List of spaceflight launches in July–December 2021
This article lists orbital and suborbital launches during the second half of the year 2021, including launches planned for 2021 without a specific launch date.
For all other spaceflight activities, see 2021 in spaceflight. For launches in the first half of 2021, see List of spaceflight launches in January–June 2021. For launches in 2022, see List of spaceflight launches in January–June 2022.
Orbital launches[edit]
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload (⚀ = CubeSat) | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | |||
| Remarks | ||||||||
July[edit] | ||||||||
| 1 July 12:48:33[1][2] |  Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat | ST33 | Vostochny Site 1S |  Arianespace / Starsem | ||||
 OneWeb × 36 | OneWeb | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 3 July 02:51[3][4] |  Long March 2D | 2D-Y74 | Taiyuan LC-9 | CASC | ||||
| Jilin-1 Kuanfu-01B | Chang Guang Satellite Technology | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Jilin-1 Gaofen-03D 01, 02, 03 | Chang Guang Satellite Technology | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Xingshidai-10 | ADA Space | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 4 July 23:28[5] | Long March 4C | 4C-Y43 | Jiuquan SLS-2 | CASC | ||||
| Fengyun 3E[6] | CMA | Low Earth (SSO) | Meteorology | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 6 July 15:53[7] | Long March 3C/E | 3C-Y18 | Xichang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| Tianlian I-05 | CNSA | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 9 July 11:59[8][9] | Long March 6 | Y6 | Taiyuan LC-16 | CASC | ||||
| Zhuzhou-1 (Zhongzi-02) × 5[10] | Zhuzhou State Investment Group | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 19 July 00:19[11] | Long March 2C | 2C-Y49 | Xichang LC-3 | CASC | ||||
| Yaogan 30-10A | CAS | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Yaogan 30-10B | CAS | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Yaogan 30-10C | CAS | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Tianqi-15 | Guodian Gaoke | Low Earth | IoT | In orbit | Operational | |||
| A fairing recovery system using parachutes was tested on this launch. | ||||||||
| 21 July 14:58:25[13][14] | Proton-M |  Baikonur Site 200/39 | Roscosmos | |||||
| Nauka | Roscosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS assembly | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Nauka was launched along with the European Robotic Arm.[12] | ||||||||
| 27 July[15][16] | Long March 2C? | | | |||||
| Fractional Orbital Bombardment System | PLARF | Transatmospheric Earth orbit | Hypersonic glide vehicle test | 27 July | Successful | |||
| 29 July 04:01[17] | Long March 2D | 2D-Y62 | Jiuquan SLS-2 | CASC | ||||
| Tianhui-1D | CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 29 July 06:00[18][19] |  Electron | "It’s a Little Chile Up Here" |  Mahia LC-1A | Rocket Lab | ||||
| Monolith | U.S. Space Force | Low Earth | Space weather Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Return to flight for Electron following the May 2021 launch failure, flying the Space Force's Monolith satellite as the STP-27RM mission. | ||||||||
| 30 July 21:00[20] |  Ariane 5 ECA | VA254 | Kourou ELA-3 | Arianespace | ||||
| Eutelsat Quantum | Eutelsat | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
 Star One D2 | Star One | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
August[edit] | ||||||||
| 3 August 07:39[23][24] | Hyperbola-1 | Y5 | Jiuquan LS-95B | i-Space | ||||
| Jilin-1 Mofang-01A | Chang Guang Satellite Technology | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | 3 August | Launch failure | |||
| Second failure in a row for the Hyperbola-1 launcher. Rocket failed to achieve correct orbit insertion after a malfunctioning in fairing separation.[21] Jilin-1 Mofang-01A would have been the first fourth-generation Jilin-1 satellite, with a reduced payload mass of 18 kg (40 lb).[22] | ||||||||
| 4 August 11:01[28][29] | Long March 6 | Y7 | Taiyuan LC-16 | CASC | ||||
 KL-Beta A | KLEO Connect | Low Earth (Polar) | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| KL-Beta B | KLEO Connect | Low Earth (Polar) | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Second set of "global multimedia satellites"[25] built by CAS for KLEO Connect.[26][27] | ||||||||
| 5 August 16:30:05[30] | Long March 3B/E | 3B-Y76 | Xichang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| ChinaSat 2E | China Satcom | Geosynchronous | Military communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 10 August 22:01:05[31] | Antares 230+ | MARS LP-0A | Northrop Grumman | |||||
| Cygnus NG-16 S.S. Ellison Onizuka | NASA | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS logistics | 15 December | Successful | |||
| PIRPL[32][33] | SDA / MDA | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| PIRPL was deployed after NG-16 undocked from the space station. | ||||||||
