2007 in spaceflight

2007 in spaceflight

SRE-1, the first Indian recovered spacecraft, on public display at Thiruvananthapuram
Orbital launches
First	10 January
Last	25 December
Total	68
Successes	63
Failures	3
Partial failures	2
Catalogued	65
National firsts
Satellite	Colombia   Mauritius
Space traveller	Malaysia
Rockets
Maiden flights	Atlas V 421 Long March 3B/E Proton-M Enhanced PSLV-CA Shavit-2 Zenit-2M
Retirements	H-IIA 2022
Crewed flights
Orbital	5
Total travellers	27
v t e

The year 2007 contained several significant events in spaceflight, including a Chinese ASAT test, the launches of the US Phoenix and Dawn missions to study Mars and Asteroid belt respectively, Japan's Kaguya Lunar orbiter, and the first Chinese Lunar probe, Chang'e 1.

The internationally accepted definition of a spaceflight is any flight which crosses the Kármán line, 100 kilometres above sea level. The first recorded spaceflight launch of the year occurred on 10 January, when a PSLV, launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, placed four spacecraft into low Earth orbit. One of these spacecraft was SRE-1, which returned to Earth twelve days later, in the first Indian attempt to recover a satellite after re-entry.

Several carrier rockets made their maiden flights in 2007; the PSLV-CA, Long March 3B/E, Shavit-2, Zenit-2M, Proton-M Enhanced. These were all modernised or upgraded versions of existing systems. The RS-24 missile also conducted its first launch, and the Atlas V made its first flight in the 421 configuration. The first Colombian and Mauritian satellites, Libertad 1 and Rascom-QAF 1 respectively, were launched in 2007, although a helium leak reduced Rascom's operational lifetime by thirteen years.

Space exploration

The launch of a Delta II Heavy with the Dawn spacecraft.

Several spacecraft were launched to explore the Moon. Japan's Kaguya orbiter, along with the smaller Okina and Ouna relay spacecraft, was launched on 14 September. The spacecraft entered Selenocentric orbit on 3 October. China launched its first Lunar probe, Chang'e 1, on 24 October, with the spacecraft entering Selenocentric orbit on 5 November. In 2009, two satellites launched into highly elliptical Earth orbits in 2007 as part of the THEMIS mission were also sent to the Moon. They are expected to arrive in October 2010.

In August, the NASA Phoenix spacecraft was launched towards Mars, followed by the Dawn mission to the Asteroid belt in September. Cassini continued to make flybys of the moons of Saturn, mostly focussing on Titan. In November, Rosetta flew past Earth, where it was mistaken for an asteroid, and given the provisional designation 2007 VN₈₄.

Crewed spaceflight

Five crewed flights were launched in 2007, two by Russia and three by the United States. Russia flew two Soyuz missions to the International Space Station for crew rotation. Soyuz TMA-10, launched on 7 April, carried the Expedition 15 crew to the Station. Space tourist Charles Simonyi was also launched on this flight, and landed aboard Soyuz TMA-9 a few days later. When TMA-10 returned to Earth in October, it made the first of two consecutive ballistic re-entries of Soyuz spacecraft, due to problems with separation bolts. Soyuz TMA-11, launched on 10 October, carried the Expedition 16 crew, and the first Malaysian in space, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, who was selected for flight under the Angkasawan programme. He landed aboard Soyuz TMA-10. When TMA-11 landed in 2008, it also made a ballistic descent.

The newly installed Harmony node of the ISS

2007 also saw the continued assembly of the International Space Station, by US Space Shuttle flights. On 8 June Atlantis made the first Shuttle launch of the year, STS-117, with seven astronauts, and the S3/4 truss segment of the ISS. It was the first Shuttle to launch from Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center since STS-107 in 2003. Launch had previously been delayed from February due to Hail damage to the External Tank, which required a rollback to repair in the Vehicle Assembly Building. In August, Endeavour launched on its first mission since 2002, STS-118. This carried the S5 truss segment, and marked the final flight of the Spacehab module, which was used to carry supplies. NASA's first Educator Astronaut, Barbara Morgan flew aboard STS-118. Morgan had previously been a backup for Christa McAuliffe, who was killed in the Challenger accident in 1986. STS-120, launched on 23 October using Discovery, carried the Harmony node, the first pressurised ISS component to be launched since Pirs in September 2001. Attempts to launch Atlantis in December on STS-122 were scrubbed, and the launch was delayed to 2008 after ECO sensors in the External Tank failed.

