2010 in spaceflight

The year 2010 saw a number of notable events in worldwide spaceflight activities. These included the first test flight of the SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply spacecraft, which is intended to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), and the maiden flights of the Falcon 9 and Minotaur IV rockets. In June 2010, South Korea conducted a second Naro-1 launch, after the failure of the rocket's maiden flight in 2009; however, the second attempt also failed. The Kosmos-3M was retired from service, making its final flight in April. The Molniya-M was also retired from service, making its final flight in September.^[1]

2010 in spaceflight

The Dragon capsule's maiden launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on 8 December 2010.
Orbital launches
First	16 January
Last	29 December
Total	74
Successes	70
Failures	4
Partial failures	0
Catalogued	70
Rockets
Maiden flights	Atlas V 501 Atlas V 531 Falcon 9 v1.0 GSLV Mk. II Minotaur IV
Retirements	Delta II 7420 Molniya-M Kosmos-3M
Crewed flights
Orbital	7
Total travellers	31
v t e

2010 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 2009 2011 →

Overview

The first suborbital launch of 2010 was conducted at 23:00 GMT on 10 January, when a Black Brant IX sounding rocket was launched as a target for the Boeing YAL-1 airborne-laser platform. On 11 January, China conducted an ABM test, involving two missiles. The first orbital launch occurred at 16:12 UTC on 16 January, when a Long March 3C launched the Compass-G1 navigation satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.

Seventy-four orbital launches were attempted in 2010, with seventy being successful and four ending in failure. The last orbital launch was made on 29 December, when an Ariane 5ECA launched the Hispasat-1E and Koreasat 6 spacecraft from Guiana Space Centre, near Kourou.

Space exploration

Akatsuki, the first Japanese mission to Venus, was launched on an H-IIA carrier rocket in May. It is intended to look for lightning and volcanoes on Venus.^[2] Despite a successful launch,^[3] the spacecraft failed to enter Cytherocentric orbit in December, but it managed to enter the orbit around Venus five years later in December 2015. IKAROS, the first operational solar sail, was launched on the same rocket as Akatsuki.

The first Japanese asteroid probe, Hayabusa, returned to Earth on 13 June, having landed on 25143 Itokawa in an effort to collect samples.^[4] It was also the world's first successful sample return mission from an asteroid.^[5]

On 1 October at 10:59:57 UTC, China successfully launched the Chang'e-2 spacecraft, the nation's second mission to explore the Moon. A Long March 3C rocket was used for the launch, which occurred from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. The spacecraft conducted a mission similar to that of the earlier Chang'e-1 spacecraft, but with a focus on mapping potential landing sites in preparation for the Chang'e-3 uncrewed lunar lander.^[6]

Crewed spaceflight

Seven crewed launches were planned for 2010, with three Space Shuttle missions and four Soyuz flights for International Space Station (ISS) crew rotation. STS-130, using orbiter Endeavour, was the first crewed flight of the year, launching on 8 February with the Tranquility node and Cupola for the ISS. On 5 April, Discovery launched on mission STS-131, with the Leonardo MPLM to resupply the outpost.

Soyuz TMA-18 launched the Expedition 23 crew to the ISS on 2 April; it was scheduled to spend around six months docked to the station to facilitate crew escape in an emergency. Shortly before, Soyuz TMA-16 undocked, transporting former ISS crewmembers back to Earth. On 14 May, Space Shuttle Atlantis launched on its second-to-last flight, STS-132, carrying the Rassvet module to the ISS. Soyuz TMA-19 launched with Expedition 24 on 15 June. Soyuz TMA-01M, the first flight of a modernised Soyuz-TMA spacecraft, launched on 8 October with the Expedition 25 crew for the ISS. Then, to end the year, Expedition 26 launched aboard Soyuz TMA-20 on 15 December.

Launch failures

Four orbital launch failures occurred in 2010, two affecting Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles, one affecting a Naro-1 rocket, and one affecting a Proton rocket. The first occurred on 15 April, when the GSLV Mk.II launched on its maiden flight. The rocket's third stage malfunctioned, resulting in the stage, and the GSAT-4 satellite, failing to achieve orbit and falling into the sea. The second failure occurred during the second launch of the Naro-1 rocket, carrying the STSAT-2B spacecraft. The rocket exploded 137 seconds into the flight.^[7]

The third failure occurred on 5 December, when a Proton-M with the first Blok DM-03 upper stage failed to inject three Glonass-M satellites into orbit. Before launch, the Blok DM was fuelled incorrectly, resulting in the rocket being too heavy to reach its parking orbit.^[8] The fourth failure occurred on 25 December 2010, when a GSLV Mk.I exploded during the launch of GSAT-5P. The rocket was destroyed by range safety, after control of the liquid-fuelled boosters attached to the first stage was lost.^[9]