| 12 August 00:13[34] |  GSLV Mk II | F10[35] | Satish Dhawan SLP | ISRO | ||||
| EOS-03 (GISAT-1) | ISRO | Geosynchronous | Earth observation | 12 August | Launch failure | |||
| Launch failed due to third stage ignition failure. | ||||||||
| 17 August 01:47:06[37] | Vega | VV19 | Kourou ELV | Arianespace | ||||
| Pléiades-Neo 4[38] | Airbus Defence and Space | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ BRO-4 | UnseenLabs | Low Earth (SSO) | SIGINT | In orbit | Operational | |||
⚀  LEDSAT[39] | Sapienza University of Rome | Low Earth (SSO) | Education | In orbit | Operational | |||
⚀  RADCUBE | ESA / C3S Hungary | Low Earth (SSO) | Space weather | In orbit | Operational | |||
⚀  SUNSTORM | ESA / Reaktor Space Lab | Low Earth (SSO) | Space weather | In orbit | Operational | |||
| SSMS piggyback mission.[36] | ||||||||
| 18 August 22:32[40][41] | Long March 4B | 4B-Y50 | Taiyuan LC-9 | CASC | ||||
| Tianhui-2 02A | CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Tianhui-2 02B | CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 21 August 22:13:40[42][43] | Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat | ST34 | Baikonur Site 31/6 | Arianespace / Starsem | ||||
| OneWeb × 34 | OneWeb | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 24 August 11:15[44][45] | Long March 2C / YZ-1S | 2C-Y51 | Jiuquan SLS-2 | CASC | ||||
| RSW-01 | CAST | Low Earth (Polar) | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| RSW-02 | CAST | Low Earth (Polar) | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Undisclosed payload | DFH Satellite | Low Earth (Polar) | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 24 August 15:41[46] | Long March 3B/E | 3B-Y78 | Xichang LC-3 | CASC | ||||
| TJS-7 | SAST | Geosynchronous | SIGINT | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 28 August 22:35[49][50] | Rocket 3.3 | LV0006[51] | Kodiak LP-3B | Astra | ||||
| STP-27AD1 | U.S. Space Force | Low Earth | Flight test | 28 August | Launch failure | |||
| Third Rocket 3 orbital launch attempt and first Rocket 3 commercial flight. Vehicle also known as Rocket 3.3, which became the standard configuration used for subsequent Rocket 3 launches.[47] STP-27AD1 consisted of equipment attached to the upper stage to verify the rocket's performance during launch.[48] Terminated at an altitude of approximately 50 km (31 mi) due to an engine failure at liftoff, which precluded the possibility of reaching orbit. | ||||||||
| 29 August 07:14:49[54] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | F9-124 | Kennedy LC-39A | SpaceX | ||||
| SpaceX CRS-23 | NASA | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS logistics | 1 October 02:57[55] | Successful | |||
⚀  Binar-1[56] | Curtin University | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 30 September 2022[57] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ CAPSat[58] | UIUC | Low Earth | Quantum annealing | 18 September 2022[59] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ CUAVA-1[60] | CUAVA | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 2 September 2022[61] | Successful | |||
⚀   Maya-3[62] | DOST / Kyushu Institute of Technology | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 4 August 2022[63] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ Maya-4[62] | DOST / Kyushu Institute of Technology | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 8 August 2022[64] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ PR-CuNaR2 (NanoRocks-2)[65][66] | UIPR | Low Earth | Education | 30 August 2022[67] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ SPACE HAUC[68] | UMass Lowell | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 11 April 2022[69] | Successful | |||
| The ELaNa 37 mission launched on this flight.[52] Binar-1, Maya-3, Maya-4, and CUAVA-1 were deployed into orbit from the ISS on 6 October 2021. CAPSat, PR-CuNaR2, and SPACE HAUC were deployed into orbit from the ISS on 12 October 2021.[53] | ||||||||
September[edit] | ||||||||
| 3 September 01:59:00[72][73] | Firefly Alpha | FLTA001 | Vandenberg SLC-2W | Firefly | ||||
| ⚀ BSS1 (DFAST Demonstrator)[74][75] | Benchmark Space | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 3 September | Launch failure | |||
| ⚀ Firefly Capsule 1[74] | Firefly | Low Earth | Education | |||||
| ⚀ Hiapo[74][76] | Hawaii Science and Technology Museum | Low Earth | Thermospheric research | |||||
| ⚀ Spinnaker-3[74][77] | Purdue University | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | |||||
| ⚀ TIS Serenity[74][78] | Teachers in Space, Inc. | Low Earth | Education | |||||
▫  PicoBus[79] | Libre Space Foundation | Low Earth | PocketQube deployer | |||||
▫  FOSSASAT 1b[79] | FOSSA Systems | Low Earth | LoRa communications | |||||
| ▫ FOSSASAT 2[79] | FOSSA Systems | Low Earth | Photography | |||||
| ▫ GENESIS L[79] | AMSAT-EA | Low Earth | Amateur radio/Propulsion | |||||
| ▫ GENESIS N[79] | AMSAT-EA | Low Earth | Amateur radio/Propulsion | |||||
| ▫ QUBIK 1[79] | Libre Space Foundation | Low Earth | Amateur radio | |||||
