2015 in spaceflight
 The New Horizons spacecraft conducted the first flyby of Pluto in July 2015. | |
| Orbital launches | |
|---|---|
| First | 10 January |
| Last | 28 December |
| Total | 87 |
| Successes | 82 |
| Failures | 3 |
| Partial failures | 2 |
| Catalogued | 83[lower-alpha 1] |
| Landings | 1 |
| National firsts | |
| Satellite |
  |
| Space traveller |
  |
| Rockets | |
| Maiden flights | |
| Crewed flights | |
| Orbital | 4 |
| Total travellers | 12 |
| EVAs | 7 |
In 2015, the maiden spaceflights of the Chinese Long March 6 and Long March 11 launch vehicles took place.
In February 2015, the European Space Agency's experimental lifting body spacecraft, the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, successfully conducted its first test flight.
In March 2015, Ceres became the first dwarf planet to be visited by a spacecraft when Dawn entered orbit. In July 2015, New Horizons visited the Pluto-Charon system after a 9-year voyage, returning a trove of pictures and information about the former "ninth planet" (now classified as a dwarf planet). Meanwhile, the MESSENGER probe was deliberately crashed into Mercury after 4 years of in-orbit observations.
On 23 November 2015, the Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital rocket achieved its first powered soft landing near the launch site, paving the way for full reuse of its propulsion stage. On 21 December, the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Full Thrust took place, ending with a successful landing of its first stage.
Two old weather satellites, NOAA-16 and DMSP 5D-2/F13, broke up in 2015, creating several hundred pieces of space debris. In both cases, a battery explosion is suspected as the root cause.
Orbital launches
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Launch site | LSP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload (⚀ = CubeSat) |
Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 10 January 09:47:10 |
 |
|
| ||||
|
NASA | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS resupply | 11 February 2015 00:44 | Successful | ||
|
Planet Labs | Low Earth | Optical imaging | 13 October 2015 | Successful | ||
|
Planet Labs | Low Earth | Optical imaging | 27 December 2015 | Successful | ||
 |
ITA | Low Earth | Ionospheric | 11 May 2015 | Successful | ||
| SpaceX attempted to land the first stage on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean, but the first stage crash-landed on its landing platform.[1] The AESP-14 CubeSat was deployed from the space station on 5 February 2015,[2] while the Flock-1 CubeSats were deployed on 3 March 2015.[3] | |||||||
| 21 January 01:04:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
US Navy | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 31 January 14:22:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
NASA | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Montana State | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Montana State | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NASA JPL | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Cal Poly | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 1 February 01:21:00 |
 |
|
| ||||
|
CSICE | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 1 February 12:31:00 |
 |
|
| ||||
 |
Inmarsat | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 2 February 08:50 |
 |
|
| ||||
|
ISA | Low Earth | Technology | 26 February 2015 | Successful | ||
| 11 February 13:40:00 |
 |
 |
| ||||
|
ESA | Transatmospheric | Technology Demonstration | 11 February 2015 15:19 | Successful | ||
| Vega's 4th stage briefly entered low Earth orbit before de-orbiting; thus it did not get a COSPAR ID. This marked the first flight of the IXV | |||||||
| 11 February 23:03:32 |
|
|
| ||||
|
NOAA | Earth/Sun L1 | Earth Observation/Solar Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| First SpaceX launch aimed beyond GTO. First stage soft landed on water. | |||||||
| 17 February 11:00:17 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS Resupply | 14 August 2015 14:17 | Successful | ||
| 27 February 11:01:35 |
|
|
| ||||
|
VKO | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 2 March 03:50:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Eutelsat | Planned: Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | ||
 |
ABS | Planned: Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | ||
| First communication satellites to use all-electric propulsion to reach intended orbits from GTO | |||||||
| 13 March 02:44:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
NASA | Elliptical High Earth | Magnetospheric Research | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NASA | Elliptical High Earth | Magnetospheric Research | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NASA | Elliptical High Earth | Magnetospheric Research | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NASA | Elliptical High Earth | Magnetospheric Research | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 18 March 22:05:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
RSCC | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 25 March 18:36:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
US Air Force | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 25 March 22:08:53 |
 |
|
| ||||
 |
KARI | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth imaging | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 26 March 01:21:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CSICE | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 27 March 19:42:57 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | Expedition 43/44/45/46 | 12 September 2015 00:51 | Successful | ||
| Manned flight with three cosmonauts, including two on a year-long mission | |||||||
| 27 March 21:46:18 |
|
|
| ||||
|
ESA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
ESA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 28 March 11:49:00 |
 |
|
| ||||
|
ISRO | Geosynchronous | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 30 March 13:52:30 |
 |
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Geosynchronous | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 31 March 13:47:56 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Gonets SatCom | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Gonets SatCom | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Gonets SatCom | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
VKO | Low Earth | Technology/Satellite inspection (?) | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 14 April 20:10:41 |
|
|
| ||||
|
NASA | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS Resupply | 21 May 2015 16:42 | Successful | ||
|
Planetary Resources | Planned: Low Earth | Technology | 23 December 2015 | Successful | ||
|
Planet Labs | Planned: Low Earth | Optical imaging | first: 8 February 2016 last: 24 August 2016 | Successful | ||
| First stage recovery failed; the rocket stage landed on the target drone ship too fast, tipped over, and exploded.[4] All secondary payloads were deployed from an ISS airlock later. Arkyd 3 Reflight is a replacement for Arkyd 3, which was lost in the Cygnus CRS Orb-3 flight accident in 2014. | |||||||
| 26 April 20:00:07 |
|
|
| ||||
 |
Telenor | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | ||
 |
MDD/DGA | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 27 April 23:03:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Turkmen Telecom | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| First Turkmen satellite | |||||||
| 28 April 07:09:50 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS Resupply | 8 May 2015 | Failure | ||
| Spacecraft lost communications and attitude control soon after separation failure during launch.[5] International Space Station docking attempt cancelled.[6] Mission declared a total loss.[7] | |||||||
