2028 in spaceflight

This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2028.

2028 in spaceflight

The rotorcraft Dragonfly probe to Titan is planned to be launched in 2028.

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2028 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 2027 2029 →

NASA plans to launch Dragonfly, a robotic rotorcraft probe which will explore Saturn's moon Titan.^[1]

NASA plans to launch Artemis 4. The first to use SLS Block 1B.

Russia expects to launch the Luna 27 lunar lander in 2028.

Chang'e 8, the last mission before China’s moon base begins construction, is planned to launch.

The first uncrewed flight of Orel, Russia's replacement for the crewed Soyuz spacecraft, is scheduled for 2028.

India plans to launch the first module for the Bharatiya Antariksha Station in 2028.^[2] India also plans to launch the Chandrayaan-4 and LUPEX lunar missions.

ESA expects to launch the Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars on an American commercial launch vehicle.^[3]

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
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March
29 March [4]	LVM3			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		Venus Orbiter Mission (Shukrayaan)	ISRO	Cytherocentric	Venus orbiter
Q1 (TBD)[5][6]	H3			Tanegashima LA-Y2		MHI
		MBR Explorer	UAESA	Heliocentric	Asteroid flyby and landing
		Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA).
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April
April (TBD)[7]	TBA			TBA		TBA
		Ramses	ESA	Heliocentric	Asteroid flyby
		Flyby of 99942 Apophis.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June
Q2 (TBD) [8]	Falcon 9 Block 5			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		TBA	TBA	Geosynchronous	TBA
		Dedicated SmallSat Rideshare mission to GTO orbit by SEOPS (SEOPS GTO Rideshare 1).
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July
5–25 July[1]	Falcon Heavy			Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		Dragonfly	NASA	Heliocentric (to Saturn)	Exploration of Titan
		Rotorcraft probe to fly in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.
July (TBD)[9]	Epsilon S			Uchinoura		JAXA
		Solar-C EUVST	JAXA	Low Earth (SSO)	Heliophysics
		Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission.[10][11]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August
August (TBD)[12]	TBA			TBA		TBA
		SAOCOM-2A	CONAE	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September
September (TBD)[13]	SLS Block 1B			Kennedy LC-39B		NASA
		Artemis 4	NASA	Selenocentric (NRHO)	Crewed Gateway expedition Crewed lunar landing
		International Habitation Module (I-HAB)	ESA	Selenocentric (NRHO)	Lunar Gateway component
		Third crewed Orion flight, second Artemis lunar landing, and first lunar landing with 4 crew members.[14] First launch of the SLS Block 1B variant with the Exploration Upper Stage. Delivery of I-HAB to the Lunar Gateway.[15]
Q3 (TBD)[16]	Ariane 64			Kourou ELA-4		Arianespace
		TBA	TBA	Geosynchronous	TBA
		Multi-Launch Service (MLS) #3 rideshare mission.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October
October (TBD)[17]	TBA			Kennedy		TBA
		TBA	ESA	TMI to Martian surface	Mars lander
		Rosalind Franklin	ESA	TMI to Martian surface	Mars rover
		ExoMars mission. Delayed and retooled due to the suspension of ESA–Russia cooperation on ExoMars.[18]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → December
December (TBD) [19][20]	Amur / Fregat-M			Vostochny Site 2A		Roscosmos
		GVM-M	Roscosmos	Low Earth	Mass simulator
		Sfera × ?[21]	Roscosmos	Low Earth	Communications
		Maiden flight of Amur (Soyuz-7), a partially reusable methane-powered launch vehicle.
Q4 (TBD) [22]	TBA			Cape Canaveral		TBA
		MTO	NASA	Areocentric	Mars Orbiter
Q4 (TBD)[23][24]	Falcon 9 Block 5			TBA		SpaceX
		GRACE-C1	NASA / DLR	Low Earth (Polar)	Gravimetry
		GRACE-C2	NASA / DLR	Low Earth (Polar)	Gravimetry
		Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment-Continuity (GRACE-C).
Q4 (TBD)[25][26]	Vega-C			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		CRISTAL (Sentinel-9)	ESA	Low Earth (Polar)	Earth observation
		Part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → To be determined
2028 (TBD) [27][28]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			Plesetsk Site 43		RVSN RF
		Kosmos (GLONASS-K2 28L (K2 №7))	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation
2028 (TBD) [27][29]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			Plesetsk Site 43		RVSN RF
		Kosmos (GLONASS-K2 29L (K2 №8))	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation
2028 (TBD) [27][30]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M			Plesetsk Site 43		RVSN RF
		Kosmos (GLONASS-K2 30L (K2 №9))	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation
2028 (TBD)[31]	Angara A5			Vostochny Site 1A		Roscosmos
		Luna 27 №1	Roscosmos	TLI to lunar surface	Lunar lander
		Third mission of Luna-Glob Programme.
2028 (TBD)[31]	Angara A5			Vostochny Site 1A		Roscosmos
		Luna 27 №2	Roscosmos	TLI to lunar surface	Lunar lander
		Backup lander of Luna 27 Lunar landing Mission.
2028 (TBD)[32][33]	Angara A5			Vostochny Site 1A		Roscosmos
		Orel	Roscosmos	Low Earth	Flight test
