Launch Log

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 23 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ in the Atlantic Ocean. The recovery vessel, ‘Doug,’ was used to scoop up the fairing halves following the launch.

Updated: December 03

A Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket launched the 425 Project EO/IR satellite 1 reconnaissance satellite for South Korea and 24 other spacecraft. The South Korean satellite is the first of five missions planned by the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) for a program known as the ‘425 Project’. This first mission is an optical/infra-red imaging satellite. The four missions to follow will feature synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Also onboard is EIRSAT-1, Ireland’s first satellite, a 2U cubesat which was funded by the Education Office of the European Space Agency. Other payloads include: Space BD’s ISL48, SITAEL’s uHETSat, D-Orbit’s ION SCV Daring Diego, York Space Systems’ Bane, and PlanetIQ’s GNOMES-4. The Falcon 9 first-stage booster returned to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg. Delayed from Nov. 29.

Updated: December 01

A Russian government Soyuz rocket launched the 86th Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station. This mission used a rocket in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration.

Updated: December 01

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 23 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: November 28

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 23 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: November 24

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another 22 Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean. Launch attempt targeting 1054 UTC on Nov. 19 scrubbed.

Updated: December 05

A SpaceX Super Heavy booster and Starship vehicle will make a second fully-integrated test flight. The plan is for the Starship to achieve near-orbital velocity mission to travel around the world for nearly one full orbit. Starship will then reenter the atmosphere and splashdown near Hawaii. The Super Heavy booster will target a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. There is a 20-minute launch window on Saturday.

Updated: November 19

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: November 18

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the third pair of O3b mPOWER broadband internet satellites into Medium Earth Orbit for SES of Luxembourg. The satellites, built by Boeing, will provide internet services over most of the populated world, building on SES’s O3b network. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from March, June 9 and Aug. 27.

Updated: November 12

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Transporter 9 mission, a rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with 90 small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers. Delayed from Nov. 9.

Updated: November 12

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Dragon 2 spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed back at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The flight is the 29th mission by SpaceX conducted under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Delayed from Nov. 1. Delayed from Nov. 3, 5 & 7.

Updated: November 10

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 23 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster was recovered on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: November 08

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster was recovered on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 18th flight of this booster, B1058.

Updated: November 04

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another 23 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster was recovered on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean. Scrubbed during Oct. 29 launch attempt.

Updated: October 30

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: November 14

A three-member crew will launched to the Tiangong Space Station on the Shenzhou 17 mission aboard a Long March 2F Improved (CZ-2F/G Y17) rocket.

Updated: October 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a batch of 23 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: October 22

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 21 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: October 21

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, Just Read the Instructions, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: October 18

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Oct. 8 by upper level winds.

Updated: October 13

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission. The Maxar-built spacecraft will travel to the metallic asteroid Psyche, where it will enter orbit in 2029. This is the first spacecraft to explore a metal-rich asteroid, which may be the leftover core of a protoplanet that began forming in the early solar system more than 4 billion years ago. The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters returned to Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for recovery. The center core was expended. Delayed from 2022 due to payload software issues. Moved forward from Oct. 10, 2023. Delayed from Oct. 5. Delayed from Oct. 12 due to weather.

Updated: October 13

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 21 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E). The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: October 09

Arianespace will launch a Vega rocket, designated VV23, sending a collection of 12 satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit. The main payload is the THailand Earth Observation System-2 (THEOS-2), which is an Earth-observing satellite built by Airbus Defense and Space on behalf of the Kingdom of Thailand. It’s designed to complement THEOS-1, which launched in 20008. The secondary payload is FORMOSAT-7R/TRITON, which was developed by the Taiwanese Space Agency (TASA). Its Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) tool will help meteorologists gather wind data over oceans to help with forecasting the trajectory and intensity of typhoons. Delayed from Oct. 6/7.

Updated: October 09

The first two demonstration satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband constellation launched on an Atlas 5 501 rocket. These satellites were originally scheduled to fly on the first Vulcan rocket.

Updated: October 06

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: October 05

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: September 30

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 21 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: October 06

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 17th launch and landing for the booster tail number 1060.

Updated: September 24

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean. The first stage booster, designated B1060, is now the first to fly for a 17th time.

Updated: September 20

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifted off with a next-generation Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Earth-imaging satellites called “Acadia” for Capella Space. it was the second of four planned satellites in this series. The mission was dubbed “We Will Never Desert You”. A launch failure occurred about two and a half minutes into flight. Read more.