| ▫ QUBIK 2[79] | Libre Space Foundation | Low Earth | Amateur radio | |||||
| First flight of the Firefly Alpha commercial smallsat launcher. Over twenty rideshare payloads were manifested through Firefly's Dedicated Research and Education Accelerator Mission (DREAM) program.[70][71] Failure occurred about two minutes after liftoff. | ||||||||
| 7 September 03:01[80] | Long March 4C | 4C-Y40 | Taiyuan LC-9 | CASC | ||||
| Gaofen-5 02 | Ministry of Ecology and Environment | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 9 September 11:50[81] | Long March 3B/E | 3B-Y86 | Xichang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| ChinaSat 9B | China Satcom | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Replacement for ChinaSat 9A. | ||||||||
| 9 September 19:59:47[83][84] | Soyuz-2.1v / Volga | Plesetsk Site 43/4 | RVSN RF | |||||
| EO MKA №1 (Kosmos 2551)[85] | Ministry of Defence | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | 20 October 04:43 | Spacecraft failure | |||
| Operational successor to EMKA (Kosmos 2525). The identity of this military satellite is disputed; it may be EMKA №2 or Razbeg №1. Failed in orbit shortly after launch.[82] | ||||||||
| 14 September 03:55:50[87] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 2-1 | Vandenberg SLC-4E | SpaceX | ||||
| Starlink × 51 | SpaceX | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| First launch of Starlink satellites from Vandenberg, to a 70-degree orbital inclination.[86] First Starlink V1.5 satellites, featuring laser inter-satellite links. | ||||||||
| 14 September 18:07:19[88] | Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat | ST35 | Baikonur Site 31/6 | Arianespace / Starsem | ||||
| OneWeb × 34 | OneWeb | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 16 September 00:02:56[91] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | F9-126 | Kennedy LC-39A | SpaceX | ||||
| Inspiration4 | SpaceX | Low Earth | Space tourism | 18 September 23:06[89] | Successful | |||
| Crew Dragon orbital flight carrying four civilian passengers for 3 days, led by Jared Isaacman. Mission aims to raise up to $200 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by February 2022.[89] Civilian participant Hayley Arceneaux became the first human in space with a prosthesis, and the youngest American in space.[90] | ||||||||
| 20 September 07:10:11[92] | Long March 7 | Y4 | Wenchang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| Tianzhou 3 | CMSA | Low Earth (TSS) | Space logistics | 27 July 2022 03:31 | Successful | |||
| Second cargo flight to the Tiangong space station. | ||||||||
| 27 September 06:19[93][94] | Kuaizhou 1A | Y4 | Jiuquan LS-95A | ExPace | ||||
| Jilin-1 Gaofen-02D | Chang Guang Satellite Technology | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Return-to-flight for Kuaizhou 1A following the September 2020 launch failure. | ||||||||
| 27 September 08:20[96] | Long March 3B/E | 3B-Y81 | Xichang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| Shiyan 10 | CAST | Molniya | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Satellite experienced a failure in orbit following successful launch. It was subsequently reactivated and commenced orbit raising in mid-October. The satellite reached its intended Molniya orbit in March 2022.[95] | ||||||||
| 27 September 18:12[99] | Atlas V 401 | AV-092 | Vandenberg SLC-3E | ULA | ||||
| Landsat 9 | NASA / USGS | Low Earth (SSO) | Meteorology | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ CUTE | CU Boulder | Low Earth (SSO) | Ultraviolet astronomy | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ CuPID[100] | Boston University | Low Earth (SSO) | Space weather | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Cesium Mission 1 × 2[101] | CesiumAstro | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Spacecraft failure | |||
| The ELaNa 34 mission, consisting of two CubeSats, launched on this flight.[97] The two Cesium Mission 1 satellites experienced power failures before they could conduct their payload demonstrations.[98] | ||||||||
October[edit] | ||||||||
| 5 October 08:55:02[103] | Soyuz-2.1a | Baikonur Site 31/6 | Roscosmos | |||||
| Soyuz MS-19 | Roscosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | Expedition 65/66 Space tourism | 30 March 2022 11:28:26 | Successful | |||
| Russian actress Yulia Peresild and filmmaker Klim Shipenko stayed on the ISS for almost 12 days and returned aboard Soyuz MS-18. Scenes for the Russian space film The Challenge were shot during their stay.[102] | ||||||||
| 14 October 09:40:10[104] | Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat | ST36 | Vostochny Site 1S | Arianespace / Starsem | ||||
| OneWeb × 36 | OneWeb | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 14 October 10:51[105] | Long March 2D | 2D-Y53 | Taiyuan LC-9 | CASC | ||||