		First uncrewed test flight of Russia's new crewed spacecraft, Orel. First launch of Angara A5 from Vostochny.
2028 (TBD)[32][34]	Angara A5P			Vostochny Site 1A		Roscosmos
		Orel	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Flight test
		First flight of the Angara A5P, a crew-rated variant of the Angara A5.[35] An uncrewed Orel capsule will be sent to the International Space Station to test docking procedures.
2028 (TBD)[32][36][35]	Angara A5P			Vostochny Site 1A		Roscosmos
		Orel	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Crewed flight test
		Crewed flight test of the Orel capsule to the International Space Station.
2028 (TBD) [37]	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Vostochny Site 1S		Roscosmos
		Progress-ROS	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ROS)	TBA
		Cargo flight to ROS.
2028 (TBD) [38]	Angara A5M			Vostochny Site 1A		Roscosmos
		Orel-ROS	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ROS)	TBA
		Crewed flight to ROS.
2028 (TBD)[39][40]	Ariane 62 or Vega-C[41]			Kourou ELA-4 or ELV		Arianespace
		ROSE-L (Sentinel-12)	ESA	Low Earth (Polar)	Earth observation
		Part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme.
2028 (TBD)[42][43]	Epsilon S			Uchinoura		JAXA
		JASMINE	JAXA / NAOJ	Low Earth (SSO)	Astrometric observatory
2028 (TBD)[44]	Falcon 9 Block 5			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Al Yah 5	Yahsat	Geosynchronous	Communications
		Replacement for Yahsat 1B (Al Yah 2).[45]
2028 (TBD)[46]	Falcon Heavy			Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		GPS IIIF-03 (GPS III-13)	U.S. Space Force	Medium Earth	Navigation
		USSF-15 Mission.
2028 (TBD) [47]	Falcon Heavy			Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		EchoStar-26	EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communications
2028 (TBD)[13][48]	Falcon Heavy			Kennedy LC-39A		SpaceX
		SpaceX GLS-1	SpaceX / NASA	Selenocentric (NRHO)	Gateway logistics
		First Lunar Gateway resupply mission, using the Dragon XL logistics module.
JFY 2028 (TBD)[49]	H3			Tanegashima LA-Y2		JAXA
		DESTINY+	JAXA	Heliocentric	Asteroid flyby
		Aims to conduct a flyby of 3200 Phaethon in 2030.
2028 (TBD)[50]	H3			Tanegashima LA-Y2		MHI
		Himawari 10	JMA	Geosynchronous	Meteorology
2028 (TBD)[51]	H3			Tanegashima LA-Y2		MHI
		LUPEX Lander	ISRO	TLI to lunar surface	Lunar lander
		LUPEX Rover	JAXA	TLI to lunar surface	Lunar rover
		Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) Mission. It is also Known as Chandrayaan-5.
2028 (TBD)[52]	Long March 5			Wenchang LC-1		CASC
		Chang'e 8 Lander	CNSA	Selenocentric to lunar surface	Lunar lander ISRU demonstration
		Chang'e 8 Rover	CNSA	Selenocentric to lunar surface	Lunar rover
		TBA	SUPARCO / CNSA	Selenocentric to lunar surface	Lunar rover
		TBA	TBA / CNSA	Selenocentric to lunar surface	Lunar rover
2028 (TBD) [53]	TBA			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		Exoworlds	ISRO	Low Earth	Visible Astronomy
2028 (TBD)[2]	LVM3			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		Bharatiya Antariksha Station-B1	ISRO	Low Earth	Space station module
		First module for ISRO's Bharatiya Antariksha space station.
2028 (TBD)[54]	HLVM 3			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		Gaganyaan-5 / H2	ISRO	Low Earth	Crewed spaceflight
		India's second crewed spaceflight.
2028 (TBD)[55]	HLVM 3			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		Gaganyaan-6 / G4	ISRO	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics
		India's first resupply mission to ISS.
2028 (TBD)[55]	HLVM 3			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		Gaganyaan-7 / G5	ISRO	Low Earth (BAS)	Resupply Spacecraft
		India's first resupply mission to BAS.
2028 (TBD)[56][57]	LVM3			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		GSAT-22	NSIL	Geosynchronous	Communications
2028 (TBD)[56]	LVM3			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		GSAT-23	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications
2028 (TBD)[58][59]	PSLV-XL			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		DISHA-H	ISRO	Low Earth	Aeronomy
		DISHA-L	ISRO	Low Earth	Aeronomy
		Disturbed and quite-type Ionosphere System at High Altitude (DISHA) satellite constellation with two satellites.
2028 (TBD)[60]	PSLV			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		AHySIS-2	ISRO	Low Earth	Earth observation
		Follow-up to HySIS hyperspectral Earth imaging satellite.
2028 (TBD)[61]	PSLV			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		Resourcesat-3A	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation
2028 (TBD)[61]	PSLV			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		Resourcesat-3S[62]	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation
2028 (TBD)[63][64]	GSLV Mk II			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		GSAT-7B	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications
2028 (TBD)[65][64]	GSLV Mk II			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		GSAT-7C	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications
2028 (TBD)[63][64]	GSLV Mk II			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		GSAT-7R	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications
		Will eventually replace GSAT-7.
2028 (TBD)[66]	GSLV Mk II			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		IDRSS-2	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications
		Second of two Satellite for Indian Data Relay satellite System.
2028 (TBD)[67]	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat			Vostochny Site 1S		Roscosmos
		Kanopus-VO №1	Roscosmos	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation
		First satellite of the Kanopus-VO system, a next-generation successor to Kanopus-V.[68]
2028 (TBD)[69][70]	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat			Vostochny Site 1S		Roscosmos
		Kanopus-VO №2	Roscosmos	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation
2028 (TBD)[71]	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		CBERS 6	CASC / INPE	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation
2028 (TBD)[72]	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		HaiYang 2N	Ministry of Natural Resources	Low Earth	Earth observation
2028 (TBD)[72][73]	Long March 4B			TBA		CASC
		HaiYang 3C[74]	Ministry of Natural Resources	Geosynchronous	Earth observation
2028 (TBD)[72][73]	Long March TBA			TBA		CASC
		HaiYang 3D[75]	Ministry of Natural Resources	Geosynchronous	Earth observation
2028 (TBD)[72]	Long March TBD			TBA		CASC
		Fengyun 4E	CMA	Geosynchronous	Meteorology
2028 (TBD)[72]	Long March TBD			Wenchang		CASC
		Fengyun 5C	CMA	Geosynchronous	Meteorology
2028 (TBD)[76]	Long March TBD			Wenchang		CASC
		Lunar Remote Sensing	CMSA	Selenocentric	Earth observation
2028 (TBD)[77]	LVM3 SC			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		Chandrayaan-4 Propulsion Module	ISRO	Selenocentric	Lunar sample-return
		Chandrayaan-4 Lander Module	ISRO	TLI to lunar surface	Lunar lander
		Chandrayaan-4 Ascender Module	ISRO	TLI to lunar surface	Space rendezvous
		First of two LVM3 SC for ISRO's Chandrayaan-4 Lunar Sample-return Mission. Chandrayaan-4 Propulsion, Lander and Ascender Modules.
2028 (TBD)[77]	LVM3 SC			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		Chandrayaan-4 Transfer Module	ISRO	Selenocentric	Space rendezvous
		Chandrayaan-4 Re-entry Module	ISRO	Selenocentric	Lunar sample-return
		Second of two LVM3 SC for ISRO's Chandrayaan-4 Lunar Sample-return Mission. Chandrayaan-4 Transfer and Re-entry Modules.
2028 (TBD)[78]	PSLV-XL			Satish Dhawan		ISRO
		Relay Mars Orbiter	ISRO	Areocentric	Mars orbiter
		Mars Lander Mission (Mangalyaan 2).
2028 (TBD)[78]	LVM 3			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		MLM Lander	ISRO	Areocentric to Martian Surface	Mars lander
		MLM Rover	ISRO	Areocentric to Martian Surface	Mars rover
		MLM Helicopter	ISRO	Areocentric to Martian Surface	Mars Helicopter
		Mars Lander Mission (Mangalyaan 2).
2028 (TBD)[79]	New Glenn			Cape Canaveral LC-36		Blue Origin
		Habitat One (Hab-1)[80]	Axiom Space	Low Earth	Space habitat
		Second Axiom Station module to be launched, nominally on New Glenn (with Falcon Heavy as backup).[citation needed]
2028 (TBD)[81]	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat			Vostochny Site 1S		Roscosmos
		RBKA №1	Roscosmos / Belarus	Low Earth	Earth observation
		RBKA will follow in the footsteps of BKA (Belarusian Satellite) launched along with Kanopus-V 1 and several other satellites in July 2012.
2028 (TBD)[82]	Starship			TBA		SpaceX
		Starlab	Starlab Space	Low Earth	Space station
		Starlab Space is a joint venture between Voyager Space (Nanoracks) and Airbus.
2028 (TBD)[83]	Vega-C			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		MERLIN	CNES / DLR	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation of atmospheric methane
2028 (TBD)[25]	Vega-C[84]			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		Sentinel-2D[85]	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation
		Fourth Sentinel-2 satellite.
2028 (TBD)[25]	Vega-C[84]			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		Sentinel-3D[86]	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation
		Fourth Sentinel-3 satellite.
2028 (TBD)[16]	Vega-C			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		TBA	TBA	Low Earth	TBA
		SSMS #19 rideshare mission.
2028 (TBD)[16]	Vega-C			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		TBA	TBA	Low Earth	TBA
		Small Satellites Mission Service (SSMS) #18 rideshare mission.
2028 (TBD)[87]	TBA			TBA		TBA
		Blue Ghost M3	NASA / Firefly	TLI to lunar surface	Lunar lander
		Elytra Dark	Firefly	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter
		Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission delivering payloads to the Gruithuisen Domes.
2028 (TBD)[88][89]	TBA			Baikonur or Vostochny		Roscosmos
		Ekspress-40	RSCC	Geosynchronous	Communications
		Replacement for Ekspress-AM7 at 40° East.
2028 (TBD) [90]	TBA			Cape Canaveral		TBA
		HelioSwarm Hub	NASA	Low Earth	Research
		HelioSwarm Node × 8	NASA	Low Earth	Research
2028 (TBD)[91]	TBA			TBA		TBA
		Genesis	ESA	Low Earth	Satellite geodesy
		Aims to greatly improve the International Terrestrial Reference Frame.
2028 (TBD)[92]	TBA			TBA		TBA
		Nyx	The Exploration Company	Low Earth	Reusable spacecraft
		Demonstration mission for The Exploration Company's reusable cargo spacecraft, Nyx.