Updated: September 19

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from early morning Sept. 15. Watch live coverage.

Updated: September 16

A Russian government Soyuz rocket launched the crewed Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft to the International Space Station. The mission carried Russian commander Oleg Kononenko, Russian flight engineer Nikolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara into orbit for a long-duration flight on the space station. The rocket flew in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration.

Updated: September 15

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: September 12

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launched the NROL-107 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. The NROL-107 mission launched a classified payload known as Silentbarker. The mission is a partnership between the NRO and the U.S. Space Force, which have disclosed little information about the payload other than it will focus on satellite threat intelligence and space situational awareness. Delayed from Aug. 29 due to Hurricane Idalia. Delayed from Sept. 9 due to technical issue.

Updated: September 10

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: September 09

A Japanese H-2A rocket, designated H-2A F47, launched the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM, a joint project between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA. XRISM is a replacement for the Hitomi X-ray astrophysics observatory, which failed about one month after launch in 2016. XRISM will perform high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of the hot gas plasma wind that blows through the galaxies in the universe. These observations will enable us to determine flows of mass and energy, revealing the composition and evolution of celestial objects. JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, mission will fly as a rideshare on this launch, heading to the moon to test precision landing technology. The H-2A rocket will fly in the 202 configuration with two strap-on solid rocket boosters. Delayed from 2nd Quarter after H3 launch failure. Delayed from Aug. 27 and 28.

Updated: September 07

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a batch of 21 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, Just Read the Instructions, in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the record-breaking 62nd launch of the year for SpaceX, beating the company’s previous record of 61 orbital launches for all of 2022.

Updated: September 04

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 13 Tranche 0 demonstration satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Development Agency. The launch is the second of two Falcon 9 missions to carry SDA demonstration spacecraft for a future constellation of military missile tracking and data relay satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg. Delayed from June. Launched delayed from Aug. 31 due to an engine issue on the Falcon 9 rocket and delayed from Sept. 1.

Updated: September 02

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) used its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL), designated PSLV-C57, to launch the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, marking India’s first, space-based mission to study the Sun. The spacecraft will operated in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is roughly 1.5 million km away. Aditya-L1 will study solar flares, space weather and coronal heating.

Updated: September 02

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: September 01

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Aug. 22.

Updated: August 27

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the program’s 11th flight with astronauts. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to land at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will launch on the Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance, to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon will return to a splashdown at sea. Delayed from Aug. 15, 17, 21 and 25.

Updated: August 26

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched the first of Capella Space’s next-generation Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Earth-imaging satellites called “Acadia.” This will be the first launch of these four, new satellites. The mission is dubbed “We Love the Nightlife” since the SAR satellites allow for high-resolution imagery a night. Delayed from July 28. Launch aborted on July 30. Delayed from Aug. 4 and 6.

Updated: August 24

A Russian government Soyuz rocket launched the 85th Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station. The rocket flew in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration.

Updated: August 23

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You, in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from Aug. 17 and 18.

Updated: August 22

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: August 17

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: August 11

A Soyuz-2-1b/Fregat rocket launched Russia’s first mission to the Moon since 1976. The robotic lander is supposed to touchdown north of Boguslawsky crater near the south pole of the Moon. Luna-25 has eight scientific instruments on board including a mechanical arm and bucket that can scoop up lunar regolith.

Updated: August 11

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You, in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: August 09

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: August 07

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Galaxy 37 C-band television broadcasting satellite for Intelsat. The spacecraft was built by Maxar. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from 2nd Quarter.

Updated: August 03

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket launched the 20th Cygnus cargo freighter on the 19th operational cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station. The mission is known as NG-19. The rocket flew in the Antares 230+ configuration, with two RD-181 first stage engines and a Castor 30XL second stage. This was the final flight of an Antares 230+ rocket before a redesign with new U.S.-made engines. Delayed from March, April 21, May, and July.

Updated: August 02

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the Jupiter 3/EchoStar 24 broadband communications satellite. Built by Maxar, Jupiter 3/EchoStar 24 is a Ka-band high-throughput ultra high density satellite for EchoStar’s Hughes Network Systems. Jupiter 3/EchoStar 24 will support in-flight WiFi, maritime connections, enterprise networks, backhaul for mobile network operators, and community WiFi solutions across the Americas. Delayed from May. Moved up from August. Delayed from July 23, 26 and 27.

Updated: July 29

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: July 28

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from July 22 due to weather.