Launch failures

Three orbital launch attempts in 2007, involving a Zenit, a Falcon 1, and a Proton failed, and two others, an Atlas V and a GSLV, resulted in partial failures. On 30 January, a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL exploded on the Ocean Odyssey launch platform, seconds after ignition. The failure destroyed the NSS-8 satellite, and caused considerable damage to the Odyssey platform. It was later determined that the failure had been caused by debris in the turbopump. As a result of downtime to conduct repairs, and bad sea conditions at the end of the year, Sea Launch did not conduct another launch until 2008.

On 21 March, SpaceX launched the second Falcon 1. Due to the failure of the maiden flight, the launch was conducted as a demonstration flight without a functional payload. The launch failed to reach orbit due to a chain of events, starting with an error in setting the fuel mix ratio, which resulted in first stage underperformance, and the rocket being too low at the time of first stage separation. Additional atmospheric drag at this altitude caused recontact between the stages, setting up a fuel slosh in the second stage. This resulted in the premature cutoff of the second stage, and the rocket failed to reach orbit. This was the last launch of the Falcon 1 with the ablatively cooled Merlin-1A engine, which was replaced with the regeneratively cooled Merlin-1C for subsequent flights, starting in August 2008. As several test objectives were completed, SpaceX claimed that the launch was a success overall, and declared the Falcon 1 operational.

The Atlas family ended a run of eighty consecutive successful launches over fourteen years, after a partial failure of an Atlas V launched on 15 June. A faulty valve caused a fuel leak in the Centaur upper stage, resulting in a premature cutoff at the end of its second burn. This resulted in the USA-194 satellites being delivered into a lower orbit than planned. The spacecraft were able to correct the orbit using their manoeuvring engines.

The fifth GSLV was launched on 2 September, with the INSAT-4CR satellite. This was the first GSLV launch since the failure in July 2006. The rocket underperformed, and placed the satellite into an orbit with a lower apogee and greater inclination than planned. This required the spacecraft to use fuel reserved for stationkeeping to raise itself to the correct orbit, at the expense of its operational lifetime.

On 5 September, a Proton-M with a Briz-M upper stage failed to place the JCSAT-11 into orbit, after the second stage of the carrier rocket failed to separate from the first. It was later established that damaged cabling had been the cause of the malfunction.

Summary of launches

The launch of a Delta IV Heavy with the final DSP satellite.

In total, sixty eight orbital launches were made in 2007, with sixty five reaching orbit, and three outright failures. This was an increase of two orbital launch attempts on 2006, with one more launch reaching orbit. The final launch of the year was conducted on 25 December, by a Proton-M with three GLONASS navigation satellites for the Russian government.

Suborbital spaceflight in 2007 saw a number of sounding rocket and missile launches. On 11 January, the Chinese People's Liberation Army used a Dong-Feng 21 derived anti-satellite weapon to destroy Feng Yun 1C, a retired weather satellite. Russia also began testing the RS-24 Yars missile

China conducted ten orbital launches in 2007, using the Long March family of rockets, whilst Europe conducted five using the Ariane 5. India made three orbital launch attempts, using PSLV-C, PSLV-CA and GSLV rockets, with the GSLV launch resulting in a partial failure. Israel conducted a single successful launch using the first Shavit-2 rocket. Japan successfully launched two H-IIA rockets. Russia and the former Soviet Union conducted twenty six launches, including one failure, but not including the international Sea Launch programme, whose single launch attempt failed. Nineteen launches were conducted by the United States, which had originally announced plans to launch many more, however technical issues with the Atlas V, Delta IV and Falcon 1, caused a number of delays. Two of six planned Space Shuttle launches were also delayed to 2008, STS-123 due to knock-on delays from STS-117, and STS-122 due to problems with engine cutoff sensors.