← 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
March (TBD)[93]	Improved Orion			Esrange		MORABA / SNSA
		REXUS-39	DLR / SNSA	Suborbital	Education
March (TBD)[93]	Improved Orion			Esrange		MORABA / SNSA
		REXUS-40	DLR / SNSA	Suborbital	Education
October (TBD)[93]	Red Kite/Red Kite			Esrange		MORABA
		MAPHEUS-19	DLR	Suborbital	Microgravity research
November (TBD)[93]	VSB-30			Esrange		MORABA
		TEXUS-65	DLR / ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity research
November (TBD)[93]	VSB-30			Esrange		MORABA
		TEXUS-66	DLR / ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity research

Deep-space rendezvous

Date (UTC)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
18 April 2028	Lucy	Flyby of asteroid 11351 Leucus	Target altitude 1000 km
June 2028	Hayabusa2	Flyby of Earth[94]	Gravity assist
11 November 2028	Lucy	Flyby of asteroid 21900 Orus	Target altitude 1000 km

Extravehicular activities (EVAs)

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks

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, Soyuz launches by Arianespace in Kourou are counted under Russia because Soyuz-2 is a Russian rocket.

Country		Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures
World		0	0	0	0

By rocket

By family

Family	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks

By type

Rocket	Country	Family	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks

By configuration

Rocket	Country	Type	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks

By spaceport

Site	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks

By orbit

Orbital regime	Launches	Achieved	Not achieved	Accidentally achieved	Remarks
Transatmospheric	0	0	0	0
Low Earth	0	0	0	0
Geosynchronous / transfer	0	0	0	0
Medium Earth	0	0	0	0
High Earth	0	0	0	0
Heliocentric orbit	0	0	0	0	Including planetary transfer orbits