Updated: July 24

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on the drone ship, Of Course I Still Love You, in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: July 20

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched NASA’s Starling mission, which consists of four cubsats to demonstrate technologies for future ‘swarm’ satellites. It will also carry Telesat’s LEO 3 demonstration satellite for Space Flight Laboratory and two 3U satellites for Spire Global, carrying Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) payloads which provide data to improve weather models and forecasts. The first stage of the Electron rocket was recovered after it splashes down in the ocean. Delayed from July 14.

Updated: July 18

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the final batch of Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from July 14.

Updated: July 16

The Indian Space Research Organization launched a Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3) rocket from the Second Launch Pad at SDSC-SHAR in Sriharikota, India. The primary payload was the Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander, the third mission to the Moon for India. It also includes secondary payloads specifically for the lander (RAMBHA-Lunar Probe; ChaSTE, Chandra’s Surface Thermo-physical Experiment and ISLA, Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity) as well as rover payloads (APXS, Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer; and LIBS, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope). This mission was the fourth operational mission for the LVM3 rocket.

Updated: July 14

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: July 11

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: July 07

Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA260, launched the Syracuse 4B and Heinrich Hertz communications satellites. Syracuse 4B, built by Airbus, will relay secure communications between French military aircraft, ground vehicles, and naval vessels, including submarines. The Heinrich Hertz satellite, built by OHB, will test new communications technologies on a mission funded by the German government. This will be the final launch of an Ariane 5 rocket. Delayed from February due to problems completing the Heinrich Hertz satellite. Moved forward from June 21. Delayed from June 16. Delayed from July 4 due to upper level winds.

Updated: July 06

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Euclid mission for the European Space Agency. Euclid is an astrophysics mission with a telescope and two scientific instruments designed to explore the evolution of the dark universe. It will make a 3D-map of the universe by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years, across more than a third of the sky. Euclid will be launched to an observing orbit at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point. The mission was originally supposed to launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: July 01

A Soyuz rocket launched a Russian civilian weather satellite into polar orbit. The Soyuz employed a new version of the Fregat-M upper stage.

Updated: June 27

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: June 24

A United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket launched a classified spy satellite cargo for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. The largest of the Delta 4 family, the Heavy version features three Common Booster Cores mounted together to form a triple-body rocket. This is the penultimate flight of a Delta 4 rocket. Delayed from March and April 20. Scrubbed June 21 due to ground pneumatic valve issue. Read our launch story.

Updated: June 23

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 47 Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Updated: June 23

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Satria communications satellite for the Indonesian government and the Indonesian satellite operator PSN. The Satria satellite will provide broadband internet and communications capacity for schools, hospitals, and other public use facilities in Indonesia’s rural regions. The satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space, and is based on the Spacebus Neo platform. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Moved forward from June 19.

Updated: June 20

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Transporter 8 mission, a rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with numerous small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers. Launch site changed from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to Vandenberg Space Force Base. Delayed from June 8.

Updated: June 13

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 52 Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from June 9, June 10, and June 12. Read our full story.

Updated: June 12

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Dragon 2 spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The flight was the 28th mission by SpaceX conducted under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Delayed from June 3. Scrubbed June 4 due to high winds in the booster recovery area.

Updated: June 06

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Moved forward from June 3. Delayed from May 30 and June 1. Read our full story.

Updated: June 04

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 52 Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. This mission deployed the Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Read our full story.

Updated: June 02

A Chinese Long March 2F rocket launched the Shenzhou 16 spacecraft with three Chinese astronauts to rendezvous and dock with the Chinese space station in low Earth orbit. This is China’s 11th crewed space mission, and the fifth to the Chinese space station. The mission is commanded by Jing Haipeng, the spaceflight engineer is Zhu Yangzhu, and the payload specialist is Gui Haichao. Read our full story.

Updated: May 31

An Indian Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk. 2 rocket, designated GSLV-F12, launched the NVS 01 navigation satellite for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, also called Navigation with Indian Constellation, or NavIC. The spacecraft is also known as IRNSS 1J, and is the first in a second-generation fleet of Indian navigation satellites. Read our full story.

Updated: May 31

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Badr 8 communications satellite for Arabsat based in Saudi Arabia. From geostationary orbit, Badr 8 will provide communications coverage for Arabsat customers over Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Badr 8 also hosts an optical communications payload developed by Airbus. The spacecraft was built by Airbus, and is based on the Eurostar Neo platform. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from May 21. Scrubbed on May 23 by bad weather. Delayed from May 24.