Orbital launches

← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January
16 January 16:12	Long March 3C			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		BeiDou-2 G1 (Beidou-3/Compass-G1)	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
28 January 00:18	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
		Raduga-1M №2 (Globus-1M №12L)	VKS	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February
3 February 03:45	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-04M / 36P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	1 July 14:40	Successful
		ISS flight 36P
8 February 09:14	Space Shuttle Endeavour			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-130	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	22 February 03:22	Successful
		Tranquility[10]	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	In orbit	Operational
		Cupola	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight with six astronauts.
11 February 15:23	Atlas V 401			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Solar Dynamics Observatory	NASA	Geosynchronous	Heliophysics	In orbit	Operational
12 February 00:39	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Intelsat 16	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March
1 March 21:19	Proton-M / DM-2 Enhanced			Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
		Kosmos 2459 (Glonass-M 731)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2460 (Glonass-M 732)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2461 (Glonass-M 735)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
4 March 23:57	Delta IV-M+ (4,2)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		GOES-P (GOES-15)	NOAA / NASA	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
		Satellite redesignated EWS-G2 after being transferred to the U.S. Space Force in September 2023.[11]
5 March 04:55	Long March 4C			Jiuquan SLS-2		CNSA
		Yaogan 9A	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 9B	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		Yaogan 9C	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		First Long March 4 series launch from Jiuquan.
20 March 18:27	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Echostar XIV	Echostar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April
2 April 04:04	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-18	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 23	25 September 05:23	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts.
5 April 10:21	Space Shuttle Discovery[12]			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-131	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	20 April 13:08:35	Successful
		Leonardo MPLM	ASI / NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics		Successful
		Crewed flight with seven astronauts.
8 April 13:57	Dnepr			Baikonur Site 109/95		ISC Kosmotras
		Cryosat-2[14]	ESA	Low Earth	Climatology	In orbit	Operational
15 April 10:57	GSLV Mk II			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		GSAT-4 (HealthSat)	ISRO	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communications Navigation	15 April	Launch failure
		Maiden flight of GSLV Mk. II, third stage failure.
16 April 15:00[citation needed]	Soyuz-U			Plesetsk Site 16/2		VKS
		Kosmos 2462 (Yantar-4K2M №6/Kobalt-M №6)	VKS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	21 July	Successful
22 April 23:52[15]	Atlas V 501			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-212 (X-37B OTV-1)[15]	U.S. Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	3 December 09:16	Successful
		Maiden flight of Atlas V 501 and Boeing X-37B.
24 April 11:19	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		SES-1 (OS-1)	SES World Skies	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
27 April 01:05	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1		VKS
		Kosmos 2463 (Parus)	VKS	Low Earth	Navigation Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Final flight of Kosmos-3M.
28 April 17:15	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-05M / 37P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	15 November 09:35:39	Successful
		ISS flight 37P
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May
14 May 18:20	Space Shuttle Atlantis[12]			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-132	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	26 May 12:48:11	Successful
		Rassvet (MRM-1)	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight with six astronauts. Rassvet was launched along with the MLM outfittings that included a spare elbow joint for the European Robotic Arm (ERA) (which was launched with Nauka) and an ERA-portable workpost used during EVAs, as well as a heat radiator, internal hardware and an experiment airlock for launching CubeSats to be positioned on the modified passive forward port near the nadir end of the Nauka module.[16]
20 May 21:58:22[17]	H-IIA 202			Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		Akatsuki (Planet-C)	JAXA	Intended: Cytherocentric Actual: Heliocentric, corrected to Cytherocentric	Venus orbiter	In orbit	Operational after partial spacecraft failure
		IKAROS	JAXA	Heliocentric	Solar sail	In orbit	Successful
		⚀ Waseda-SAT2	Waseda	Low Earth	Earth observation	15 August[19]	Spacecraft failure[20][21]
		⚀ Hayato (K-Sat)[25]	Kagoshima	Low Earth	Earth observation	28 June[26] – 14[27] July	Partial spacecraft failure
		⚀ Negai☆''	Soka	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	26 June[29]	Successful
		Shin'en (UNITEC-1)[31]	UNISEC	Heliocentric	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Spacecraft failure[20][32]
		DCAM-1	JAXA	Heliocentric	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Successful
		DCAM-2	JAXA	Heliocentric	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Successful
		Waseda-SAT2 never contacted ground, Hayato affected by communications problems, contact lost with Shin'en on 21 May, unclear if data has been received since.[20] DCAM spacecraft deployed from IKAROS and used to observe deployment of the solar sail.[33] Akatsuki malfunctioned during Cytherocentric orbit insertion, and failed to enter orbit. It managed to orbit around Venus five years later.
21 May 22:01	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Astra 3B	SES Astra	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		COMSATBw-2	Bundeswehr	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 May 03:00	Delta IV-M+ (4,2)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-213 (GPS IIF SV-1)	U.S. Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June
2 June 01:59	Rokot / Briz-KM[34]			Plesetsk Site 133/3		rocket= Eurockot[35]
		SERVIS-2	USEF	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
2 June 15:53:04	Long March 3C			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		Compass-G3	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
3 June 22:00:08	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Badr-5	ARABSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
4 June 18:45[36]	Falcon 9 v1.0[37][38][39]			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX[40]
		DSQU	SpaceX	Low Earth	Boilerplate	27 June 00:50[41]	Successful
		Maiden flight of Falcon 9.[42][43]
10 June 08:01[44]	Naro-1			Naro LC-1[45]		Khrunichev / KARI
		STSAT-2B	KARI	Intended: Low Earth	Technology demonstration	+137 seconds	Launch failure
		Exploded during first stage burn.[7]
15 June 01:39[46]	Long March 2D			Jiuquan SLS-2		CNSA
		Shijian 12[48]	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
15 June 14:42	Dnepr[49]			Dombarovsky Site 13		ISC Kosmotras
		Prisma-Mango	SSC	Low Earth (SSO)[50]	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Prisma-Tango	SSC	Low Earth (SSO)[50]	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Picard	CNES	Low Earth (SSO)[50]	Helioseismology	In orbit	Operational
		BPA-1	Hartron-Arkos	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		BPA-1 intentionally remained attached to upper stage.
15 June 21:35	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-19	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 24	26 November 04:46:53	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts
21 June 02:14	Dnepr			Baikonur Site 109/95		ISC Kosmotras
		TanDEM-X	DLR	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
22 June 19:00	Shavit-2			Palmachim		Israel Aerospace Industries
		Ofek-9[52]	IAI / Israeli Defense Forces	Low Earth (retrograde)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational[53]
		Known as Ofek-8 before launch.[54]
26 June 21:41	Ariane 5 ECA[55]			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		ArabSat-5A	ARABSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Chollian (COMS-1)	KARI	Geosynchronous[56]	Communications Meteorology Oceanography	In orbit	Successful[57]
30 June 15:35	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-06M / 38P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	6 September 12:53:20	Successful
		ISS flight 38P
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July
10 July 18:40	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		EchoStar XV	Echostar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 July[58] 03:53	PSLV-CA			Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Cartosat-2B	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		AlSat-2A	ASAL	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ StudSat	StudSat	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		AISSat-1	NDRE	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ TIsat-1	SUPSI	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		AISSat and TIsat cubeSats to be launched as NLS-6, coordinated by UTIAS
31 July 21:30	Long March 3A			Xichang LC-3		CNSA