|
| |||||||
| 16 May 05:47:39 |
|
|
| ||||
 |
SCT | Intended: Geosynchronous | Communication | 16 May 2015 | Launch failure | ||
| Proton third stage vernier engine failed at T+497 seconds due to turbopump shaft coating degradation causing excess vibration.[8] | |||||||
| 20 May 15:05:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
US Air Force | Low Earth | Technology | 7 May 2017 | Operational | ||
|
NASA | Low Earth | Cubesat Deployment | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
The Planetary Society | Low Earth | Technology | 14 June 2015 17:23 | Successful | ||
|
U.S. Naval Academy | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
U.S. Naval Academy / George Washington | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
U.S. Naval Academy | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Taylor | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
The Aerospace Corporation | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
The Aerospace Corporation | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CalPoly | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CalPoly | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CalPoly | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
| The X-37B spaceplane landed autonomously at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility after spending a record-breaking 718 days in orbit.[9] | |||||||
| 27 May 21:16:07 |
|
|
| ||||
|
DirecTV | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
SKY Mexico | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 5 June 15:23:54 |
|
|
| ||||
|
VKO | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 18 September 2015 | Successful | ||
| 23 June 01:51:58 |
|
|
| ||||
|
ESA | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 23 June 16:44:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
VKO | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 26 June 06:22:04 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation/Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 28 June 14:21:11 |
|
|
| ||||
|
NASA | Planned: Low Earth (ISS) | ISS Resupply | 28 June 2015 | Launch Failure | ||
|
Planet Labs | Planned: Low Earth | Optical imaging | 28 June 2015 | Launch Failure | ||
| Vehicle disintegrated at T+139 seconds after second stage helium tank support strut failure caused helium tank to break through second stage tanks.[11] Attempted to deliver the IDA-1 segment of the NASA Docking System. CubeSats were to be deployed from the International Space Station at a later date. Planned first stage landing test not achieved. | |||||||
|
| |||||||
| 3 July 04:55:48 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS Resupply | 19 December 2015 | Successful | ||
| 10 July 16:28:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
DMCii | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
DMCii | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
DMCii | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
SSTL | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Surrey Space Centre | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 15 July 15:36:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
US Air Force | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 15 July 21:42:07 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Star One | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
EUMETSAT | Geosynchronous | Meteorology | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 22 July 21:02:44 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | Expedition 44/45 | 11 December 2015 13:10 | Successful | ||
| Manned flight with three cosmonauts | |||||||
| 24 July 00:07:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
US Air Force | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 25 July 12:29:04 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CNSA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 19 August 11:50:49 |
|
|
| ||||
|
JAXA | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS Resupply | 29 September 2015 | Successful | ||
|
University of Brasília / Brazilian Space Agency | Low Earth | Technology | 27 March 2016 | Successful | ||
|
Chiba Institute of Technology | Low Earth | Meteor observation | 23 November 2016[12] | |||
|
Planet Labs | Planned: Low Earth | Optical Imaging | first: 22 May 2016 last: 17 October 2016 | Successful (12 deployed) | ||
|
Aalborg | Low Earth | Technology | 15 March 2016 | Successful | ||
|
GomSpace | Low Earth | Technology | 19 October 2016[14] | Successful | ||
| CubeSats to be deployed from the International Space Station at a later date. SERPENS and S-CUBE were deployed on 17 September. AAUSAT5, GOMX-3, and Dove Flocks were deployed on 5–7 October, but two out of the fourteen Dove Flocks failed to be deployed due to a malfunction of the deployer.[15] | |||||||
| 20 August 20:34:08 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Eutelsat | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Intelsat | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 27 August 02:31:35 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 27 August 11:22:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Indian Armed Forces/ISRO | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 28 August 11:44:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Inmarsat | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 2 September 04:37:43 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | Expedition 45/46/iriss[16] | 2 March 2016 04:26 | Successful | ||
| Manned flight with three cosmonauts: including ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, the first Dane in space, and Aidyn Aimbetov, the first cosmonaut from an independent Kazakhstan. Sarah Brightman was intended to fly this mission as a spaceflight participant, but withdrew from training on 13 May 2015 for personal reasons.[17] Japanese space tourist Satoshi Takamatsu was believed to be taking Brightman's place, but he declined and Roscosmos chose Aimbetov as an alternative instead.[18] Landed with the Year in Space crew of Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko | |||||||
| 2 September 10:18:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
US Navy | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 11 September 02:08:10 |
|
|
| ||||
|
ESA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
ESA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 12 September 15:42:04 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 14 September 04:42 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation/Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 14 September 19:00:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
RSCC | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 19 September 23:01:14 |
|
|
| ||||
|
ZJU | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
ZJU | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAMSAT | Low Earth (SSO) | Amateur Radio | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAMSAT | Low Earth (SSO) | Amateur Radio | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAMSAT | Low Earth (SSO) | Amateur Radio | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAMSAT | Low Earth (SSO) | Amateur Radio | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAMSAT | Low Earth (SSO) | Amateur Radio | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAMSAT | Low Earth (SSO) | Amateur Radio | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CASC | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAMSAT | Low Earth (SSO) | Education | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