Updated: May 28

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched the third pair of small CubeSats for NASA’s TROPICS mission. The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats, or TROPICS, mission will measure environmental and inner-core conditions for tropical cyclones. These two satellites were originally contracted to launch on Astra’s Rocket 3 vehicle. This mission was nicknamed “Coming To A Storm Near You” by Rocket Lab. Delayed from May 15, May 22, and May 24. Read our full story.

Updated: May 26

A Russian government Soyuz rocket launched the 84th Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station. The rocket flew in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration. Read our full story.

Updated: May 25

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the program’s 10th flight with astronauts. The commercial mission, managed by Axiom Space, is commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. Paying passenger John Shoffner will serve as pilot of the mission. Two commercial space fliers from Saudi Arabia, Ali AlQarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, will also be on the approximately 12-day mission to the space station. The Crew Dragon will return to a splashdown at sea off the coast of Florida. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will return to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral. Delayed from May 8 as result of delays in previous Falcon Heavy launch.

Updated: May 22

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 15 spare satellites for OneWeb’s first-generation global internet network and one prototype for OneWeb’s Gen2 second-generation network. Five spare satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay fleet also launched on this mission. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from May 19. See our Mission Status Center.

Updated: May 21

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 22 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from April and May 18. Read our full story.

Updated: May 21

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 56 Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from April. Read our full story.

Updated: May 14

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of Starlink internet satellites. This mission deployed 51 Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from April. Read our full story.

Updated: May 11

A Chinese Long March 7 rocket launched the Tianzhou 6 resupply ship to dock with the Chinese space station. The automated cargo craft is the fifth resupply freighter for the Chinese space station. Read our full story.

Updated: May 10

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched the second pair of small CubeSats for NASA’s TROPICS mission. The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats, or TROPICS, mission will measure environmental and inner-core conditions for tropical cyclones. These two satellites were originally contracted to launch on Astra’s Rocket 3 vehicle. This mission was nicknamed “Rocket Like A Hurricane” by Rocket Lab. Read our full story.

Updated: May 09

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: May 04

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the ViaSat 3 Americas broadband communications satellite. ViaSat 3 Americas is the first of at least three new-generation Boeing-built geostationary satellites for ViaSat. A small communications satellite named Arcturus will launch as a secondary payload for Astranis. Delayed from 3rd Quarter and December 2022. Delayed from January, March 2023, April 8, April 18, April 24, and April 26. Scrubbed on April 27 and April 28.

Updated: May 02

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the second pair of O3b mPOWER broadband internet satellites into Medium Earth Orbit for SES of Luxembourg. The satellites, built by Boeing, will provide internet services over most of the populated world, building on SES’s O3b network. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from February and March. Read our full story.

Updated: April 29

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 46 Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from April 25. Scrubbed on April 26.

Updated: April 28

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV, will launch the TeLEOS 2 satellite for Singapore. TeLEOS 2 was built in Singapore by ST Electronics, and carries an all-weather synthetic aperture radar Earth observation payload. Read our full story.

Updated: April 24

A SpaceX Super Heavy booster and Starship launch vehicle launched on the first fully integrated test flight of the new rocket. The mission ended four minutes after liftoff with a self-destruct command, following loss of vehicle control. If everything went according to plan, the mission would have traveled around the world for nearly one full orbit, resulting in a re-entry and splashdown of the Starship near Hawaii. The mission was attempting to reach near orbital velocity. The Super Heavy booster would have targeted a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. Delayed from 2022. Scrubbed on April 17. See our Mission Status Center.

Updated: April 21

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 21 second-generation Starlink V2 Mini internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Read our full story.

Updated: April 19

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Transporter 7 mission, a rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with numerous small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg. Delayed from April 9. Moved forward from April 12. Delayed from April 11. Scrubbed on April 14 due to bad weather.

Updated: April 15

Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA260, to launch the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, or JUICE. The JUICE spacecraft, built by Airbus, will make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons — Ganymede, Callisto and Europa — with a suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments. JUICE will enter orbit around Jupiter in July 2031. This will mark the penultimate launch of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket. Scrubbed on April 13 due to high risk of lightning at the launch site.

Updated: April 15

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Intelsat 40e communications satellite for Intelsat. Intelsat 40e will join Intelsat’s “Epic” fleet of high-throughput satellites, providing in-flight connectivity and other mobile communications services over North and Central America. Intelsat 40e is a partial replacement for Intelsat 29e, which failed in 2019. Intelsat 40e hosts NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument to measure atmospheric chemistry and monitor air pollution over North America. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The satellite was built by Maxar, and is based on the 1300 platform. Delayed from March 7. Read our launch story.