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
10 January 03:53 [1]	PSLV-C			Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Cartosat-2	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	14 February 2024 10:18	Successful
		SRE-1	ISRO	Low Earth (polar)	Technology demonstration	22 January 04:16 [2]	Successful
		Lapan-TUBsat	LAPAN/TU Berlin	Low Earth (polar)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Pehuensat-1	AATE	Low Earth (polar)	Technology demonstration	16 January 2023 [4]	Successful
		SRE was the first Indian spacecraft to be recovered following reentry. Pehuensat-1 intentionally remained attached to the payload adapter.
11 January 22:28 [5] [6]	DF-21			Xichang [7]		PLA
		ASAT	PLA	Suborbital	ASAT test	11 January	Successful
		Destroyed Feng Yun 1C satellite
16 January 02:20 [6]	S-310			Uchinoura		JAXA
			JAXA	Suborbital	Ionospheric	16 January	Successful
18 January 02:12 [7]	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Progress M-59	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	1 August 19:26	Successful
		ISS flight 24P
19 January 12:29 [6]	Black Brant VB			Poker Flat		NASA
		JOULE II	Clemson	Suborbital	Auroral	19 January	Successful
19 January 12:30 [6]	Black Brant IX			Poker Flat		NASA
		JOULE II	Clemson	Suborbital	Auroral	19 January	Successful
19 January 12:44 [6]	Terrier-Orion			Poker Flat		NASA
		JOULE II	Clemson	Suborbital	Auroral	19 January	Successful
19 January 12:45 [6]	Terrier-Orion			Poker Flat		NASA
		JOULE II	Clemson	Suborbital	Auroral	19 January	Successful
27 January 05:20 [6]	R-17 Elbrus		FTT-06	Barking Sands		US Army
			MDA	Suborbital	Target	27 January	Successful
		Intercepted by THAAD
27 January [6]	THAAD		FTT-06	Barking Sands		US Army
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	27 January	Successful
30 January 23:22 [7]	Zenit-3SL			Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
		NSS-8	SES New Skies	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communication	T-0	Launch failure
		First stage engine failed due to debris in turbopump, [8] rocket exploded on launch pad
30 January [6]	R-17 Elbrus			Syria		Syrian Army
			Syrian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	30 January	Successful
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
2 February 16:28 [9]	Long March 3A			Xichang LA-2		CNSA
		Beidou-1D	CNSA	Geostationary	Navigation	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure Operational
		Problems deploying solar panels, eventually corrected from ground
7 February 08:15 [6]	LGM-30G Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-10		US Air Force
		GT-193GM	US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	7 February	Successful
		Impacted Reagan Test Site
12 February 12:45 [6]	Black Brant XII			Poker Flat		NASA
		ROPA [10]	Dartmouth	Suborbital	Auroral	12 February	Successful
14 February 09:22 [6]	Terrier-Orion			Poker Flat		NASA
		HEX 2	Alaska	Suborbital	Thermospheric	14 February	Successful
14 February 09:27 [6]	Black Brant X			Poker Flat		NASA
		HEX 2	Alaska	Suborbital	Thermospheric	14 February	Successful
14 February 09:36 [6]	Terrier-Orion			Poker Flat		NASA
		HEX 2	Alaska	Suborbital	Thermospheric	14 February	Successful
14 February 09:38 [6]	Terrier-Orion			Poker Flat		NASA
		HEX 2	Alaska	Suborbital	Thermospheric	14 February	Successful
17 February 23:01 [9]	Delta II 7925-10C			Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		United Launch Alliance
		THEMIS A	NASA	Highly elliptical	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
		THEMIS B (2007–2009) Artemis P1 (2009—)	NASA	Highly elliptical Selenocentric (planned)	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
		THEMIS C (2007–2009) Artemis P2 (2009—)	NASA	Highly elliptical Selenocentric (planned)	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
		THEMIS D	NASA	Highly elliptical	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