| Chinese Hα Solar Explorer (CHASE / Xihe)[106] | Nanjing University / SAST | Low Earth (SSO) | Solar physics | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Guidao Daqi Midu TSW (MD-1) | CMA | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| HEAD-2E | HEAD Aerospace | Low Earth (SSO) | AIS ship tracking | In orbit | Operational | |||
| HEAD-2F | HEAD Aerospace | Low Earth (SSO) | AIS ship tracking | In orbit | Operational | |||
| MOTS | Shanghai Lizheng Satellite | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| QX-1 | Shenzhen DFH | Low Earth (SSO) | GNSS radio occultation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| SSS-1[107] | Beihang University / APSCO | Low Earth (SSO) | Education | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Tianshu-1[108] | Insight Position Digital Intelligence Technology Service | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Golden Bauhinia-2 | ZeroG Lab | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ SSS-2A[107] | SJTU / APSCO | Low Earth (SSO) | Education | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Tianyuan-1[109] | NJUST | Low Earth (SSO) | Space environment Education | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 15 October 16:23:56[110] | Long March 2F | Y13 | Jiuquan SLS-1 | CASC | ||||
| Shenzhou 13 | CMSA | Low Earth (TSS) | Crewed spaceflight | 16 April 2022 01:56[111] | Successful | |||
| Second crewed flight to the Tiangong space station. | ||||||||
| 16 October 09:34:00[112] | Atlas V 401 | AV-096 | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 | ULA | ||||
| Lucy | NASA | Heliocentric | Exploration of Jupiter trojans | In orbit | En route | |||
| 21 October 08:00[114] |  Nuri (KSLV-II) | Naro LC-2 | KARI | |||||
| Dummy payload | KARI | Low Earth (SSO) | Flight test | 21 October | Launch failure | |||
| Maiden flight of Nuri (also known as KSLV-II), South Korea's first indigenously developed orbital launch vehicle. The third stage shut down 46 seconds prematurely, resulting in the vehicle falling short of orbital velocity. Apogee: 700 km (430 mi).[113] | ||||||||
| 24 October 01:27:03[116] | Long March 3B/E | 3B-Y83 | Xichang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| Shijian-21 | CAST | Geosynchronous | Space debris removal Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Docked to the defunct Compass-G2 (Beidou-2 G2) satellite in late December. A large orbit-raising burn was performed on 22 January 2022 to send the satellite to a high graveyard orbit.[115] | ||||||||
| 24 October 02:10[117] | Ariane 5 ECA | VA255 | Kourou ELA-3 | Arianespace | ||||
 SES-17 | SES S.A. | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Syracuse 4A (Comsat-NG 1)[118] | DGA | Geosynchronous | Military communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 26 October 02:19:37[119][120] | H-IIA 202 | F44 | Tanegashima LA-Y1 | MHI | ||||
| QZS-1R | CAO | Tundra | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Replacement for QZS-1 (Michibiki-1). | ||||||||
| 27 October 06:19[123] | Kuaizhou 1A | Y5 | Jiuquan LS-95A | ExPace | ||||
| Jilin-1 Gaofen-02F | Chang Guang Satellite Technology | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Launch vehicle named "Kuaizhou·Xinzhou" to commemorate the rocket assembly line in Xinzhou District, Wuhan.[121][122] | ||||||||
| 28 October 00:00:32[124] | Soyuz-2.1a | Baikonur Site 31/6 | Roscosmos | |||||
| Progress MS-18 / 79P | Roscosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS logistics | 1 June 2022 11:51 | Successful | |||
November[edit] | ||||||||
| 3 November 07:43[125] | Long March 2C / YZ-1S | 2C-Y41 | Jiuquan SLS-2 | CASC | ||||
| Yaogan 32-02A | CAS | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Yaogan 32-02B | CAS | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 5 November 02:19[126] | Long March 6 | Y8 | Taiyuan LC-16 | CASC | ||||
| SDGSAT-1 (Guangmu / CASEarth) | CAS | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 6 November 03:00[127] | Long March 2D | 2D-Y63 | Xichang LC-3 | CASC | ||||
| Yaogan 35A | CAS | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Yaogan 35B | CAS | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Yaogan 35C | CAS | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 9 November 00:55:16[129][130] | Epsilon | Epsilon-5 | Uchinoura | JAXA | ||||
| RAISE-2 | JAXA | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Successful[131] | |||
| HIBARI | Tokyo Tech | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Z-Sat | MHI | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| DRUMS | KHI | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| TeikyoSat-4 | Teikyo University | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ ASTERISC | Chiba Institute of Technology | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ ARICA | Aoyama Gakuin University | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
⚀  NanoDragon[132] | VNSC / Meisei Electric | Low Earth (SSO) | Navigation technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ KOSEN-1 | Kochi National College of Technology | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-2 mission, carrying nine satellites.[128] | ||||||||