HIT | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NUDT | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NUDT | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NUDT | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NUDT | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NUDT | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NUDT | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Tsinghua | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Tsinghua | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Tsinghua/Xidian | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
| Maiden flight of the Long March 6 vehicle | |||||||
| 23 September 21:59:38 |
|
|
| ||||
|
VKO | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
VKO | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
VKO | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 25 September 01:41:40 |
|
|
| ||||
|
SAST | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
ShanghaiTech | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
ShanghaiTech | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
ShanghaiTech | Low Earth (SSO) | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
| Maiden flight of the Long March 11 vehicle | |||||||
| 28 September 04:30:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
ISRO | Low Earth | X-ray Astronomy | In orbit | Operational | ||
 |
LAPAN | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
 |
exactEarth | Low Earth | Maritime Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NanoSatisfi Inc | Low Earth | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NanoSatisfi Inc | Low Earth | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NanoSatisfi Inc | Low Earth | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NanoSatisfi Inc | Low Earth | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 29 September 23:13:04 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Geosynchronous | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 30 September 20:30:07 |
|
|
| ||||
 |
NBN Co | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
 |
ARSAT | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 1 October 16:49:40 |
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| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS Resupply | 8 April 2016 | Successful | ||
| 2 October 10:28:00 |
|
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| ||||
|
SCT | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 7 October 04:13:04 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CAS CIOMP | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAS CIOMP | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAS CIOMP | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
CAS CIOMP | Low Earth (SSO) | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 8 October 12:49:30 |
|
|
| ||||
|
NRO | Low Earth | ELINT | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NRO | Low Earth | ELINT | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
The Aerospace Corporation | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
The Aerospace Corporation | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
US Army SMDC | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
SRI International | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
UAF | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
SKC | Low Earth | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
AMSAT | Low Earth | Amateur Radio/Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NASA JPL | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
| NRO Launch 55 | |||||||
| 16 October 16:16:04 |
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|
| ||||
 |
APT Satellite Holdings | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 16 October 20:40:11 |
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 |
Türksat | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 26 October 07:10:04 |
|
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| ||||
|
CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Cartography | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 31 October 16:13:00 |
|
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|
US Air Force | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 3 November 16:25:04 |
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| ||||
|
CNSA | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 4 November 03:45:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
ORS | Planned: Low Earth | Technology Demonstration | 4 November 2015 | Launch failure | ||
|
NASA | Planned: Low Earth | Technology Demonstration | 4 November 2015 | Launch failure | ||
|
Montana State University | Planned: Low Earth | Technology Demonstration | 4 November 2015 | Launch failure | ||
|
St. Louis University and Vanderbilt University | Planned: Low Earth | Technology Demonstration | 4 November 2015 | Launch failure | ||
|
Utah State University | Planned: Low Earth | Technology Demonstration | 4 November 2015 | Launch failure | ||
|
Pumpkin, Inc. | Planned: Low Earth | Technology Demonstration | 4 November 2015 | Launch failure | ||
| Maiden flight of the SPARK/Super Strypi launch vehicle Vehicle lost attitude control at T+1 minute | |||||||
| 8 November 07:06:04 |
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| ||||
|
CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 10 November 21:34:07 |
|
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| ||||
 |
Arabsat | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
ISRO | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 17 November 06:33:41 |
|
|
| ||||
|
VKO | Molniya [19] | Early warning | In orbit | Operational[20] | ||
| First space component for Russia's new unified missile early warning network.[21] | |||||||
| 20 November 16:07:04 |
|
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| ||||
|
Laos National Authority for Science and Technology | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| First Laotian satellite[22] | |||||||
| 24 November 06:50:00 |
|
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| ||||
|
Telesat | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 26 November 21:24:04 |
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| ||||
|
CNSA | Low Earth (SSO) | Reconnaissance | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
| |||||||
| 3 December 04:04:00 |
|
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| ||||
|
ESA/NASA | Planned: Sun/Earth L1 | Technology Demonstration | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 5 December 14:08:33 |
|
|
| ||||
|
VKO | Intended: Low Earth (SSO) | Earth observation | 8 December 2015 05:43 | Launch failure | ||
|
Almaz-Antey | Low Earth (SSO) | Radar calibration | In orbit | Operational | ||
| Kanopus-ST failed to separate from the Volga upper stage.[23][24] | |||||||
| 6 December 21:44:57 |
|
|
| ||||
S.S. Deke Slayton II |
Orbital ATK / NASA | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS resupply | 20 February 2016 | Successful | ||
|
Planet Labs | Planned: Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
University of Michigan | Planned: Low Earth | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
University of Colorado Boulder | Planned: Low Earth | Solar observation | 6 May 2017 | Successful | ||
|
NASA | Planned: Low Earth | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
St. Thomas More Cathedral School | Planned: Low Earth | Education | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NovaWurks | Planned: Low Earth | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Operational | ||
| Flight moved from Antares 130 rocket following launch failure of Cygnus CRS Orb-3. Originally scheduled for April 1, 2015.[25] MinXSS was deployed into orbit from ISS on 16 May 2016.[26] | |||||||