		THEMIS E	NASA	Highly elliptical	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
		Primary THEMIS mission completed in 2009. Three spacecraft remain in use for an extension of the same mission, whilst the other two are en route to the Moon for the Artemis mission.
24 February 04:41 [9]	H-IIA 2024			Tanegashima LA-Y1		JAXA
		IGS-Radar 2 [9]	CSICE	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	13 April 2014	Partial spacecraft failure
		IGS-Optical 3V [9]	CSICE	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance Technology	12 November 2013 02:31	Successful
		IGS-Radar 2 failed on 29 August 2010 due to battery problems [11]
25 February [9]	Shahab-3			Iran		IARI
		Kavosh	INSA	Suborbital	Scientific	25 February	Successful
		First successful Iranian scientific launch
28 February 08:39 [6]	Black Brant XII			Poker Flat		NASA
		CHARM	Dartmouth	Suborbital	Scientific	28 February	Successful
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
1 March	RH-200SV			Andøya		Andøya
		Mini-DUSTY 13	Andøya	Suborbital	Technology	1 March	Partial launch failure
		Rocket underperformed and failed to reach correct apogee
6 March 00:30 [6]	SR-19			C-17, Kauai		US Air Force
			US Army/MDA	Suborbital	Target	6 March	Successful
9 March 03:10 [12]	Atlas V 401			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		ASTRO	DARPA	Low Earth	Technology	25 October 2013 [14]	Successful
		CFESat	LANL	Low Earth	Ionospheric	12 November 2022 [16]	Successful
		FalconSAT-3	US Air Force Academy	Low Earth	Ionospheric Plasma	21 January 2023 [18]	Successful
		MidSTAR-1	US Naval Academy	Low Earth	Radiation Technology	17 August 2023 [20]	Successful
		NEXTSat	DARPA	Low Earth	Technology	21 April 2023 [22]	Successful
		STPSat-1	US Air Force/STP	Low Earth	Atmospheric Technology	8 November 2023 [24]	Successful
		ASTRO and NEXTSat were used for the Orbital Express test programme, with the former refuelling and servicing the latter. Launch designated STP-1.
11 March 22:03 [12]	Ariane 5ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Skynet 5A	Paradigm/MoD	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		INSAT-4B	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
21 March 01:10 [25]	Falcon 1			Omelek		SpaceX
		DemoSat (LCT2/AFSS)	SpaceX/DARPA/NASA	Intended: Low Earth	Technology	21 March	Launch failure
		Loss of signal after control problems, failed to reach orbit, some test objectives achieved.
21 March 04:27 [6]	Chimera (Minuteman/Minotaur II)			Vandenberg LF-06		Orbital Sciences
			US Air Force	Suborbital	Target	21 March	Successful
		Tracking demonstration
30 March	Dhanush			Ship, Indian Ocean		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Target	30 March	Successful
		apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
6 April 06:42 [6]	R-17 Elbrus			Kauai		US Army
			MDA	Suborbital	Target	6 April	Successful
		Tracking demonstration
7 April 17:31 [25]	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Soyuz TMA-10	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS Expedition 15	21 October 10:36	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts, including a paying space tourist
9 April 22:54 [25]	Proton-M/Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		ILS
		Anik F3	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
		Ka-band transmitter malfunction
11 April 03:27 [25]	Long March 2C-III			Taiyuan LC-1		CNSA
		Haiyang-1B	CAST	Sun-synchronous	Oceanography	In orbit	Operational
12 April 05:32 [6]	Agni-III			Integrated Test Range		IDRDL
		Re-entry vehicle	IDRDL	Suborbital	Missile test	12 April	Successful
13 April 20:11 [25]	Long March 3A			Xichang LA-3		CNSA
		Compass-M1 (Beidou-2A)	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
17 April 06:46:34 [25]	Dnepr			Baikonur Site 109/95		ISC Kosmotras
		EgyptSat 1	NARS	Sun-synchronous	Observation	In orbit	Operational