| 11 November 02:03:31[133] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | F9-127 | Kennedy LC-39A | SpaceX | ||||
| SpaceX Crew-3 | SpaceX / NASA | Low Earth (ISS) | Expedition 66/67 | 6 May 2022 04:43[134] | Successful | |||
| Third operational Crew Dragon mission, as part of the Commercial Crew Program. | ||||||||
| 13 November 12:19:30[135] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 4-1 | Cape Canaveral SLC-40 | SpaceX | ||||
| Starlink × 53 | SpaceX | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 16 November 09:27:55[136][137] | Vega | VV20 | Kourou ELV | Arianespace | ||||
| CERES × 3 | CNES / DGA | Low Earth | SIGINT | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 18 November 01:38:13[139] | Electron | "Love At First Insight" | Mahia LC-1A | Rocket Lab | ||||
| BlackSky 10 (Global-14)[140] | BlackSky | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| BlackSky 11 (Global-15)[140] | BlackSky | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Second of four dedicated launches for BlackSky.[138] | ||||||||
| 20 November 01:51[141][142] | Long March 4B | 4B-Y52 | Taiyuan LC-9 | CASC | ||||
| Gaofen 11-03 | CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 20 November 06:16[143] | Rocket 3.3 | LV0007 | Kodiak LP-3B | Astra | ||||
| STP-27AD2 | U.S. Space Force | Low Earth | Flight test | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Fourth Rocket 3 orbital launch attempt and first to successfully reach orbit. STP-27AD2 consists of equipment attached to the upper stage to verify the rocket's performance during launch. | ||||||||
| 22 November 23:45[144] | Long March 4C | 4C-Y37 | Jiuquan SLS-2 | CASC | ||||
| Gaofen 3-02 | Ministry of Natural Resources | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 24 November 06:21:02[145] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | F9-129 | Vandenberg SLC-4E | SpaceX | ||||
| DART | NASA | Heliocentric | Asteroid redirect test | 26 September 2022 23:14 | Successful | |||
| ⚀ LICIACube[146] | ASI | Heliocentric | Asteroid flyby | In orbit | Operational | |||
| The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft traveled to 65803 Didymos and impacted its small asteroid satellite, Dimorphos. | ||||||||
| 24 November 13:06:35[147] | Soyuz-2.1b | Baikonur Site 31/6 | Roscosmos | |||||
| Progress M-UM | Roscosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | Space tug | 23 December 04:30 | Successful | |||
| Prichal | Roscosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS assembly | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ISS flight 6R. | ||||||||
| 24 November 23:41[148] | Kuaizhou 1A | Y13 | Jiuquan LS-95A | ExPace | ||||
| Shiyan 11 | CAST | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 25 November 01:09:13[149] | Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat | Plesetsk Site 43/4 | VKS | |||||
| EKS-5 (Tundra 15L, Kosmos 2552) | Ministry of Defence | Tundra | Early warning | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 26 November 16:40:04[150] | Long March 3B/E | 3B-Y79 | Xichang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| ChinaSat-1D | China Satcom | Geosynchronous | Military communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
December[edit] | ||||||||
| 2 December 23:12[151] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 4-3 | Cape Canaveral SLC-40 | SpaceX | ||||
| Starlink × 48 | SpaceX | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| BlackSky 12 (Global-12)[140] | BlackSky | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| BlackSky 13 (Global-13)[140] | BlackSky | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Two BlackSky satellites were launched as part of the SXRS-2 rideshare mission. | ||||||||
| 5 December 00:19:20[152] | Soyuz ST-B / Fregat-MT | VS26 | Kourou ELS | Arianespace | ||||
| Galileo FOC FM23 | ESA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Galileo FOC FM24 | ESA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Eighth Galileo launch with Soyuz ST-B, carrying satellites Nikolina and Shriya. | ||||||||
| 7 December 04:12[153][154] | Ceres-1 | Y2 | Jiuquan LS-95A | Galactic Energy | ||||
| ⚀ Tianjin University-1[155] | Chang Guang Satellite Technology / Tianjin Yunyao Aerospace | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Baoyun | Spacety | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Lize-1 | Spacety | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Golden Bauhinia-1 03 | ZeroG Lab / HKATG | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Golden Bauhinia-5 | Starwiz / HKATG | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 7 December 10:19[159] | Atlas V 551 | AV-093[160] | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 | ULA | ||||