| 9 December 16:46:04 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 11 December 13:45:33 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Geosynchronous | Meteorology | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 13 December 00:19:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
VKO | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 15 December 11:03:09 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | Expedition 46/47 | 18 June 2016 09:15 | Successful | ||
| Manned flight with three cosmonauts | |||||||
| 16 December 12:30:00 |
|
|
| ||||
 |
AgilSpace | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NTU | Low Earth | Atmospheric research | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NTU | Low Earth | Technology | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NUS | Low Earth | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NUS | Low Earth | Atmospheric research | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
NTU | Low Earth | Earth Observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 17 December 00:12:04 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CAS | Low Earth (SSO) | High-energy Astronomy | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 17 December 11:51:56 |
|
|
| ||||
|
ESA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
ESA | Medium Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 21 December 08:44:39 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Roskosmos | Low Earth (ISS) | ISS Resupply | 3 July 2016 07:50 | Operational | ||
| First launch of the new Progress-MS variant. | |||||||
| 22 December 01:29:00 |
|
|
| ||||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
|
Orbcomm | Low Earth | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| First flight of the upgraded "full thrust" version of Falcon 9, first Falcon 9 flight after launch failure in June. First successful return to launch site and vertical landing of a first stage, demonstrated as part of a controlled descent test. | |||||||
| 24 December 21:31:19 |
|
|
| ||||
|
RSCC | Geosynchronous | Communication | In orbit | Operational | ||
| 28 December 16:04:04 |
|
|
| ||||
|
CNSA | Geosynchronous | Earth observation | In orbit | Operational | ||
Suborbital flights
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload (⚀ = CubeSat) |
Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | |
| Remarks | ||||||
| 26 January 09:13 |
|
|
| |||
|
Alaska | Suborbital | Auroral | 26 January | Successful | |
| Apogee: ~160 kilometres (99 mi)? | ||||||
| 26 January 09:14 |
|
|
| |||
|
Clemson | Suborbital | Auroral | 26 January | Successful | |
| Apogee: ~130 kilometres (81 mi)? | ||||||
| 26 January 09:46 |
|
|
| |||
|
Alaska | Suborbital | Auroral | 26 January | Successful | |
| Apogee: ~160 kilometres (99 mi)? | ||||||
| 26 January 09:47 |
|
|
| |||
|
Clemson | Suborbital | Auroral | 26 January | Successful | |
| Apogee: ~130 kilometres (81 mi)? | ||||||
| 28 January 10:41 |
|
|
| |||
|
USU | Suborbital | Auroral | 28 January | Successful | |
| Apogee: ~590 kilometres (370 mi)? | ||||||
| 31 January 02:36:00[27] |
|
|
| |||
| DRDO | Suborbital | Missile test | 31 January | Successful | ||
| Apogee: ~800 kilometres (500 mi) | ||||||
| 19 February | |
|
| |||
| DRDO | Suborbital | Missile test | 19 February | Successful | ||
| Apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi) | ||||||
| 19 February 22:06 |
|
|
| |||
 |
Oslo/Andøya | Suborbital | Technology | 19 February | Successful | |
| Apogee: 365 kilometres (227 mi) | ||||||
| 22 February 07:52 |
|
|
| |||
|
CNES | Suborbital | Microgravity | 22 February | Successful | |
| Apogee: 265 kilometres (165 mi) | ||||||
| 22 February | |
|
| |||
| US Navy | Suborbital | Missile test | 22 February | Successful | ||
| 22 February | |
|
| |||
| US Navy | Suborbital | Missile test | 22 February | Successful | ||
| 24 February 07:30 |
|
|
| |||
| DOD | Suborbital | Missile Defense Test | 24 February | Successful | ||
| FTX-19 target, apogee: ~150 kilometres (93 mi)? | ||||||
| 24 February 07:30 |
|
|
| |||
| DOD | Suborbital | Missile Defense Test | 24 February | Successful | ||
| FTX-19 target, apogee: ~150 kilometres (93 mi)? | ||||||
| 24 February 07:30 |
|
|
| |||
| DOD | Suborbital | Missile Defense Test | 24 February | Successful | ||
| FTX-19 target, apogee: ~150 kilometres (93 mi)? | ||||||
| 25 February 12:26 |
|
|
| |||
|
AFRL | Suborbital | Ionospheric | 25 February | Successful | |
| Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)? | ||||||
| 5 March 01:44 |
|
|
 | |||
|
DLR | Suborbital | Atmospheric | 5 March | Successful | |
| Apogee: 126 kilometres (78 mi), 13 Super Loki meteorological rockets were also launched | ||||||
| 9 March |  |
|
| |||
| ASFC | Suborbital | Missile test | 9 March | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 500 kilometres (310 mi)? | ||||||
| 18 March | |
|
| |||
| RVSN | Suborbital | Missile test | 18 March | Successful | ||
| 23 March 10:36 |
|
|
| |||
| US Air Force | Suborbital | Test flight | 23 March | Successful | ||
| GT214GM, Apogee: ~1,300 kilometres (810 mi) ? | ||||||
| 27 March 10:54 |
|
|
| |||
| US Air Force | Suborbital | Test flight | 27 March | Successful | ||
| GT215GM, Apogee: ~1,300 kilometres (810 mi) ? | ||||||
| 30 March | |
|
| |||
|
DSTO | Suborbital | Technology | 30 March | Successful | |
| 9 April | |
|
| |||
| DRDO | Suborbital | Target | 9 April | Successful | ||
| Apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi) | ||||||
| 15 April | |
|
| |||
|
Army of Pakistan | Suborbital | Missile test | 15 April | Successful | |
| Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi) | ||||||
| 16 April 04:22 |
|
|
| |||
| Indian Army | Suborbital | Missile test | 16 April | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 350 kilometres (220 mi) | ||||||
| 18 April 11:01 |
|
|
| |||
|
University of Colorado Boulder | Suborbital | Student Research | 18 April | Successful | |
| Apogee: ~174 kilometres (108 mi) | ||||||
| 23 April 07:35 |
|
|
| |||
|
DLR/ESA | Suborbital | Microgravity | 23 April | Successful | |
| Apogee: 261 kilometres (162 mi) | ||||||
| 27 April 04:55 |
|
|
| |||
|
DLR/ESA | Suborbital | Microgravity | 27 April | Successful | |
| Apogee: 255 kilometres (158 mi) | ||||||
| 2 May 08:30:01 |
|
|
| |||
|
University of Iowa | Suborbital | X-Ray Astronomy | 2 May | Successful | |
| Apogee: 272 kilometres (169 mi) | ||||||
| 20 May 10:37 |
|
|
| |||
| US Air Force | Suborbital | Test flight | 20 May | Successful | ||
| GT212GM, Apogee: ~1,300 kilometres (810 mi) ? | ||||||
| 21 May 19:15 |
|
|
| |||
|
CU Boulder | Suborbital | SDO calibration | 21 May | Launch failure | |
| Second stage failure, flight was terminated safety officials about four seconds into the second stage burn after data showed the vehicle was flying off-course. The payload carrying the experiment separated from the rocket and descended via parachute. | ||||||
| 6 June | |
|
| |||
| US Navy | Suborbital | ABM test | 6 June | Successful | ||
| Maiden flight of SM-3 Block IIA Cooperative Development Controlled Test Vehicle-01 (SCD CTV-01) | ||||||
| 25 June 10:00 |
|
|
| |||
|
CU Boulder | Suborbital | Student experiments | 25 June | Successful | |
| Apogee: 118 kilometres (73 mi) | ||||||
| 26 June | |
|
| |||
| MDA | Suborbital | ABM target | 26 June | Launch failure | ||
| Aegis radar target | ||||||
| 30 June 04:55 |
|
|
| |||
|
DLR | Suborbital | Technology | 30 June | Successful | |
| Apogee: 252 kilometres (157 mi) | ||||||
| 7 July 10:15 |
|
|
| |||
|
NASA | Suborbital | Tech Demonstration | 7 July | Successful | |
| Apogee: 350 kilometres (220 mi) | ||||||
| 29 July 08:30 |
|
|
| |||
| MDA | Suborbital | ABM target | 29 July | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)?, Aegis MMW E1 target, successful intercept by SM-6 Dual I missile | ||||||
| 30 July 06:15 |
|
|
| |||