		Compass IGSO-1	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August
4 August 20:59	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Nilesat-201	Nilesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		RASCOM-QAF 1R	RASCOM-QAF	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 August 22:49[59]	Long March 4C			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Yaogan 10	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
14 August 11:07	Atlas V 531			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-214 (AEHF-1)	U.S. Air Force	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: GTO	Communications	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure[60] Operational
		Maiden flight of Atlas V 531; liquid apogee engine failed to operate during orbital insertion process.[60]
24 August 07:10	Long March 2D			Jiuquan SLS-2		CNSA
		Tian Hui 1	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September
2 September 00:53:43	Proton-M / DM-2 Enhanced			Baikonur Site 81/24		Roscosmos
		Kosmos 2464 (Glonass-M 736)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2465 (Glonass-M 737)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2466 (Glonass-M 738)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
4 September 16:14	Long March 3B			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		Chinasat-6A	Sinosat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
8 September 03:30	Rokot / Briz-KM			Plesetsk Site 133/3		RVSN RF
		Gonets-M No.2	Gonets Satellite System[61]	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2467 (Strela-3)	VKS	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2468 (Strela-3)	VKS	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
10 September 10:22	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress M-07M / 39P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	20 February 2011 16:12	Successful
		ISS flight 39P
11 September[62] 11:17	H-IIA 202[63]			Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		QZSS-1 (Michibiki)	JAXA	Tundra	Navigation	In orbit	Successful[64]
21 September 04:03:30	Atlas V 501			Vandenberg SLC-3E		United Launch Alliance
		USA-215	NRO	Low Earth (retrograde)		In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 41
22 September 02:42[65]	Long March 2D			Jiuquan SLS-2		CNSA
		Yaogan 11	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Zheda Pixing 1B	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Zheda Pixing 1C	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
26 September 04:41	Minotaur IV			Vandenberg SLC-8		Orbital Sciences
		USA-216 (SBSS)	U.S. Air Force	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration Space surveillance	In orbit	Operational
		First orbital launch of Minotaur IV.
30 September[66] 17:01[1]	Molniya-M / 2BL			Plesetsk Site 16/2		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2469 (Oko)	VKS	Molniya	Missile defense	15 October 2022[68]	Successful
		Final flight of Molniya-M.[1]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October
1 October 10:59:57[69]	Long March 3C			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		Chang'e 2	CNSA	Selenocentric[70]	Lunar orbiter	In orbit	Operational
6 October 00:49	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Shijian 6-04A	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Shijian 6-04B	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
7 October 23:10:57	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-01M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 25	16 March 2011 07:54	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts, maiden flight of modernised Soyuz-TMA spacecraft.
14 October 18:53[71]	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 81/24		International Launch Services
		XM-5	XM Satellite Radio	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
19 October 17:10:59	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat			Baikonur Site 31/6		rocket= Starsem
		Globalstar-2 #1	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar-2 #2	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar-2 #3	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar-2 #4	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar-2 #5	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar-2 #6	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
27 October 15:11:53	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-08M / 40P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	24 January 2011	Successful[72]
		ISS flight 40P.
28 October[73] 21:51	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Eutelsat W3B	Eutelsat	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: GTO	Communications	In orbit	Spacecraft failure[74]
		BSAT-3b[75]	BSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational[76]
		Eutelsat W3B written-off as a total loss immediately after launch due to an oxidizer leak in the satellite's main propulsion system.[77]
31 October 16:26	Long March 3C			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		Compass-G4	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → November
2 November 00:59[78]	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Meridian 3	VKS	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
4 November 18:37[79]	Long March 4C			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Fengyun 3B	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
6 November 02:20	Delta II 7420-10			Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		COSMO-4	ASI	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Final flight of Delta II 7420.[80]
14 November 17:29	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		SkyTerra-1	SkyTerra	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational[81]
20 November 01:25	Minotaur IV / HAPS			Kodiak LP-1		Orbital Sciences
		STPSat-2	STP	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ O/OREOS	NASA AMES	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ RAX	University of Michigan	Low Earth	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
		FASTSAT	NASA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
		⚀ NanoSail-D2	NASA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	17 September 2011[83]	Successful
		Sara-Lily (FASTRAC 1)	Texas	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Emma (FASTRAC 2)	UT Austin	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		USA-221 / FalconSat-5	USAFA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of Minotaur IV/HAPS. NanoSail-D2 should have been deployed from FASTSAT seven days after launch, immediate deployment failed but ejection was confirmed almost two months later on 19 January 2011
21 November 22:58[84]	Delta IV Heavy			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-223 / Orion 7	NRO	Geosynchronous	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		NROL-32 mission.
24 November 16:09[85]	Long March 3A			Xichang LC-3		CNSA
		Chinasat 20A	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
26 November 18:39	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Intelsat 17	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		HYLAS-1[87]	Avanti[88]	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		40th consecutive Ariane 5 launch success.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → December
5 December 10:25	Proton-M / DM-03 Enhanced			Baikonur Site 81/24		Roscosmos
		Glonass-M 739	VKS	Intended: Medium Earth	Navigation	5 December	Launch failure
		Glonass-M 740	VKS	Intended: Medium Earth	Navigation
		Glonass-M 741	VKS	Intended: Medium Earth	Navigation
		Maiden flight of Blok DM-03. Incorrect fuelling of upper stage led to mass being too great to achieve parking orbit, reentered over the Pacific Ocean.[8]
8 December 15:43	Falcon 9 v1.0			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Dragon C1	SpaceX / NASA	Low Earth	Flight test	8 December 19:02	Successful
		⚀ SMDC-ONE 1	U.S. Army	Low Earth	Communications	12 January 2011	Successful
		⚀ Mayflower-Caerus	Northrop Grumman / USC	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	22 December	Successful
		⚀ QbX-1	NRO	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	6 January 2011	Successful
		⚀ QbX-2	NRO	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	16 January 2011	Successful
		⚀ Perseus 000	LANL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	30 December	Successful
		⚀ Perseus 001	LANL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	31 December	Successful
		⚀ Perseus 002	LANL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	30 December	Successful
		⚀ Perseus 003	LANL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	31 December	Successful
		COTS Demo 1; maiden flight of the SpaceX Dragon; Mayflower included Caerus payload operated by USC.
15 December 19:09[89]	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-20	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 26	24 May 2011 02:27	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts.
17 December 20:04	Long March 3A			Xichang LC-3		CNSA
		Compass IGSO-2	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
25 December 10:34	GSLV Mk.I			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		GSAT-5P	ISRO	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communications	25 December	Launch failure
		Disintegrated during first stage flight.
26 December 22:51	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		KA-SAT	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
29 December 21:27	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Hispasat-1E	Hispasat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Koreasat 6[90][92]	Koreasat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational

← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

Suborbital flights

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
10 January 23:00:00[93]	Black Brant IX			San Nicolas		NASA
		MARTI	U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Target	10 January	Successful
11 January 11:55[94]	CSS-X-11			Shuangchengzi Space and Missile Center		PLA
			PLA	Suborbital	ABM target	11 January	Successful
		Target
11 January 12:00	SC-19			Korla Missile Test Complex		PLA
			PLA	Suborbital	ABM test	11 January	Successful[95]
		Interceptor
14 January 06:50[96]	RH-300 Mk.II			TERLS		ISRO
			ISRO	Suborbital	Solar/Aeronomy	14 January	Successful
		Apogee: 116 km (72 mi)[97]
14 January 07:35[96]	RH-300 Mk. II			TERLS		ISRO
			ISRO	Suborbital	Solar/Aeronomy	14 January	Successful
		Apogee: 116 km (72 mi)[97]
14 January[96] 07:45	RH-560 Mk.II			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
			ISRO	Suborbital	Solar/Aeronomy	14 January	Successful
		Apogee: 548 km (341 mi)[97]
15 January 06:50[96]	RH-300 Mk. II			TERLS		ISRO
			ISRO	Suborbital	Solar/Aeronomy	15 January	Successful
		Apogee: 116 km (72 mi)[97]
15 January 07:35[96]	RH-300 Mk. II			TERLS		ISRO
			ISRO	Suborbital	Solar/Aeronomy	15 January	Successful
		Apogee: 116 km (72 mi)[97]
15 January 10:30[96]	RH-300 Mk. II			TERLS		ISRO
			ISRO	Suborbital	Solar/Aeronomy	15 January	Successful
		Apogee: 116 km (72 mi)[97]
15 January[96] 07:45	RH-560 Mk. II			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
			ISRO	Suborbital	Solar/Aeronomy	15 January	Successful
		Apogee: 523 km (325 mi)[97]
27 January 08:25[94]	M51			Le Terrible, Audierne Bay		DGA
			DGA	Suborbital	Missile test	27 January	Successful
		First launch of M51 from a submarine[98]
31 January 11:40[99]	UGM-96 Trident I C4 (LV-2)		FTG-06	Meck		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	30 January	Successful[99]
		Maiden flight of Trident I in LV-2 configuration, interceptor failed[99]
31 January	Ground Based Interceptor		FTG-06	Vandenberg LF-23		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	30 January	Spacecraft failure[99]
		Radar tracking problem caused by unexpected "chuffing", compounded by thruster problem on interceptor, resulted in failure to intercept Trident[99]
3 February	Kavoshgar (Naze'at-based)			Semnan Space Center		ISA
		Kavoshgar-3	ISA	Suborbital	Biological	3 February	Successful[100]
4 February 08:03:07	Black Brant IX			San Nicolas		NASA
		MARTI	U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Target	4 February	Successful[93]
7 February 05:20	Agni-III			ITR IC-4		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	7 February	Successful[101]
		Travelled 3,500 km (2,175 mi) downrange
9 February 09:01:00	Terrier-Orion			Poker Flat		NASA
			Alaska	Suborbital	Auroral	9 February	Successful[93]
12 February 04:44[102]	R-17 Elbrus			Ship, Pacific Ocean		U.S. Air Force
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Target	12 February	Successful[102]
		Destroyed by Boeing YAL-1 aircraft
12 February 05:31:20	Black Brant IX			San Nicolas		NASA
		MARTI	U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Target	12 February	Successful[93]
15 February 09:49:11	Black Brant XII			Poker Flat		NASA
			Dartmouth	Suborbital	Auroral	15 February	Successful[93]
		Apogee: 803 km (499 mi)[97]
17 February	Juno			Fort Wingate LC-96		US Army
			US Army	Suborbital	Target	17 February	Successful
		Target for MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 MSE test, successful intercept
4 March 04:50	R-29RMU Sineva			K-114 Tula, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	4 March	Successful
15 March	Prithvi			ITR IC-4		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Target	15 March	Launch failure
		Target for ABM test, deviated from planned course, interceptor not launched[103]
22 March	Terrier Mk.70-Orion			Woomera LA-2		DSTO/U.S. Air Force
		HIFiRE-1	DSTO/U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	22 March	Successful
		Hypersonic research experiment
26 March 13:43	/ Maxus			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		MAXUS-8	SSC / ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity	26 March 13:55	Successful[104]
		Apogee: 700 km (435 mi)[97]
27 March 00:14[97]	Dhanush[105]			INS Subhadra Indian Ocean		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	27 March	Successful
27 March 00:18[97]	Prithvi II[105]			Integrated Test Range IC-3		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	27 March	Successful
27 March 14:09:56[106]	Terrier-Improved Malemute			Wallops Island LA-1/50K		NASA
			NASA	Suborbital	Test flight	27 March	Successful
		SOCEM	CalPoly	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	27 March	Successful
		ADAMASat	Kentucky Space	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	27 March	Successful
		Maiden flight of Terrier-Improved Malemute, apogee: 270 km (168 mi)[97]
27 March 19:37[97]	Agni I[107]			Integrated Test Range IC-4		Indian Army
			Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	28 March	Successful
22 April 23:00[15]	Minotaur IV Lite			Vandenberg SLC-8		Orbital Sciences
		HTV-2a	U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	22 April	Spacecraft failure[108]
		Maiden flight of Minotaur IV, loss of contact with HTV nine minutes after launch.[108]
3 May 09:47:00	Black Brant IX			San Nicolas		NASA
		MARTI	U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Target	3 May	Successful
3 May 18:32:00	Black Brant IX[109]			White Sands		NASA
		EVE	CU Boulder	Suborbital	Geospace/Solar	3 May	Successful
		Used to calibrate the Solar Dynamics Observatory[110]
4 May 12:41:02[111]	SpaceLoft XL			Spaceport America		UP Aerospace
		RocketSat	CSG	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	4 May	Successful
			NMSU	Suborbital	Technology demonstration		Successful
			UNM	Suborbital	Technology demonstration		Successful
		Pioneer	Celestis	Suborbital	Space burial		Successful
		Reached an apogee of 113 km (70 mi), successfully recovered.[112]
6 May 03:50[113][114]	Taiwan Sounding Rocket		Sounding Rocket VII	Jiu Peng Air Base		NSPO
		Ion probe	NSPO/NCU	Suborbital	Ionospheric research	6 May	Successful
		Apogee: 289 km (180 mi)[113]
8 May	Ghaznavi			Sonmiani		ASFC
			ASFC	Suborbital	Missile test	8 May	Successful
8 May	Shaheen-I			Sonmiani		ASFC
			ASFC	Suborbital	Missile test	8 May	Successful
17 May 11:29	Agni-II			ITR IC-3		Indian Army
			Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	17 May	Successful
		Travelled 2,500 km (1,553 mi) downrange
21 May 09:00:00	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		DICE	CU Boulder	Suborbital	Astronomy	21 May	Spacecraft failure[93]
6 June 22:25[97]	Ground Based Interceptor			Vandenberg LF-24		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	Test flight	6 June	Successful
		Two stage test vehicle, non-intercept test
8 June	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS Maryland, ETR		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	8 June	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 42
