make way for the arrival of Nauka in early 2021. This was later delayed to a subsequent mission.[176][177]
25 July 03:13[180][181]	Long March 4B		4B-Y45	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Ziyuan III-03	Ministry of Natural Resources	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Tianqi-10	Guodian Gaoke	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Lobster Eye X-ray Explorer (NJU-HKU №1)[182][183]	NJU / HKU	Low Earth (SSO)	X-ray astronomy	In orbit	Operational
30 July 11:50[185]	Atlas V 541		AV-088	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		Perseverance	NASA / JPL	TMI to Martian surface	Mars rover	18 February 2021 20:43:42[186]	Landed on Mars; Operational
		Ingenuity	NASA / JPL	TMI to Martian surface	Mars aircraft		Landed on Mars
		Mars 2020 mission.[184]
30 July 21:25:19[187]	Proton-M / Briz-M P4			Baikonur Site 200/39		Roscosmos
		Ekspress-80	RSCC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Ekspress-103	RSCC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August[edit]
6 August 04:01:54[188][189]	Long March 2D		2D-Y56	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Gaofen 9-04	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Q-SAT[190]	Tsinghua University	Low Earth (SSO)	Gravitational research Atmospheric science	In orbit	Operational
7 August 05:12:05[193]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L9	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Starlink × 57	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BlackSky 5 (Global-7)	BlackSky Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	23 October 2023[194]	Successful
		BlackSky 6 (Global-8)	BlackSky Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Starlink SmallSat Rideshare mission to deploy BlackSky Global 7 and 8;[191] first Starlink rideshare contracted with Spaceflight Industries, dubbed "SXRS-1".[192]
15 August 22:04[196]	Ariane 5 ECA		VA253	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		BSAT-4b	BSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Galaxy 30	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		MEV-2	Northrop Grumman	Geosynchronous	Satellite servicing	In orbit	Operational
		MEV-2 successfully docked with Intelsat 10-02 on 12 April 2021.[195]
18 August 14:31:16[197]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L10	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Starlink × 58	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SkySat 19–21[198]	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	18, 20: In orbit 19: 26 June 2023[199]	Operational
		Starlink SmallSat Rideshare mission to deploy SkySat 19–21.
23 August 02:27:04[200][201]	Long March 2D		2D-Y57	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Gaofen 9-05	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Tiantuo-5	NUDT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Duo Gongneng Shiyan Weixing	AMS	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
30 August 23:18:56[202]	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-092	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SAOCOM 1B	CONAE	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ EG-2 (Tyvak-0172)[203][204]	EchoStar	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		⚀ GNOMES-1[205]	PlanetIQ	Low Earth (SSO)	Radio occultation	In orbit	Operational
		First polar orbit mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station since ESSA-9 in 1969. SmallSat Rideshare mission to deploy Tyvak-0172 and GNOMES-1.