Updated: April 10

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 10 Tranche 0 demonstration satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Development Agency. The launch was the first of two Falcon 9 missions to carry SDA demonstration spacecraft for a future constellation of military missile tracking and data relay satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg. Delayed from Sept. 24. Delayed from Sept. 29 by payload supply chain issues. Delayed from January due to satellite issue. Delayed following an abort at T-3 seconds on Mar. 30. Our live coverage.

Updated: April 02

A Chinese Long March 2D rocket launched four radar satellites into orbit.

Updated: April 10

A Russian Soyuz 2-1v rocket launched an undisclosed payload for the Russian military.

Updated: April 10

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of Starlink V1.5 internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from March 24. Payload originally Starlink V2 Mini satellites but changed to V1.5 spacecraft.

Updated: March 31

An Israeli Shavit 2 rocket launched the Ofek 13 radar spy satellite for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The radar Earth-imaging spacecraft was built by Israel Aerospace Industries and launched into a retrograde orbit.

Updated: April 02

India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk. 3 (GSLV Mk.3) launched 36 satellites into orbit for OneWeb, which is developing a constellation of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit for low-latency broadband communications. Read our live coverage.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of Starlink internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Read our launch story.

Updated: March 25

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launch two commercial optical Earth-imaging satellites for BlackSky. This mission was nicknamed “The Beat Goes On” by Rocket Lab, and featured an attempt to recover the Electron’s first stage booster at sea. Read our launch coverage.

Updated: March 26

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched the fourth Bars-M cartography satellite for the Russian military.

Updated: March 25

A Relativity Space Terran 1 rocket launched on its inaugural demonstration flight. It did not include a customer payload. Scrubbed on March 8 and March 11. Failed to reach orbit when a problem occurred during the second-stage portion of flight. Read our launch story.

Updated: March 25

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched SES 18 and SES 19 communications satellites for SES of Luxembourg. SES 18 and 19, built by Northrop Grumman, will provide C-band television and data services over the United States. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from March 8. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 52 Starlink internet satellites. This mission deployed the Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from March 16. See our Mission Status Center.

Updated: March 25

A Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle lifted off with the Capella-9 and Capella-10 commercial radar Earth observation satellites for Capella Space. This was the second Rocket Lab mission from a new launch pad in Virginia. Delayed from March 11 due to upper level winds. Delayed from March 15. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Dragon 2 spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The flight is the 27th mission by SpaceX conducted under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Delayed from March 11. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A Russian government Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage launched an Olymp-K communications satellite for the Russian military. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket failed during launch of nine small satellites for seven customers after dropping from a modified Boeing 747 carrier jet. The mission will be the first orbital launch based out of the United Kingdom and all of Western Europe. The LauncherOne rocket carried small payloads for the UK Ministry of Defense’s Defense Science & Technology Laboratory, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, RHEA Group, Space Forge, Satellite Applications Catapult, SatRevolution, and Oman. Virgin Orbit called this mission “Start Me Up.” Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 40 satellites into orbit for OneWeb, which is developing and deploying a constellation of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit for low-latency broadband communications. This was the third launch of OneWeb satellites with SpaceX, and OneWeb’s 17th launch overall. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Delayed from March 1. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A Japanese H3 rocket failed during launch on its first test flight with the Advanced Land Observing Satellite 3, or ALOS 3, Earth observation satellite for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The second stage engine on the H3 rocket did not ignite. ALOS 3, also named Daichi 3, was designed to capture high-resolution, wide-swath images of all of the world’s land surfaces, providing data for applications in disaster management, land use, urban sprawl, scientific research, and coastal and vegetation environmental monitoring. The H3 rocket for Test Flight 1, or TF1, flew in the H3-22S configuration with two first stage engines, two strap-on solid rocket boosters, and a short payload fairing. Delayed from Feb. 11. Countdown Feb. 16 aborted after main engine start. Delayed from March 6 by bad weather forecast. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 51 Starlink internet satellites. This mission deployed the Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from Feb. 27, Feb. 28, and March 2. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the program’s ninth flight with astronauts. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, Warren “Woody” Hoburg, UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev launched on the Crew Dragon spacecraft to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon will return to a splashdown at sea. Delayed from Feb. 19 and Feb. 26. Scrubbed on Feb. 27 due to a concern with the TEA-TEB ignition system. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 21 Starlink internet satellites. This was the first mission to launch a new larger Starlink spacecraft design known as “Starlink V2 Mini.” The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Feb. 23. Read our full story.