8 June	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS Maryland, ETR		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	8 June	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 42
9 June	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS Maryland, ETR		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	9 June	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 43
9 June	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS Maryland, ETR		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	9 June	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 43
16 June 10:01	LGM-30G Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-10		U.S. Air Force
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	16 June	Successful
		Travelled 6,743 km (4,190 mi) to Kwajalein Atoll
24 June 11:17:00	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Island LA-2/MRL		NASA
		RockOn!	Colorado	Suborbital	Student research	24 June	Successful
30 June 10:40:01[97]	LGM-30G Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-04		U.S. Air Force
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	30 June	Successful
10 July 11:32[115]	M51			Le Terrible, Audierne Bay		DGA/Marine nationale
			DGA/Marine nationale	Suborbital	Test flight	10 July	Successful
11 July	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		CIBER	Caltech[116]	Suborbital	Astronomy	11 July	Successful
27 July	Prithvi			ITR IC-4		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Target	27 July	Successful
		Target for ABM test, intercepted successfully by AAD
30 July 18:18	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		SUMI	NASA	Suborbital	Solar	30 July	Successful
4 August 09:15	Black Brant X			Wallops Island LA-1/50K		NASA
			NASA	Suborbital	Test flight Technology	4 August	Successful
		Tests of Nihka rocket motor, with secondary technology experiments
6 August[117]	R-29RMU Sineva			K-114 Tula, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	6 August	Successful
6 August[117]	R-29RMU Sineva			K-114 Tula, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	6 August	Successful
23 August 17:57	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		RAISE	SwRI	Suborbital	Solar	23 August	Successful
30 August 20:00[118]	S-520			Uchinoura		JAXA
			JAXA/TMU/Kagawa /Shizuoka	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	30 August	Partial spacecraft failure[119]
		High-voltage control experiments not conducted as planned[119]
17 September 10:03	LGM-30G Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-09		U.S. Air Force
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	17 September	Successful
21 September 13:07:30[120]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Island LA-2/MRL		NASA
		SubTec-III	NASA	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	21 September 13:23[120]	Successful[120]
6 October	ARAV-B (Terrier-Oriole)?			Kauai		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	Aegis radar target	6 October	Successful
		Aegis radar target, detected by STSS-Satellites
6 October	ARAV-B (Terrier-Oriole)?			Kauai		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	Aegis radar target	6 October	Successful
		Aegis radar target, detected by STSS-Satellites
7 October[citation needed] 03:10	RSM-56 Bulava			TK-208 Dmitri Donskoi, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	7 October	Successful
21 October[121] 17:00	Black Brant IX			San Nicolas		NASA
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Target	21 October	Successful
27 October 10:15[122]	Nike Orion			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		MAPHEUS-2	DLR	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	27 October	Successful
		Apogee: 153 km (95 mi)
28 October[citation needed] 09:59	RS-12M Topol			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful
28 October 10:30[citation needed]	R-29RMU Sineva			K-117 Bryansk, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful
28 October 10:30[citation needed]	R-29R Volna			K-433 Svyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets, Sea of Okhotsk		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful
29 October[citation needed] 01:10	RSM-56 Bulava			TK-208 Dmitri Donskoi, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	29 October	Successful
29 October 03:06			JFTM-4	Kauai		MDA
			JMSDF/MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	29 October	Successful
		Apogee: 161 km (100 mi), intercepted by SM-3
29 October 03:09	RIM-161 SM-3		JFTM-4	JDS Kirishima, Pacific Ocean		JMSDF
			JMSDF	Suborbital	ABM test	29 October	Successful
		Apogee: 161 km (100 mi), intercepted target
25 November 04:40	Agni I			Integrated Test Range IC-4		Indian Army
			Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	25 November	Successful
4 December 04:21[123]	Nike-Improved Orion			Andøya		Andøya
		ECOMA 2010-1	Andøya/DLR	Suborbital	Aeronomy	4 December	Successful
5 December 19:11	RS-12M Topol			Kapustin Yar		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	5 December	Successful
6 December 16:45	Terrier-Orion			White Sands		NASA
		TRaiNED	NASA	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	6 December	Successful
6 December 17:19	Improved Orion			Alcântara		AEB
		Maracati 2	INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	6 December	Successful
		Test for Operation Maracati 2[124]
10 December	Agni-II Plus			ITR IC-3		Indian Army
			Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	10 December	Launch failure
		Upgraded Agni II version, fell into the sea shortly after launch
12 December 06:38[125]	Black Brant XII			Andøya		NASA
		RENU 1	New Hampshire	Suborbital	Geospace	12 December	Launch failure[126]
12 December 12:35	VSB-30			Alcântara		AEB
		Maracati 2	INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	12 December 12:51	Successful
		Operation Maracati 2, MICROG 1A payload[127]
13 December 03:24	Nike-Improved Orion			Andøya		Andøya
		ECOMA 2010-2	Andøya/DLR	Suborbital	Aeronomy	13 December	Successful
15 December	UGM-96 Trident I C4 (LV-2)		FTG-06a	Meck		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	15 December	Successful
15 December	Ground Based Interceptor		FTG-06a	Vandenberg LF-23		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	15 December	Spacecraft failure
		Interceptor failed, the cause is under investigation
19 December 02:36	Nike-Improved Orion			Andøya		Andøya
		ECOMA 2010-3	Andøya/DLR	Suborbital	Aeronomy	19 December	Successful
21 December	Ghauri			Tilla		Army of Pakistan
		Haft-5	Army of Pakistan	Suborbital	Missile test	21 December	Successful
		Apogee: 100 km (62 mi)
22 December	Prithvi II[105]			Integrated Test Range IC-3		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	22 December	Successful
22 December	Prithvi II[105]			Integrated Test Range IC-3		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	22 December	Successful