31 August 03:05:47[206]	Electron		"I Can't Believe It's Not Optical"	Mahia LC-1A		Rocket Lab
		Capella-2 (Sequoia)	Capella Space	Low Earth	Earth observation	28 February 2023[207]	Successful
		Photon (First Light)	Rocket Lab	Low Earth	Flight test	In orbit	Operational[208]
		Return-to-flight mission for Electron. Second launch of the Photon satellite bus.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September[edit]
3 September 01:51:10[216][217]	Vega		VV16	Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		ION SCV-001 Lucas[209]	D-Orbit	Low Earth (SSO)	CubeSat deployer	In orbit	Operational[218]
		Athena	Facebook[219]	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		ESAIL[209]	exactEarth	Low Earth (SSO)	AIS ship tracking	In orbit	Operational
		GHGSat-C1 (Iris)[220][210]	GHGSat	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		NEMO-HD[209][210]	UTIAS / Space-SI	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		ÑuSat 6 (Hypatia)[221]	Satellogic	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		UPM-Sat 2[209]	UPM	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration Education	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ AMICal SAT[209]	CSUG / MSU	Low Earth (SSO)	Auroral science	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ DIDO-3[210]	SpacePharma / ISA / ASI	Low Earth (SSO)	Microgravity research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Flock-4v × 26[222]	Planet Labs	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ FSSCAT A and B[210][223]	UPC	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 8[209]	Spire Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational (6/8)
		⚀ OSM-1 Cicero[214][224]	OSM	Low Earth (SSO)	Radio occultation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ NAPA-1 (RTAFSAT-1)[210][225]	RTAF	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ PICASSO[210]	BIRA-IASB	Low Earth (SSO)	Atmospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ SIMBA[210]	RMI	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ SpaceBEE × 12[209]	Swarm Technologies	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ TARS[209]	Kepler Communications	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ TRISAT[210]	University of Maribor	Low Earth (SSO)	Education	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ TTÜ100[210]	TalTech	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ EG-1 (Tyvak-0171)[209][203][204]	EchoStar	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure; Operational
		Small Satellites Mission Service Proof of Concept (SSMS PoC) mission.[209][210] Return to flight for Vega after the July 2019 launch failure. 53 satellites were deployed by the SSMS dispenser, including 14 Flock CubeSats carried on SSMS QuadPack deployers, while 12 additional Flock CubeSats were deployed separately by the ION SCV LUCAS satellite.[211][209][212] NEMO-HD and TRISAT are Slovenia's first satellites,[213] and OSM-1 Cicero is Monaco's first satellite.[214] Two of the Lemur-2 CubeSats failed to deploy, leading them to de-orbit along with the fourth stage of the Vega booster.[215]
3 September 12:46:14[226]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L11	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
4 September 07:30[227][228]	Long March 2F/T		2F-T3[64]	Jiuquan SLS-1		CASC
		Chongfu Shiyong Shiyan Hangtian Qi (Reusable Experimental Spacecraft)	CASC	Low Earth	Flight test	6 September 02:00[229]	Successful
		Unidentified satellite[230]	CASC	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Chinese experimental reusable spaceplane.
7 September 05:57[231][232]	Long March 4B		4B-Y46	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Gaofen 11-02	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
12 September 03:19[235][236]	Rocket 3		Rocket 3.1	Kodiak LP-3B		Astra
		Astra Test Payload	Astra	Low Earth	Flight test	12 September	Launch failure
		First flight of Rocket 3. Failed during first stage flight. Originally intended to be the second of two launches for the DARPA Launch Challenge, Rocket 3.1's launch was Astra's first orbital launch attempt following the loss of Rocket 3.0 during a prelaunch test in March 2020.[233][234]
12 September 05:02[237][238]	Kuaizhou 1A		Y3[110]	Jiuquan LS-95A		ExPace
		Jilin-1 Gaofen-02C	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	12 September	Launch failure
15 September 01:23[239]	Long March 11H		Y2	De Bo 3 Launch Platform, Yellow Sea		CASC
		Jilin-1 Gaofen-03B × 6	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Jilin-1 Gaofen-03C × 3	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Second Long March 11 sea launch.