| MDA | Suborbital | ABM target | 30 July | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)?, Aegis MMW E2 target, successful intercept by SM-2 Block IV missile | ||||||
| 12 August 10:14 |
|
|
| |||
|
Various universities | Suborbital | Student Research | 12 August | Successful | |
| Apogee: ~156km (97 miles).[28] | ||||||
| 19 August 10:03 |
|
|
| |||
| US Air Force | Suborbital | Test flight | 19 August | Successful | ||
| GT213GM, Apogee: ~1,300 kilometres (810 mi) ? | ||||||
| 22 August 15:13 |
|
|
| |||
| RVSN | Suborbital | Missile test | 22 August | Successful | ||
| 27 August 17:45 |
|
|
| |||
|
MSU | Suborbital | Solar astronomy | 27 August | Successful | |
| Apogee: 185 miles (298 km)[29] | ||||||
| 3 September 17:01 |
|
|
| |||
 |
NASA/JAXA/IAC/IAS | Suborbital | Solar astronomy | 3 September | Successful | |
| Apogee: 167 miles (269 km)[30] | ||||||
| 11 September 11:00:00 |
|
|
| |||
|
HU/UT/TU/JAXA | Suborbital | Microgravity | 11 September | Successful | |
| Apogee: 312 km[31] | ||||||
| 16 September 19:06 |
|
|
| |||
|
NRL | Suborbital | Aeronomy | 16 September | Successful | |
| Apogee: 299 kilometres (186 mi) | ||||||
| 30 September 08:28 |
|
|
| |||
| DGA/Marine nationale | Suborbital | Test flight | 30 September | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 500 kilometres (310 mi), apparently launched from the land test pad, rather than from a submarine. | ||||||
| 2 October 05:39:00 |
|
|
| |||
|
SNSB | Suborbital | Atmospheric Research | 2 October | Successful | |
| Apogee: 246 kilometres (153 mi) | ||||||
| 7 October 23:07:00 |
|
|
| |||
|
NASA GSFC | Suborbital | Rocket motor test | 7 October | Successful | |
|
Orbital ATK | Suborbital | Materials Testing | 7 October | Successful | |
|
NASA | Suborbital | Materials Testing | 7 October | Successful | |
| Apogee: 257.5 kilometers (160mi).[32] Test flight of the new Black Brant Mk4 sustainer motor. Other payloads included a cloud of barium and strontium, which was deployed to test the rocket's payload ejection system and was visible for miles along the East Coast of the United States. | ||||||
| 19 October 14:09:00 |
|
|
| |||
|
SNSB | Suborbital | Atmospheric Research | 19 October | Successful | |
| Apogee: 244 kilometres (152 mi) | ||||||
| 20 October | |
|
| |||
| DOD | Suborbital | Target | 20 October | Successful | ||
| SM-3 Target, apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi)? | ||||||
| 20 October | |
|
| |||
| US Navy | Suborbital | ABM test | 20 October | Successful | ||
| ADS-15, first Aegis-Test in the North Atlantic, successful intercept, apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi)? | ||||||
| 21 October 12:45:00 |
|
|
| |||
| US Air Force | Suborbital | Test flight | 21 October | Successful | ||
| GT216GM, Apogee: ~1,300 kilometres (810 mi) ? | ||||||
| 28 October 11:30 |
|
|
| |||
| RVSN | Suborbital | Missile test | 28 October | Successful | ||
| 30 October | |
|
| |||
| RVSN | Suborbital | Missile test | 30 October | Successful | ||
| 30 October | |
|
| |||
| VMF | Suborbital | Missile test | 30 October | Successful | ||
| 30 October | |
|
| |||
| VMF | Suborbital | Missile test | 30 October | Successful | ||
| 31 October 23:00 ? |
|
|
| |||
| PLA | Suborbital | ABM target | 31 October | Successful | ||
| Target | ||||||
| 31 October 23:00 ? |
|
|
| |||
| PLA | Suborbital | ABM test | 31 October | Successful | ||
| Interceptor, successful intercept | ||||||
| 1 November 03:05 |
|
|
| |||
|
MDA | Suborbital | THAAD target | 1 November | Successful | |
| Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi), successful intercepted | ||||||
| 1 November 03:07 |
|
|
| |||
|
US Army/MDA | Suborbital | ABM test | 1 November | Successful | |
| Intercepted target missile, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi) | ||||||
| 1 November 03:10 |
|
|
| |||
|
MDA | Suborbital | THAAD target | 1 November | Successful | |
| Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi), successful intercepted | ||||||
| 1 November 03:12 |
|
|
| |||
|
US Army/MDA | Suborbital | ABM test | 1 November | Successful | |
| Intercepted target missile, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi) | ||||||
| 6 November 15:01 |
|
|
| |||
|
NASA | Suborbital | Four technology experiments | 6 November | Successful | |
| Mission SL-10, Apogee: 120.7 kilometers (74.98 miles). First private suborbital rocket to demonstrate ejection of recoverable payloads.[33] | ||||||
| 8 November 02:00 |
|
|
| |||
| US Navy | Suborbital | Missile test | 8 November | Successful | ||
| Demonstration and Shakedown Operation 26 (DASO-26) | ||||||
| 9 November 04:15 |
|
|
| |||
| DRDO | Suborbital | Missile Test | 9 November | Successful | ||
| Apogee: ~850 kilometres (530 mi)? | ||||||
| 9 November 20:00 |
|
|
| |||
| US Navy | Suborbital | Missile test | 9 November | Successful | ||
| Demonstration and Shakedown Operation 26 (DASO-26) | ||||||
| 14 November | |
|
| |||
| VMF | Suborbital | Missile test | 14 November | Successful | ||
| 14 November | |
|
| |||
| VMF | Suborbital | Missile test | 14 November | Successful | ||
| Missile did not hit its targets at the Kura test site. The warheads did reach the Kamchatka region, but the miss was fairly large, but that was still not significant enough to abort the flight | ||||||
| 17 November 12:12 |
|
|
| |||
| RVSN | Suborbital | Missile test | 17 November | Successful | ||
| 21 November | |
|
| |||
|
IGRC | Suborbital | Missile test | 21 November | Successful | |
| apogee: 150 kilometres (93 mi) | ||||||
| 23 November 17:21 |
|
|
| |||
|
Blue Origin | Suborbital | Test flight | 23 November | Successful | |
| Apogee: 100.5 kilometres (62.4 mi). Second test flight of the New Shepard launch system, first to cross the Kármán line, and first to achieve a powered landing of its propulsion stage. | ||||||
| 25 November 04:17 |
|
|
| |||
|
UMass | Suborbital | Astronomy | 25 November | Successful | |
| apogee: 217 kilometres (135 mi) | ||||||
| 30 November 07:25 |
|
|
| |||
|
Dartmouth College | Suborbital | Auroral research | 30 November | Launch failure | |
| Third stage failure, payload recovered | ||||||
| 1 December 05:00 |
|
|
| |||
|
SSC | Suborbital | Microgravity | 1 December | Successful | |
| apogee: 270 kilometres (170 mi) | ||||||
| 5 December 04:45 |
|
|
| |||
|
U of M | Suborbital | Astronomy | 5 December | Successful | |
| apogee: 224 kilometres (139 mi) | ||||||
| 8 December | |
|
| |||
| US Navy | Suborbital | ABM test | 8 December | Successful | ||
| Second flight of SM-3 Block IIA Cooperative Development Controlled Test Vehicle-02 (SCD CTV-02) | ||||||
| 10 December 06:12 |
 |
|
| |||
| IAI/IDF | Suborbital | ABM target | 10 December | Successful | ||
| Arrow-3 target, successfully intercepted, apogee: ~150 kilometres (93 mi) | ||||||
| 10 December 06:15 |
|
|
| |||
| IAI/IDF | Suborbital | ABM Test | 10 December | Successful | ||
| First test of the Arrow-III against a target, successful intercept over the Mediterranean | ||||||
| 10 December | |
|
| |||
|
MDA | Suborbital | SM-3-IB target | 10 December | Successful | |
| Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi), successful intercepted | ||||||
| 10 December | |
|
| |||
| US Navy | Suborbital | ABM test | 10 December | Successful | ||
| First intercept flight test of a land-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) weapon system | ||||||
| 10 December 13:55 |
|
|
| |||
| US Army | Suborbital | Target | 10 December | Successful | ||
| Target for MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 MSE test, successfully intercepted | ||||||
| 11 December | |
|
| |||
| ASFC | Suborbital | Missile test | 11 December | Successful | ||
| Apogee: 500 kilometres (310 mi)? | ||||||
| 12 December | |
|
| |||
| VMF | Suborbital | Missile test | 12 December | Successful | ||