| STPSat-6 | U.S. Space Force | Geosynchronous | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| LDPE-1 | U.S. Space Force | Geosynchronous | ESPA Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ Ascent | AFRL | Geosynchronous | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission. STPSat-6 hosts the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) payload.[156] Ascent was deployed from LDPE-1 on 25 January 2022.[157][158] | ||||||||
| 8 December 07:38:15[161] | Soyuz-2.1a | Baikonur Site 31/6 | Roscosmos | |||||
| Soyuz MS-20 | Roscosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | Space tourism | 20 December 03:13 | Successful | |||
| 12-day mission to the ISS with a crew of three, including one professional cosmonaut and two tourists. | ||||||||
| 9 December 00:02:07[162] | Electron | "A Data With Destiny" | Mahia LC-1A | Rocket Lab | ||||
| BlackSky 14 (Global-16)[140] | BlackSky | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| BlackSky 15 (Global-17)[140] | BlackSky | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Third of four dedicated launches for BlackSky.[138] | ||||||||
| 9 December 06:00[163] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | F9-131 | Kennedy LC-39A | SpaceX | ||||
| IXPE | NASA / ASI | Low Earth | X-ray astronomy | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Designated SMEX-14 under NASA's Small Explorers program. | ||||||||
| 10 December 00:11[164] | Long March 4B | 4B-Y47 | Jiuquan SLS-2 | CASC | ||||
| Shijian-6 05A | CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | ELINT | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Shijian-6 05B | CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | ELINT | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 13 December 12:07:00[167] | Proton-M / Briz-M | Baikonur Site 200/39 | Roscosmos | |||||
| Ekspress-AMU3 | RSCC | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Ekspress-AMU7 | RSCC | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Ekspress-AMU3 and AMU7 will replace Ekspress-AM33 and Ekspress-A4, respectively.[165] This mission could also be considered as a partial launch failure. An anomaly occurred during the firing of the Briz-M upper stage, leaving the satellites in an out-specifications orbit, so that the satellites had to do salvage maneuvers to reach their intended orbits.[166] | ||||||||
| 13 December 16:09[168] | Long March 3B/E | 3B-Y82 | Xichang LC-3 | CASC | ||||
| Tianlian II-02 | CNSA | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 15 December 02:00[169][170] | Kuaizhou 1A | Y17 | Jiuquan LS-95A | ExPace | ||||
| GeeSAT-1A | Geespace | Low Earth | Navigation | 15 December | Launch failure | |||
| GeeSAT-1B | Geespace | Low Earth | Navigation | |||||
| 18 December 12:41:40[171] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 4-4 | Vandenberg SLC-4E | SpaceX | ||||
| Starlink × 52 | SpaceX | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| First time a Falcon 9 first stage booster flew for an eleventh time. | ||||||||
| 19 December 03:58:39[172] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | F9-133 | Cape Canaveral SLC-40 | SpaceX | ||||
 Türksat 5B | Türksat | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| New record for the shortest time between two SpaceX Falcon 9 launches at 15 hours and 17 minutes. | ||||||||
| 21 December 10:07:08[179] | Falcon 9 Block 5 | F9-134 | Kennedy LC-39A | SpaceX | ||||
| SpaceX CRS-24 | NASA | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS logistics | 24 January 2022 21:05 | Successful | |||
| ⚀ DAILI | The Aerospace Corporation | Low Earth | Ionospheric research | 26 June 2022[180] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ FEES2[181] | GP Advanced Projects | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 16 November 2022[182] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ GASPACS | USU | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 22 May 2022[183] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ GT-1[184] | Georgia Tech | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 19 June 2022[185] | Successful | |||
⚀   Light-1[186] | UAESA / NSSA | Low Earth | TGF research | 16 January 2023[187] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ PATCOOL | University of Florida / NASA | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 18 November 2022[188] | Successful | |||
| ⚀ TARGIT | GTRC | Low Earth | Technology demonstration | 3 May 2022[189] | Successful | |||
| Light-1 is the first Bahraini satellite (in partnership with the UAE). The ELaNa 38 mission, consisting of four CubeSats (DAILI, GASPACS, PATCOOL, and TARGIT), launched on this flight.[173] FEES2, GASPACS, PATCOOL, DAILI, and TARGIT were deployed into orbit from ISS on 26 January 2022.[174][175][176][177] Light-1 and GT-1 were deployed on 3 February 2022.[178] | ||||||||
| 22 December 15:32:00[190] | H-IIA 204 | F45 | Tanegashima LA-Y1 | MHI | ||||
| Inmarsat-6 F1[191] | Inmarsat | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 23 December 10:12[192] | Long March 7A | 7A-Y3 | Wenchang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| Shiyan 12-01 | CAST | Geosynchronous | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| Shiyan 12-02 | CAST | Geosynchronous | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 25 December 12:20[193] | Ariane 5 ECA | VA256 | Kourou ELA-3 | Arianespace | ||||