Deep space rendezvous

Date	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
12 January	Cassini	65th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,073 km (667 mi)
28 January	Cassini	66th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 7,490 km (4,654 mi)
31 January	Artemis P1	Lunar flyby	Closest approach: 11,992 km (7,451 mi) at 08:13 UTC[128]
1 February	Artemis P2	Lunar flyby	Closest approach: 69,222 km (43,013 mi) at 14:44 UTC[128]
13 February	Artemis P1	Lunar flyby	Closest approach: 2,958 km (1,838 mi) at 10:06 UTC[128]
13 February	Cassini	Flyby of Mimas	Closest approach: 9,520 km (5,915 mi)
16 February	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 991 km (616 mi)
22 February	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 574 km (357 mi)
25 February	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 398 km (247 mi)
28 February	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 226 km (140 mi)
1 March	Artemis P2	Lunar flyby	Closest approach: 68,036 km (42,276 mi) at 04:11 UTC[128]
2 March	Cassini	2nd flyby of Rhea	Closest approach: 100 km (62 mi)
3 March	Cassini	Flyby of Helene	Closest approach: 1,803 km (1,120 mi)
3 March	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 67 km (42 mi)
7 March	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 107 km (66 mi)
10 March	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 286 km (178 mi)
13 March	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 476 km (296 mi)
16 March	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 662 km (411 mi)
19 March	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 848 km (527 mi)
23 March	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 1,341 km (833 mi)
26 March	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 1,304 km (810 mi)
28 March	Artemis P2	Lunar flyby	Closest approach: 9,366 km (5,820 mi) at 07:34 UTC[128]
5 April	Cassini	67th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 7,462 km (4,637 mi)
7 April	Cassini	2nd flyby of Dione	Closest approach: 504 km (313 mi)
28 April	Cassini	9th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 103 km (64 mi)
18 May	Cassini	10th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 201 km (125 mi)
20 May	Cassini	68th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,400 km (870 mi)
5 June	Cassini	69th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 2,044 km (1,270 mi)
13 June	Hayabusa	First sample return mission from asteroid	Sample canister successful recovered to Earth
21 June	Cassini	70th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 955 km (593 mi)
7 July	Cassini	71st flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,005 km (624 mi)
10 July	Rosetta	Flyby of 21 Lutetia	Closest approach: 3,100 km (1,926 mi)[129]
13 August	Cassini	11th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 2,554 km (1,587 mi)
25 August	Artemis P1	LL2 orbit insertion
24 September	Cassini	72nd flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 8,175 km (5,080 mi)
6 October	Chang'e 2	Lunar orbit insertion
16 October	Cassini	Flyby of Pallene	Closest approach: 36,000 km (22,369 mi)
22 October	Artemis P2	LL1 orbit insertion
4 November	Deep Impact	Flyby of Hartley 2	Closest approach: 700 km (435 mi)[130]
11 November	Cassini	73rd flyby of Titan
30 November	Cassini	12th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 47.9 km (30 mi)
7 December	Akatsuki	1st flyby of Venus	Cytherocentric orbit insertion failure Closest approach: 550 km (342 mi)
8 December	IKAROS	Flyby of Venus	Closest approach: 80,800 km (50,207 mi)
21 December	Cassini	13th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 50 km (31 mi)
December	Shin'en	Flyby of Venus	not confirmed.

Distant, non-targeted flybys of Dione, Enceladus, Mimas, Rhea, Tethys and Titan by Cassini will occur throughout the first half of the year.