| 13 December 04:32 |
|
|
| |||
|
New Hampshire | Suborbital | Geospace | 13 December | Successful | |
| Apogee: 447 kilometres (278 mi) | ||||||
| 15 December | |
|
| |||
| ASFC | Suborbital | Missile test | 15 December | Successful | ||
| 18 December 06:52 |
|
|
| |||
|
JHU | Suborbital | UV Astronomy | 18 December | Successful | |
| apogee: 282 kilometres (175 mi) | ||||||
| 24 December 17:55 |
|
|
| |||
| RVSN | Suborbital | Missile test | 24 December | Successful | ||
Deep space rendezvous
| Date (GMT) | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 January | Chang'e 5-T1 | Injection into Selenocentric orbit | Departed from Earth–Moon L2 on 4 January. |
| 11 January[34] | Cassini | 109th flyby of Titan | Closest approach: 970 kilometres (603 mi). |
| 12 February | Cassini | 110th flyby of Titan | Closest approach: 1,200 kilometres (746 mi). |
| 6 March[35] | Dawn | Enters orbit of Ceres | 1st visit to a dwarf planet. |
| 16 March | Cassini | 111th flyby of Titan | Closest approach: 2,275 kilometres (1,413 mi). |
| 30 April | MESSENGER | Impact to Mercury[36] | The crash occurred on the side of the planet not visible from Earth. |
| 7 May | Cassini | 112th flyby of Titan | Closest approach: 2,722 kilometres (1,691 mi). |
| 16 June | Cassini | 4th flyby of Dione | Closest approach: 516 kilometres (321 mi). |
| 7 July | Cassini | 113th flyby of Titan | Closest approach: 10,953 kilometres (6,806 mi). |
| 14 July | New Horizons | First flyby of Pluto and Charon | 2nd visit to a dwarf planet. Closest approach: 12,500 km (7,800 mi). |
| 17 August | Cassini | 5th flyby of Dione | Closest approach: 474 kilometres (295 mi). |
| 28 September | Cassini | 114th flyby of Titan | Closest approach: 1,036 kilometres (643 mi). |
| 14 October | Cassini | Flyby of Enceladus | Closest approach: 1,839 kilometres (1,142 mi). |
| 28 October | Cassini | Flyby of Enceladus | Closest approach: 49 kilometres (30 mi). |
| 12 November | Cassini | 115th flyby of Titan | Closest approach: 11,920 kilometres (7,407 mi). |
| 3 December[37] | Hayabusa2 | Flyby of Earth | Gravity assist |
| 3 December[38] | PROCYON | Flyby of Earth | Gravity assist en route to cancelled asteroid flyby. |
| 4 December[39] | Shin'en 2 | Flyby of Earth | Gravity assist |
| 7 December[40] | Akatsuki | Venus orbit insertion | Akatsuki's 2nd flyby of Venus and 2nd (successful) attempt at orbit insertion. |
| 19 December | Cassini | Flyby of Enceladus | Closest approach: 4,999 kilometres (3,106 mi). |
Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs)
| Start Date/Time | Duration | End Time | Spacecraft | Crew | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 February 12:45 |
6 hours 41 minutes |
19:26 | Expedition 42/43 | |
Rigged and routed power and data cables at the forward end of the Harmony module as part of preparations for the installation of the International Docking Adapter at PMA-2.[41] |
| 25 February 11:51 |
6 hours 43 minutes |
18:34 | Expedition 42/43 | |
Completed power and data cable routing at the forward end of the Harmony module. Removed launch locks from forward and aft berthing ports of Tranquility to prepare for relocation of the Permanent Multipurpose Module and the installation of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module. Lubricated end effector of Canadarm2.[42][43] |
| 1 March 11:52 |
5 hours 38 minutes |
17:30 | Expedition 42/43 | |
Finished cable routing, antenna and retro-reflector installation on both sides of the ISS truss and on other modules in preparation for the installation of the International Docking Adapter at PMA-2 and 3.[44][45] |
| 10 August 14:20 |
5 hours 31 minutes |
19:51 | Expedition 44/45 | |
Installed gap spanners on the hull of the station for facilitating movement of crew members on future spacewalks, cleaned windows of the Zvezda Service Module, install fasteners on communications antennas, replaced an aging docking antenna, photographed various locations and hardware on Zvezda and nearby modules, and retrieved a space environment experiment.[46][47] |
| 28 October 12:03 |
7 hours 16 minutes |
19:19 | Expedition 45 | |
Prepared a Main Bus Switching Unit for repair, installed a thermal cover on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, lubricated elements of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, and routed data and power cables to prepare for the installation of the International Docking Adaptor at PMA-2 and 3.[48] |
| 6 November 11:22 |
7 hours 48 minutes |
19:10 | Expedition 45 | |
Worked to restore a portion of the ISS's cooling system to its primary configuration, returning ammonia coolant levels to normal in the primary and backup radiator arrays.[49] |
| 21 December 13:45 |
3 hours 16 minutes |
16:01 | Expedition 46 | |
Released a brake on the Mobile Servicing System to allow it to be properly stowed prior to the arrival of a visiting Progress vehicle. Routed cables in preparation for the installation of the Nauka module and the International Docking Adapter, and retrieved tools from a toolbox.[50] |
Space debris events
| Date/Time (UTC) | Source object | Event type | Pieces tracked | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 February 17:40[51] | DMSP 5D-2/F13 (USA-109) | Satellite breakup | 159[52] | The breakup was most likely caused by a battery explosion.[51][53] This satellite had been launched in 1995. Another satellite from the same series, DMSP 5D-2/F11, had broken up in 2004.[51] Debris are expected to remain in orbit for decades.[54] |
| 25 November 7:20[55] | NOAA-16 | Satellite breakup | 275[56] | As this weather satellite, launched in 2000, had a similar construction to the DMSP satellite which broke up in February 2015, the same cause is suspected (battery overheating and explosion).[57] |
| 22 December 16:00[58] | Briz-M upper stage | Booster explosion | 9[58] | A Briz-M upper-stage booster, having subsisted in geosynchronous transfer orbit since launching the Canadian Nimiq 6 commsat in 2012, was seen to have broken up into 9 pieces as of 26 January 2016. Orbital analysis of the debris allowed to time the explosion within one minute of 16:00 UTC on 22 December 2015.[58] Three other Briz-M upper stages had exploded earlier in 2007, 2010 and 2012.[59] |
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 |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 27 | 24 | 2 | 1 | Includes 3 Soyuz launches from Kourou | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Zenit and Dnepr rockets were launched from Russia | |
| 20 | 18 | 2 | 0 | ||
| World | 87 | 82 | 3 | 2 | ||
By rocket
By family
| Family | Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ariane | | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas | | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delta | | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Falcon | | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| H-II | | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March | | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | |
| R-7 | | 17 | 15 | 1 | 1 | |
| R-36 | | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Safir | | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| SLV | | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Strypi | | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Universal Rocket | | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | |
| Vega | | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Zenit | | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
By type