 James Webb Space Telescope | NASA / ESA / CSA | Sun–Earth L2, Halo orbit | Astronomy | In orbit | Operational | |||
| International space observatory mission utilizing a long-wavelength visible and infrared telescope. Launching to L2. | ||||||||
| 26 December 03:11:31[194][195] | Long March 4C | 4C-Y39 | Taiyuan LC-9 | CASC | ||||
| Ziyuan I-02E | Ministry of Natural Resources | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| ⚀ XW-3 (CAS-9) | CAMSAT | Low Earth (SSO) | Amateur radio | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 27 December 13:10:37[196][197] | Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat | ST37 | Baikonur Site 31/6 | Arianespace / Starsem | ||||
| OneWeb × 36 | OneWeb | Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 27 December 19:00[198][199] | Angara A5 / Persei | Plesetsk Site 35/1 | RVSN RF | |||||
| IPN-1 (dummy payload) | Khrunichev | Intended: Geocentric supersynchronous Actual: Low Earth | Flight test | 5 January 2022 21:08[200] | Partial launch failure | |||
| Flight test of Persei, a Blok DM-03 upper stage variant for Angara. The upper stage failed to restart for its second planned burn, leaving itself and the dummy payload in a rapidly decaying low Earth orbit. | ||||||||
| 29 December 11:13[201] | Long March 2D | 2D-Y41 | Jiuquan SLS-2 | CASC | ||||
| Tianhui-4 | CNSA | Low Earth (Polar) | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 29 December 16:43:03[202] | Long March 3B/E | 3B-Y84 | Xichang LC-2 | CASC | ||||
| TJS-9 | CAST | Geosynchronous | SIGINT | In orbit | Operational | |||
| 30 December 03:30[203][204] |  Simorgh | Semnan LP-2 | ISA | |||||
| TBA | ISA | Low Earth | TBA | In orbit | Launch failure | |||
| TBA | ISA | Low Earth | TBA | In orbit | Launch failure | |||
| TBA | ISA | Low Earth | TBA | In orbit | Launch failure | |||
| Iranian state media reported a successful flight, but no objects were detected in orbit following this launch. Reported apogee: 470 km (290 mi). | ||||||||
Suborbital flights[edit]
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload (⚀ = CubeSat) | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 3 July 08:45:01[205][206] | Momo | F7 | Taiki | Interstellar Technologies | |||
| Infrasound sensor | Kochi University of Technology | Suborbital | Atmospheric research | 3 July 2021 08:55 | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 99–100 km (62 mi). Naming rights sold to Sunco Industries, which chose to name this vehicle Screw Rocket (ねじのロケット, Neji no Rocket) to draw attention to the large number of Sunco screws used on Momo rockets.[205] A single rose from Hana-Cupid was also launched on this flight.[206] | |||||||
| 7 July 18:00[207] | Black Brant IX | Dynamo-2 | Wallops Flight Facility | NASA | |||
| Dynamo-2 | Goddard Space Flight Center | Suborbital | Atmospheric research | 7 July | Successful | ||
| Dynamos, Winds, and Electric Fields in the Daytime Lower Ionosphere-2 (Dynamo-2) mission to investigate the atmospheric dynamo. First of two launches. Apogee: 122 km (76 mi). | |||||||
| 7 July[208] | Target ballistic missile | | | ||||
| | Ministry of Defence | Suborbital | Missile target | 7 July | Successful | ||
| Intercepted by S-500 missile. | |||||||
| 7 July[208] | S-500 | Kapustin Yar | | ||||
| Kill vehicle | Ministry of Defence | Suborbital | Missile test | 7 July | Successful | ||
| S-500 intercepted target ballistic missile. | |||||||
| 11 July 15:25[209] | SpaceShipTwo | Unity 22 | Spaceport America | Virgin Galactic | |||
| Virgin Galactic Unity 22 | Virgin Galactic | Suborbital | Crewed spaceflight | 11 July 15:38 | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 86.1 km (53.5 mi). Second VSS Unity test flight carrying two pilots and four passengers including company founder Richard Branson. | |||||||
| 11 July 17:56[207][210] | Black Brant IX | Dynamo-2 | Wallops Flight Facility | NASA | |||
| Dynamo-2 | Goddard Space Flight Center | Suborbital | Atmospheric research | 11 July | Successful | ||
| Dynamos, Winds, and Electric Fields in the Daytime Lower Ionosphere-2 (Dynamo-2) mission to investigate the atmospheric dynamo. Second of two launches. | |||||||
| 16 July[211][212] | Reusable Suborbital Carrier | Jiuquan | CASC | ||||
| CASC | Suborbital | Test flight | 16 July | Successful | |||
| First test flight of the Reusable Suborbital Carrier (亚轨道重复使用运载器). It successfully landed at Alxa Right Banner Badanjilin Airport.[211] | |||||||
| 17 July[213] | SORS | Sinop Test Center | Delta V | ||||
| | Roketsan | Suborbital | Test flight | 17 July | Successful | ||
| Apogee: >50 mi (>80 km). First flight test of the Probe Rocket System (SORS). | |||||||
| 20 July 13:11[214] | New Shepard | NS-16 | Corn Ranch | Blue Origin | |||
| Blue Origin NS-16 | Blue Origin | Suborbital | Crewed spaceflight | 20 July 13:21 | Successful | ||