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
14 January 10:05	5 hours 44 minutes	15:49	Expedition 22 ISS Pirs	Oleg Kotov Maksim Surayev	Prepared the Poisk module for future dockings.[131][132]
12 February 02:17	6 hours 32 minutes	08:49	STS-130 ISS Quest	Robert L. Behnken Nicholas Patrick	Removed a protective cover on a port on the Unity node where Tranquility was berthed halfway through the spacewalk. The pair then transferred a spare parts platform for the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator from the shuttle to the station. Once that task is completed Behnken and Patrick made several connections on the newly installed Tranquility node to begin its activation.[133][134]
14 February 02:20	5 hours 54 minutes	08:14	STS-130 ISS Quest	Robert L. Behnken Nicholas Patrick	Installed ammonia plumbing and connectors between Unity, Destiny and Tranquility and covered them with thermal insulation. Prepared the nadir port on Tranquility for the relocation of the Cupola, and installed handrails on the exterior of Tranquility.[135][136]
17 February 02:15	5 hours 48 minutes	08:03	STS-130 ISS Quest	Robert L. Behnken Nicholas Patrick	Installed additional ammonia plumbing between Unity and Tranquility, removed insulation and launch locks from the Cupola, installed additional handrails on the exterior of Tranquility and performed get-ahead tasks to support the installation of a Power Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF) on the exterior of Zarya with cable installation on Unity and the S0 truss.[137][138]
9 April 05:31	6 hours 27 minutes	11:58	STS-131 ISS Quest	Richard Mastracchio Clayton Anderson	Relocated new an ammonia tank from the Shuttle's payload bay to a temporary stowage location and disconnected the fluid lines to the old ammonia tank on the S1 truss. Retrieved a Japanese seed experiment from the exterior of the Kibo laboratory for return to earth and replaced a failed gyroscope on the S0 truss. Performed get-ahead tasks including the opening of a window flap on the zenith CBM of Harmony, and removed launch restraint bolts from a Flex Hose Rotary Coupler (FHRC) on the P1 truss.[139][140]
11 April 05:30	7 hours 26 minutes	12:56	STS-131 ISS Quest	Richard Mastracchio Clayton Anderson	The old ammonia tank was removed from the S1 truss and was replaced with the new tank. The electrical connections to the tank were made, but the fluid lines were deferred to the mission's third EVA due to time constraints since the installation was prolonged by a problem with the bolts that hold the tank to the truss. The old tank was relocated to a temporary stowage location on the station and a foot restraint was relocated in preparation for a future shuttle mission's spacewalk.[141][142]
13 April 06:14	6 hours 24 minutes	12:36	STS-131 ISS Quest	Richard Mastracchio Clayton Anderson	The fluid lines were connected to the new ammonia tank and the old tank was moved to the shuttle's payload bay for return to Earth. Micro-meteoroid debris shields from the Quest airlock which were no longer necessary were brought inside the airlock for return to Earth inside the Leonardo MPLM. The Z1 truss was prepared for the installation of a spare antenna on the next shuttle mission, and a foot restraint was relocated in preparation for a future spacewalk. The retrieval of an external carrier plate on Columbus was deferred to another shuttle mission due to time constraints after problems were encountered with attaching the old ammonia tank to a carrier in the payload bay, and several other tasks were deferred to later EVAs due to the replanning from the problems with the mission's second EVA.[143][144]
17 May 11:54	7 hours 25 minutes	19:19	STS-132 ISS Quest	Garrett Reisman Stephen G. Bowen	Installed a spare space-to-ground Ku-band antenna on the Z1 truss; installed new tool platform on Dextre, and broke torque on bolts holding replacement batteries to the ICC-VLD cargo carrier.[145][146]
19 May 10:38	7 hours 9 minutes	17:47	STS-132 ISS Quest	Stephen G. Bowen Michael T. Good	Repaired Atlantis' Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS); P6 battery replacement (4 of 6 units); and removed gimbal locks from the Ku-band antenna installed on the first EVA of the mission.[147][148]
21 May 10:27	6 hours 46 minutes	17:13	STS-132 ISS Quest	Michael T. Good Garrett Reisman	P6 battery replacement (final 2 of 6 units); installed ammonia "jumpers" at the P4/P5 interface; retrieved a spare PDGF from Atlantis' payload bay and stowed it inside the Quest airlock. The spacewalkers also replenished supplies of EVA tools in toolboxes on the exterior of the station.[149][150]
27 July 04:11	6 hours 42 minutes	10:53	Expedition 24 ISS Pirs	Fyodor Yurchikhin Mikhail Korniyenko	Replaced an ATV video camera on Zvezda, routed command and data handling lines from Zvezda and Zarya to the new Rassvet module as well as made KURS connections between Rassvet and Zarya to allow future automated dockings to the new module. Then the two cosmonauts jettisoned the old ATV video camera.[151][152]
7 August 11:19	8 hours 3 minutes	19:22	Expedition 24 ISS Quest	Douglas H. Wheelock Tracy Caldwell Dyson	Attempted to replace failed S1 ammonia pump module. The spacewalkers did not complete all of the planned tasks due to a quick disconnect that got stuck and would not release. The pair had to complete a "bake-out" in order to ensure there was no ammonia on their suits before re-entering the Space Station.[153][154]
11 August 12:27	7 hours 26 minutes	19:53	Expedition 24 ISS Quest	Douglas H. Wheelock Tracy Caldwell Dyson	Completed removal of failed pump module from the S1 truss and began installation preparations on the replacement pump.[155][156]
16 August 10:20	7 hours 20 minutes	17:40	Expedition 24 ISS Quest	Douglas H. Wheelock Tracy Caldwell Dyson	Installed new pump module on the S1 truss.[157][158]
15 November 14:55	6 hours 27 minutes	21:22	Expedition 25 ISS Pirs	Fyodor Yurchikhin Oleg Skripochka	Install a multipurpose workstation on Zvezda, retrieve camera, retrieve kontur, install new materials experiment, collect samples below insulation.[159][160]

Orbital launch statistics

By country

For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. For example, Dnepr rockets are counted under Ukraine even though they are launched from Russia.

Country		Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures
	China	15	15	0	0
	France	6	6	0	0
	India	3	1	2	0
	Israel	1	1	0	0
	Japan	2	2	0	0
	Russia	28	27	1	0
	South Korea	1[a]	0	1	0
	Ukraine	3[b]	3	0	0
	United States	15	15	0	0
World		74	70	4	0

By rocket

3

6

9

12

15

Ariane

Atlas

Delta

Falcon

GSLV

H-II

Long March

Minotaur

R-7

R-36

Shuttle

UR

Others

•   Ariane 5
•   Atlas V
•   Delta II
•   Delta IV
•   Delta IV Heavy
•   Falcon 9
•   GSLV
•   H-IIA
•   Long March 2
•   Long March 3
•   Long March 4
•   Minotaur IV
•   Molniya-M
•   Soyuz-U
•   Soyuz-FG
•   Soyuz-2
•   Dnepr
•   Space Shuttle
•   Proton-M
•   Rokot
•   Others