| Rocket | Country | Family | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ariane 5 | | Ariane | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas V | | Atlas | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delta II | | Delta | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delta IV | | Delta | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dnepr | | R-36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Falcon 9 | | Falcon | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| GSLV | | SLV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| H-IIA | | H-II | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| H-IIB | | H-II | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 2 | | Long March | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 3 | | Long March | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 4 | | Long March | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 6 | | Long March | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Long March 11 | | Long March | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Proton | | Universal Rocket | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | |
| PSLV | | SLV | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Safir | | Safir | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Soyuz | | R-7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| Soyuz-2 | | R-7 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| Super Strypi | | Strypi | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| UR-100 | | Universal Rocket | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Vega | | Vega | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Zenit | | Zenit | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
By configuration
| Rocket | Country | Type | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ariane 5 ECA | | Ariane 5 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas V 401 | | Atlas V | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas V 421 | | Atlas V | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas V 501 | | Atlas V | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Atlas V 551 | | Atlas V | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delta II 7320 | | Delta II | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delta IV Medium+ (4,2) | | Delta IV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) | | Delta IV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dnepr | | R-36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Falcon 9 v1.1 | | Falcon 9 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Falcon 9 Full Thrust | | Falcon 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| GSLV Mk II | | GSLV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| H-IIA 202 | | H-IIA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| H-IIA 204 | | H-IIA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| H-IIB | | H-IIB | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 2D | | Long March 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 3B/E | | Long March 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 3B / YZ-1 | | Long March 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Long March 3C / YZ-1 | | Long March 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Long March 4B | | Long March 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 4C | | Long March 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Long March 6 | | Long March 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Long March 11 | | Long March 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Proton-M / Blok DM-03 | | Proton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Proton-M / Briz-M | | Proton | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| PSLV-CA | | PSLV | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| PSLV-XL | | PSLV | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rokot/Briz-KM | | UR-100 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Safir-1B | | Safir | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Soyuz 2.1a or STA | | Soyuz-2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Soyuz 2.1b or STB | | Soyuz-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat | | Soyuz-2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Soyuz-FG | | Soyuz | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Soyuz-U | | Soyuz | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Soyuz-2.1v / Volga | | Soyuz-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Super Strypi | | Strypi | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Vega | | Vega | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Zenit-3F | | Zenit | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
By spaceport
| Site | Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baikonur | | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | |
| Barking Sands | | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Cape Canaveral | | 17 | 16 | 1 | 0 | |
| Dombarovsky | | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kourou | | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jiuquan | | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Plesetsk | | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| Satish Dhawan | | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Semnan | | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Taiyuan | | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tanegashima | | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Vandenberg | | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Xichang | | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
By orbit
| Orbital regime | Launches | Achieved | Not achieved | Accidentally achieved |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transatmospheric | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Low Earth | 44 | 41 | 2 | 1 | 14 to ISS (1 failure, 1 partial failure) |
| Geosynchronous/transfer | 32 | 31 | 1 | 0 | |
| Medium Earth | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| High Earth | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Gallery
.jpg)
Soyuz TMA-16M launches carrying ISS year long mission crew members Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko and Soyuz commander Gennady Padalka.
Photo of Ceres taken by the Dawn spacecraft at a distance of 13,600 km (8,500 mi)..jpg)
First stage of the Falcon 9 Flight 20 rocket immediately before touching down at Landing Zone 1._Scott_Kelly.jpg)
Scott Kelly working outside of the International Space Station
References
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Generic references:
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Footnotes
- ↑ "Elon Musk on Twitter: "Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho."". Twitter.com. 2015-01-10. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- ↑ "Brazilian AESP-14 CubeSat was deployed from Kibo". JAXA. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ↑ "Flock-1, -1b, -1c, -1d, -1d', -1e, -1f, -2, -2b, -2c, -2d, -2e". space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ↑ Elon Musk at Twitter: "Ascent successful. Dragon enroute to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival."
- ↑ "РОСКОСМОС: "ПРОГРЕСС М-27М" - ОПРЕДЕЛЕНА ПРИЧИНА АВАРИИ (ROSCOSMOS: "Progress M-27M" - cause of accident determined)" (in Russian). Roscosmos. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ↑ "Progress Cargo Vessel Docking With Space Station Canceled". Sputnik International. Sputnik. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ↑ "Russian spacecraft Progress M-27M 'out of control'". BBC News. British Broadcasting Company. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ↑ "РОСКОСМОС: НАЗВАНА ПРИЧИНА АВАРИИ РН "ПРОТОН-М" (ROSCOSMOS: Named cause of the accident "Proton-M")" (in Russian). Roscosmos. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ↑ Ray, Justin (7 May 2017). "X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth and makes autopilot landing in Florida". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ↑ "Jonathan McDowell". Twitter. 27 June 2015.