Updated: March 25

A Russian government Soyuz rocket launched the uncrewed Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft to the International Space Station. The mission was originally supposed to carry Russian commander Oleg Kononenko, Russian flight engineer Nikolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, but managers removed the crew from the mission in order to use the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft as a replacement for the damaged Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the space station. The rocket flew in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Inmarsat 6 F2 communications satellite for London-based Inmarsat. Built by Airbus Defense and Space, the satellite carries L-band and Ka-band payloads to provide mobile communications services to airplanes and ships. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 51 Starlink internet satellites. This mission deployed the Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 55 Starlink internet satellites. This was the fourth launch into a new orbital shell for SpaceX’s second-generation Starlink constellation, called Starlink Gen2. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Feb. 1. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

India’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) launched on its second orbital test flight following a failed inaugural launch attempt in 2022. This mission, known as SSLV-D2, launched India’s EOS-07 Earth observation technology demonstratoin satellite and two small rideshare payloads for Space Kidz India and Antaris. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A Russian government Soyuz rocket launched the 83rd Progress cargo delivery ship to the International Space Station. The rocket flew in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Amazonas Nexus communications satellite for the Spanish company Hispasat. Amazonas Nexus will provide broadband connectivity to airplanes, ships, and other mobile users across the Americas, Greenland, and travel corridors across the Atlantic Ocean. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space, and is based on the Spacebus NEO platform. Scrubbed on Feb. 5 due to poor launch and recovery weather. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A Russian government Proton rocket launched the Elektro-L 4 geostationary weather satellite. Built by NPO Lavochkin, the Elektro-L 4 satellite will provide near-real-time imagery of weather systems over Russia’s Far East and the Asia-Pacific region. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 53 Starlink internet satellites. This was the third launch into a new orbital shell for SpaceX’s second-generation Starlink constellation, called Starlink Gen2. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Feb. 1. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 49 Starlink internet satellites and a rideshare space tug payload for the Italian company D-Orbit. This mission deployed the Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from Jan. 29 and Jan. 30. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 56 Starlink internet satellites. This was the second launch into a new orbital shell for SpaceX’s second-generation Starlink constellation, called Starlink Gen2. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Jan. 24. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A Japanese H-2A rocket, designated H-2A F46, launched the IGS Radar 7 radar reconnaissance satellite for Japan’s Information Gathering Satellites for the Japanese government’s Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center. The H-2A rocket flew in the 202 configuration with two strap-on solid rocket boosters. Delayed from Jan. 24. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle lifted off with three satellites for HawkEye 360, radio frequency geospatial analytics provider. This was the first Rocket Lab mission from a new launch pad in Virginia. Delayed from Dec. 7, Dec. 9, Dec. 13, Dec. 15, Dec. 16, Dec. 18, and Jan. 23. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of 51 Starlink internet satellites. This mission deployed the Starlink satellites into a high-inclination orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. Delayed from Jan. 10. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the U.S. Space Force’s sixth third-generation navigation satellite for the Global Positioning System. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin. Delayed from late 2022. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the USSF 67 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The mission launched the Space Force’s second Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM, or CBAS 2, military communications satellite and the Long Duration Propulsive ESPA 3A, or LDPE 3A, rideshare satellite hosting multiple experimental payloads. The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters landed at Landing Zones 1 and 1 at Cape Canaveral, and SpaceX did not attempt to recover the core stage. Delayed from 4th Quarter 2022, Jan. 10, Jan. 12, Jan. 13, and Jan. 14. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

An ABL RS-1 rocket failed during launch on its first orbital test flight, carrying two CubeSats for OmniTeq, a company with plans to deploy a constellation of small satellites to provide maritime communications services. Delayed from November and Dec. 7. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 40 satellites into orbit for OneWeb, which is developing and deploying a constellation of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit for low-latency broadband communications. This was the second launch of OneWeb satellites with SpaceX, and OneWeb’s 16th launch overall. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Delayed from Jan. 8. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26

A Chinese Long March 7A rocket launched launched the Shijian 23 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. Shijian 23 is likely an experimental communications satellite.

Updated: March 26

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Transporter 6 mission, a rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with 114 small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Delayed from October, November, and December. Delayed from Jan. 2. Read our full story.

Updated: March 26