By family

Family	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Angara	Russia	1	0	1	0
Ariane	France	6	6	0	0
Atlas	United States	4	4	0	0
Delta	United States	4	4	0	0
Falcon	United States	2	2	0	0
GLSV	India	2	0	2	0
H-II	Japan	2	2	0	0
Long March	China	15	15	0	0
Minotaur	United States	2	2	0	0
PSLV	India	1	1	0	0
R-7	Russia	13	13	0	0
R-14	Russia	1	1	0	0
R-36	Ukraine	3	3	0	0
Shavit	Israel	1	1	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	3	3	0	0
Universal Rocket	Russia	14	13	1	0

By type

Rocket	Country	Family	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5	France	Ariane	6	6	0	0
Atlas V	United States	Atlas	4	4	0	0
Delta II	United States	Delta	1	1	0	0
Delta IV	United States	Delta	3	3	0	0
Dnepr	Ukraine	R-36	3	3	0	0
Falcon 9	United States	Falcon	2	2	0	0	Maiden flight
GSLV	India	GSLV	2	0	2	0
H-IIA	Japan	H-II	2	2	0	0
Kosmos	Russia	R-12/R-14	1	1	0	0
Long March 2	China	Long March	3	3	0	0
Long March 3	China	Long March	8	8	0	0
Long March 4	China	Long March	4	4	0	0
Minotaur IV	United States	Minotaur	2	2	0	0	Maiden flight
Molniya	Russia	R-7	1	1	0	0	Final flight
Naro	Russia  South Korea	Angara	1	0	1	0
Proton	Russia	Universal Rocket	12	11	1	0
PSLV	India	PSLV	1	1	0	0
Shavit	Israel	Shavit	1	1	0	0
Soyuz	Russia	R-7	10	10	0	0
Soyuz-2	Russia	R-7	2	2	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	3	3	0	0
UR-100	Russia	Universal Rocket	2	2	0	0

By configuration

Rocket	Country	Type	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5 ECA	France	Ariane 5	6	6	0	0
Atlas V 401	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0
Atlas V 501	United States	Atlas V	2	2	0	0	Maiden flight
Atlas V 531	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Delta II 7420	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0	Final flight[80]
Delta IV-M+(4,2)	United States	Delta IV	2	2	0	0
Delta IV Heavy	United States	Delta IV	1	1	0	0
Dnepr	Ukraine	Dnepr	3	3	0	0
Falcon 9 v1.0	United States	Falcon 9	2	2	0	0	Maiden flight
GSLV Mk I(c)	India	GSLV	1	0	1	0	Only flight
GSLV Mk II	India	GSLV	1	0	1	0	Maiden flight
H-IIA 202	Japan	H-IIA	2	2	0	0
Kosmos-3M	Russia	Kosmos	1	1	0	0	Final flight
Long March 2D	China	Long March 2	3	3	0	0
Long March 3A	China	Long March 3	3	3	0	0
Long March 3B	China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0
Long March 3C	China	Long March 3	4	4	0	0
Long March 4B	China	Long March 4	1	1	0	0
Long March 4C	China	Long March 4	3	3	0	0
Minotaur IV	United States	Minotaur IV	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Minotaur IV / HAPS	United States	Minotaur IV	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Molniya-M / 2BL	Russia	Molniya	1	1	0	0	Final flight[1]
Naro-1	Russia  South Korea	Naro	1	0	1	0
Proton-M / DM-2	Russia	Proton	2	2	0	0
Proton-M / DM-03	Russia	Proton	1	0	1	0
Proton-M / Briz-M	Russia	Proton	9	9	0	0
PSLV-CA	India	PSLV	1	1	0	0
Rokot / Briz-KM	Russia	UR-100	2	2	0	0
Shavit-2	Israel	Shavit	1	1	0	0
Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat-M	Russia	Soyuz-2	2	2	0	0
Soyuz-U	Russia	Soyuz	6	6	0	0
Soyuz-FG	Russia	Soyuz	4	4	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	3	3	0	0

By spaceport

5

10

15

20

25

30

China

France

India

Israel

Japan

Kazakhstan

South Korea

Russia

United States

•   Jiuquan
•   Taiyuan
•   Xichang
•   Kourou
•   Satish Dhawan
•   Palmachim
•   Tanegashima
•   Baikonur
•   Naro
•   Dombarovsky
•   Plesetsk
•   Cape Canaveral
•   Kennedy
•   Kodiak
•   MARS
•   Vandenberg

Site	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Baikonur	Kazakhstan	24	23	1	0
Cape Canaveral	United States	8	8	0	0
Dombarovsky	Russia	1	1	0	0
Jiuquan	China	4	4	0	0
Kennedy	United States	3	3	0	0
Kodiak	United States	1	1	0	0
Kourou	France	6	6	0	0
Naro	South Korea	1	0	1	0
Palmachim	Israel	1	1	0	0
Plesetsk	Russia	6	6	0	0
Satish Dhawan	India	3	1	2	0
Taiyuan	China	3	3	0	0
Tanegashima	Japan	2	2	0	0
Vandenberg	United States	3	3	0	0
Xichang	China	8	8	0	0
Total		74	70	4	0

By orbit

10

20

30

40

Transatmospheric

Low Earth

Medium Earth

Geosynchronous / transfer

High Earth

Heliocentric

•   Transatmospheric
•   Low Earth
•   Low Earth (ISS)
•   Low Earth (SSO)
•   Low Earth (retrograde)
•   Medium Earth
•   Geosychronous
  (transfer)
•   Inclined GSO
•   High Earth
•   Heliocentric

Orbital regime	Launches	Successes	Failures	Accidentally achieved	Remarks
Transatmospheric	0	0	0	0
Low Earth	37	36	1	0	12 to ISS
Medium Earth / Molniya	6	5	1	0
Geosynchronous / GTO	29	27	2	0
High Earth / Lunar transfer	1	1	0	0
Heliocentric / Planetary transfer	1	1	0	0
Total	74	70	4	0

Notes

1. With Russian assistance
2. Launched from Russia