- ↑ "CRS-7 INVESTIGATION UPDATE". SpaceX. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ↑ 千葉工業大学 惑星探査研究センター (in Japanese). 24 November 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ↑ "Stork Set to Make Special Space Station Delivery". NASA. 14 August 2015.
- ↑ "GomSpace - GOMX-3 mission completed and de-orbited according to plan" (PDF). 21 October 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ↑ "ISS Daily Summary Report – 10/7/15". NASA. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ↑ ESA. "Andreas Mogensen's mission name links cosmos and Earth". Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ↑ "Brightman steps down from station flight". spaceflightnow.com. 13 May 2015.
- ↑ Jeff Foust (22 June 2015). "Kazakh Cosmonaut To Take Brightman's Place On Soyuz Flight". SpaceNews.com.
- ↑ "Russia's 1st EKS Missile Warning Satellite enters surprising Orbit". Retrieved 2015-11-20.
- ↑ "Новейший спутник Минобороны РФ вышел на связь и работает нормально РИА Новости". Retrieved 2015-11-17.
- ↑ "Russia to Launch First Satellite for New Space Defense Network in November". Retrieved 2015-06-30.
- ↑ Clark, Stephen. "China launches first satellite for Laos". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
- ↑ "Russian Military Satellite Suffers Launch Failure, Will Crash Soon".
- ↑ "Russian Soyuz-2.1v launch a partial failure - SpaceFlight Insider". www.spaceflightinsider.com.
- ↑ "Private Cargo Spacecraft Gets New Rocket Ride After Accident". Space.com. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- ↑ "The Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS)". University of Colorado Boulder. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ↑ "Agni-V's maiden canister trial successful | Zee News". Zeenews.india.com. 2015-01-31. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- ↑ Black, Patrick (12 August 2015). "NASA Launches Student Experiments from Wallops". NASA.
- ↑ Frazier, Sarah (28 August 2015). "NASA-Funded MOSES-2 Sounding Rocket to Investigate Coronal Heating / Update". NASA. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ↑ "NASA's 'CLASP' Mission Set to Gauge Upper Solar Chromosphere's Magnetic Field / Update - Sept. 4, 2015". 4 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ↑ 観測ロケットS-520-30号機 打上げ結果について (in Japanese). JAXA. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ↑ Latrell, Joe (8 October 2015). "NASA Launches Student Experiments from Wallops". Spaceflight Insider.
- ↑ "Spaceport America's 24th Launch – an UP Aerospace SpaceLoft Rocket Demonstrated the Capability to Eject Separate Payloads Requiring Independent Re-entry". Spaceport America. 6 November 2015. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Cassini Solstice Mission: Saturn Tour Dates: 2015". Cassini Solstice Mission. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
- ↑ "Dawn Spacecraft Begins Approach to Dwarf Planet Ceres". NASA. 29 December 2014.
- ↑ "From Mercury orbit, MESSENGER watches a lunar eclipse". Planetary Society. 10 October 2014.
- ↑ "Asteroid Explorer "Hayabusa2" Topics". JAXA. 2 November 2015.
- ↑ Emily Lakdawalla (13 April 2015). "PROCYON update: Asteroid 2000 DP107 target selected, ion engine stopped". The Planetary Society.
- ↑ "Keiichi Okuyama-Lab". Kyushu Institute of Technology.
- ↑ "Crippled space probe bound for second chance at Venus". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ↑ "First of Three Spacewalks Complete | Space Station". Blogs.nasa.gov. 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- ↑ "Wilmore and Virts Begin Their Second Spacewalk". NASA. 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ Pete Harding (2015-02-25). "EVA-30 concluded latest ISS commercial crew preparations". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "Spacewalkers Install C2V2 Cables". NASA. 2015-03-01. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
- ↑ Chris Bergin (2015-03-01). "Spacewalkers install new comms system for future vehicles". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
- ↑ "Cosmonauts Complete Russian Spacewalk". NASA. 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
- ↑ David Štula (2015-08-10). "RS-41: Cosmonaut duo complete the only Russian spacewalk of 2015". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
- ↑ "NASA Astronauts Complete Their First Spacewalk – Space Station". blogs.nasa.gov.
- ↑ "Pair of NASA Astronauts Wrap Up Second Spacewalk – Space Station". blogs.nasa.gov.
- ↑ "Astronauts Make Quick Work of Short Spacewalk – Space Station". blogs.nasa.gov.
- 1 2 3 "Recent Breakup of a DMSP Satellite" (PDF). Orbital Debris Quarterly News. NASA. 19 (2). April 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
- ↑ T.S. Kelso, CelesTrak (11 June 2015). "We have TLEs for 10 more pieces of debris from DMSP 5D-2 F13, which brings the total to 159 so far". Retrieved 8 February 2016.
- ↑ Berger, Brian; Gruss, Mike (27 February 2015). "20-year-old Military Weather Satellite Apparently Exploded in Orbit". Space News. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
- ↑ Gruss, Mike (2015-05-06). "DMSP-F13 Debris To Stay On Orbit for Decades". Space News. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ↑ T.S. Kelso [@TSKelso] (5 December 2015). "Preliminary analysis of initial TLEs for NOAA 16 debris suggests an event time of 2015 Nov 25 @ ~0720 UTC" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 February 2016 – via Twitter.
- ↑ T.S. Kelso, CelesTrak [@TSKelso] (26 March 2016). "That brings the total so far for the NOAA 16 debris event to 275 pieces, with none having decayed from orbit" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 March 2016 – via Twitter.
- ↑ "NOAA Weather Satellite suffers in-orbit Breakup". 25 November 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
- 1 2 3 Joint Space Operations Center [@JSpOC] (26 January 2016). "JSpOC confirms breakup of BREEZE-M R/B (#38343). Analysis shows it occurred Dec 22, 2015, 1600Z +/-1 min. 9 associated pieces. #38343Breakup" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 March 2016 – via Twitter.
- ↑ Clark, Stephen (24 October 2012). "Rocket explosion raises worries over space debris". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
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| Selected comets | ||||||
| Selected NEOs | ||||||
| Exoplanets |
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| Discoveries |
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| Space exploration | ||||||
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