| First crewed flight of the New Shepard suborbital vehicle. Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark joined Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen on this flight. Apogee: 107 km (66 mi). | |||||||
| 24 July[215] | SRBM | FTM-33 | Barking Sands | U.S. Navy | |||
| | U.S Navy | Suborbital | Missile target | 24 July | Successful | ||
| Flight Test Aegis Weapon System 33, a test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Mock short-range ballistic missiles used as targets for SM-6 Dual II interceptors. One missile was confirmed to have been intercepted while the other was not. (1 of 2). | |||||||
| 24 July[215] | SRBM | FTM-33 | Barking Sands | U.S. Navy | |||
| | U.S Navy | Suborbital | Missile target | 24 July | Successful | ||
| Flight Test Aegis Weapon System 33, a test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Mock short-range ballistic missiles used as targets for SM-6 Dual II interceptors. One missile was confirmed to have been intercepted while the other was not. (2 of 2). | |||||||
| 24 July[215] | SM-6 Dual II | FTM-33 | USS Ralph Johnson | U.S. Navy | |||
| Kill vehicle | U.S Navy | Suborbital | Interceptor | 24 July | Successful | ||
| Flight Test Aegis Weapon System 33, a test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Interceptor targeting two mock short-range ballistic missiles. (1 of 4) | |||||||
| 24 July[215] | SM-6 Dual II | FTM-33 | USS Ralph Johnson | U.S. Navy | |||
| Kill vehicle | U.S Navy | Suborbital | Interceptor | 24 July | Successful | ||
| Flight Test Aegis Weapon System 33, a test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Interceptor targeting two mock short-range ballistic missiles. (2 of 4) | |||||||
| 24 July[215] | SM-6 Dual II | FTM-33 | USS Ralph Johnson | U.S. Navy | |||
| Kill vehicle | U.S Navy | Suborbital | Interceptor | 24 July | Successful | ||
| Flight Test Aegis Weapon System 33, a test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Interceptor targeting two mock short-range ballistic missiles. (3 of 4) | |||||||
| 24 July[215] | SM-6 Dual II | FTM-33 | USS Ralph Johnson | U.S. Navy | |||
| Kill vehicle | U.S Navy | Suborbital | Interceptor | 24 July | Successful | ||
| Flight Test Aegis Weapon System 33, a test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Interceptor targeting two mock short-range ballistic missiles. (4 of 4) | |||||||
| 26 July 20:30[216] | S-520 | S-520-31 | Uchinoura | JAXA | |||
| DES Demonstration | JAXA | Suborbital | Technology demonstration | 26 July 20:38 | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 235 km (146 mi).[216] Detonation engine system (DES) technology demonstration, combining pulse detonation engine and rotating detonation engine technologies.[217][218] | |||||||
| 28 July[219] | AGM-183 ARRW | ARRW BTF-1 | Boeing B-52 Stratofortress | U.S. Air Force | |||
| Booster Test Vehicle 1b (BTV-1b) | U.S. Air Force | Suborbital | Flight test | 28 July | Launch failure | ||
| Solid rocket motor failed to ignite after airdropped over the Point Mugu Sea Range. | |||||||
| 28 July[220] |  Tochka-U | Alibey firing range | Ministry of Defence of Ukraine | ||||
| | Ministry of Defence of Ukraine | Suborbital | Missile test | 28 July | Successful | ||
| Launch of two Tochka-U missiles (1 of 2). | |||||||
| 29 July[220] | Tochka-U | Alibey firing range | Ministry of Defence of Ukraine | ||||
| | Ministry of Defence of Ukraine | Suborbital | Missile test | 29 July | Successful | ||
| Launch of two Tochka-U missiles (2 of 2). | |||||||
| 30 July 18:20[222][223] | Black Brant IX | MaGIXS | White Sands Missile Range | NASA | |||
| Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer | Marshall Space Flight Center | Suborbital | Heliophysics | 30 July | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 308 km (191 mi).[221] | |||||||
| 31 July 08:00[224] | Momo | F6 | Taiki | Interstellar Technologies | |||
| TENGA Message Pod | Tenga | Suborbital | Space advertising | 31 July 08:10 | Successful | ||
| TENGA Robo | Tenga | Suborbital | Space advertising | ||||
| Apogee: 92 km (57 mi). First of three Interstellar Technologies launches sponsored by Tenga. Flew after Momo F7. | |||||||
| 11 August 07:53[225] | Minuteman-III | Vandenberg LF-09 | U.S. Air Force | ||||
| HFJTA reentry vehicle | U.S. Air Force | Suborbital | Test flight | 11 August | Successful | ||
| Hi-Fidelity Joint Test Assembly (HFJTA) reentry vehicle successfully detonated approximately 4,200 mi (6,800 km) downrange near Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. | |||||||
| 11 August 14:44[226] | SpaceLoft XL | SL-16 | Spaceport America | UP Aerospace | |||
| ReDX-1 | Los Alamos National Laboratory | Suborbital | Technology demonstration | 11 August | Successful | ||
| Mission SL-16. Apogee: 100 km (62 mi). | |||||||
| 12 August[227] |  Ghaznavi | | ASFC | ||||
| | ASFC | Suborbital | Missile test | 12 August | Successful | ||
| 12 August[228] | Economical Target-2 | ||||||