21 September 05:40[240][241]	Long March 4B		4B-Y41	Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		HaiYang 2C	Ministry of Natural Resources	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
27 September 03:23[242]	Long March 4B		4B-Y42	Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Huanjing 2A	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Huanjing 2B	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
28 September 11:20[243]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		Roscosmos
		Gonets-M 17[244]	Gonets Satellite System	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Gonets-M 18[244]	Gonets Satellite System	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Gonets-M 19[244]	Gonets Satellite System	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		ICEYE X6[245]	ICEYE	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		ICEYE X7[245]	ICEYE	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		SALSAT[245][246]	TU Berlin	Low Earth (SSO)	Spectrum analysis	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Kepler × 2[247]	Kepler	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ LacunaSat-3[245][248]	NanoAvionics / Lacuna Space	Low Earth (SSO)	IoT	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 4[245]	Spire Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ MeznSat[245][249]	Khalifa University / AURAK	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ NetSat × 4[245][250]	ZFT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Descartes[251]	MSU	Low Earth (SSO)	Space weather	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Norby[251]	NSU	Low Earth (SSO)	Space weather	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Yarilo × 2[245][252]	BMSTU / Lebedev Physical Institute	Low Earth (SSO)	Heliophysics	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October[edit]
3 October 01:16:14[254]	Antares 230+			MARS LP-0A		Northrop Grumman
		Cygnus NG-14 S.S. Kalpana Chawla[255]	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	26 January 2021 20:23	Successful[256]
		⚀ Bobcat-1	Ohio University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	9 April 2022[257]	Successful
		⚀ DESCENT	York University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	19 June 2022[258]	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2 Baxter-Oliver	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	20 December 2021[259]	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2 Djara[260]	Spire Global / ONI	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ NEUTRON-1	University of Hawaii	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	25 June 2022[261]	Successful
		⚀ SATLLA-1[262]	Ariel University	Low Earth	Education	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ SPOC	University of Georgia	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	25 June 2022[263]	Successful
		The ELaNa 31 mission launched on this resupply flight.[135] All CubeSats launched on this mission were successfully deployed on 5 November 2020.[253]
6 October 11:29:34[264]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L12	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
11 October 16:57[265][266]	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y63[267]	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		Gaofen-13	SASTIND	Geosynchronous	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
14 October 05:45:04[21][268]	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-17	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 63/64	17 April 2021 04:55[269]	Successful
18 October 12:25:57[270]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L13	Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
24 October 15:31:34[271]	Falcon 9 Block 5		Starlink V1.0-L14	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Starlink × 60	SpaceX	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
25 October 19:08:42[273][274]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/3		RVSN RF
		GLONASS-K 15 (K1 №3)[275]	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Also known as GLONASS-K 705. Replaced Kosmos 2516 (GLONASS-M 753) following its failure in November 2020.[272]
26 October 15:19[276]	Long March 2C		2C-Y43	Xichang LC-3		CASC
		Yaogan 30-07 01	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 30-07 02	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 30-07 03	CAS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Tianqi-6	Guodian Gaoke	Low Earth	IoT	In orbit	Operational
28 October 21:21:27[277][278]	Electron		"In Focus"	Mahia LC-1A		Rocket Lab
		CE-SAT-IIB	Canon Inc.	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Flock-4e' × 9	Planet Labs	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → November[edit]
5 November 23:24:23[279]	Falcon 9 Block 5		F9-097	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		GPS IIIA-04 Sacagawea (USA-309)	U.S. Space Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Named after the Shoshone woman Sacagawea, who helped guide the Lewis and Clark Expedition.[151]
6 November 03:19[280][281]	Long March 6		Y3	Taiyuan LC-16		CASC
		ÑuSat × 10	Satellogic	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Taiyuan (BY-03)[282]	Jinshan Middle School / Origin Space	Low Earth (SSO)	Education / Ultraviolet astronomy	In orbit	Operational
		Tianyan 05 (UESTC)[282]	ADASpace / MinoSpace	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Beihangkongshi-1[283]	Spacety	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		ÑuSat 9–18.[221] Beihangkongshi-1 carries the first iodine electric space propulsion system to be tested in space.
7 November 07:12[284][285]	Ceres-1			Jiuquan LS-95A		Galactic Energy
		Tianqi-11	Guodian Gaoke	Low Earth (SSO)	IoT	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of Ceres-1.
7 November 09:41[286][287]	PSLV-DL		C49	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		EOS-01 (RISAT-2BR2)[288]	ISRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ KSM × 4[289]	Kleos Space	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 4	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ R2 (LacunaSat-2)[290]	NanoAvionics	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
12 November 15:59:04[291][292]	Long March 3B/E		3B-Y73	Xichang LC-2		CASC
		Tiantong-1 02	China Satcom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
13 November 22:32[293]	Atlas V 531		AV-090[46]	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		ULA
		NROL-101 (USA-310)	NRO	Molniya	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		The first GEM 63 solid rocket motors flew on this mission. May be an SDS satellite.
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