		Saudisat-3	RSRI	Sun-synchronous	Scientific	In orbit	Operational
		SaudiComsat-3	RSRI	Sun-synchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SaudiComsat-4	RSRI	Sun-synchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SaudiComsat-5	RSRI	Sun-synchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SaudiComsat-6	RSRI	Sun-synchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SaudiComsat-7	RSRI	Sun-synchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		CP-3	CalPoly	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure Operational
		CP-4	CalPoly	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Operational
		CAPE-1	Lafayette	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
		Libertad 1	Sergio Arboleda	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Successful
		AeroCube 2	Aerospace Corporation	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		CSTB-1	Boeing	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Operational
		MAST	Tethers Unlimited	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Operational
		CP-3, CP-4, CAPE-1, Libertad 1, AeroCube 2, CSTB-1, and MAST in P-POD containers, problems with power supply of CAPE-1; Libertad 1 deactivated following completion of mission; AeroCube 2 suffered solar panel/converter malfunction; [26] CP-3 mission affected by communications system reliability issues [27]
23 April 10:00 [25]	PSLV-CA			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		AGILE	ASI	Low Earth	GR Astronomy	13 February 2024	Successful
		AAM	ISRO	Low Earth	Technology	19 July 2022 [29]	Successful
		Maiden flight of PSLV-CA
24 April 06:48 [30]	Minotaur I			MARS Pad 0B		Orbital Sciences
		NFIRE	MDA	Low Earth	Missile defence	4 November 2015 [32]	Successful
25 April 20:26:00 [30]	Pegasus-XL			L-1011, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
		AIM (SMEX 9)	NASA	Low Earth	Aeronomy	In orbit	Operational
26 April 21:31 [6]	Terrier-Orion		FTM-11 E4	Kauai		US Navy
		Target	US Navy	Suborbital	Target	26 April	Successful
		Intercepted by SM-3
26 April 21:32 [6]	RIM-161 SM-3		FTM-11 E4	USS Lake Erie, Kauai		US Navy
		Interceptor	US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	26 April	Successful
		Intercepted Terrier-Orion
28 April 14:56 [6]	SpaceLoft XL			Spaceport America		UP Aerospace
		Legacy	Celestis	Suborbital	Space burial	28 April	Successful
		LaunchQuest	CCAT/NALI	Suborbital	Student research	28 April	Successful
		RocketSat II	NASA/Colorado	Suborbital	Technology	28 April	Successful
		Seeds	Epsori Space Systems	Suborbital	Biological	28 April	Successful
		Antimatter/Space2O	MEI	Suborbital	Drink ingredients	28 April	Successful
		Commemorative items	Astrata RocketFoto Astrax	Suborbital		28 April	Successful
		Recoverable sounding launch to an apogee of 117 kilometres, Legacy included remains of Astronaut Gordon Cooper and actor James Doohan, bad weather delayed recovery
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
4 May 22:29 [30]	Ariane 5ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Astra 1L	SES Astra	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Galaxy 17	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 May 03:25:38 [30]	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Progress M-60	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	25 September 19:48	Successful
		ISS flight 25P
13 May 16:01 [30]	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LA-2		CNSA
		NigComSat-1	NASRDA	Service: Geosynchronous Now: Graveyard	Communications	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		Maiden flight of Long March 3B/E, first African geosynchronous communication satellite, retired due to power system malfunction in November 2008. [33]
15 May [6]	UGM-133 Trident II			ETR, USS Tennessee		US Navy
		FCET-37	US Navy	Suborbital	SLBM test	15 May	Successful
15 May [6]	UGM-133 Trident II			ETR, USS Tennessee		US Navy
		FCET-37	US Navy	Suborbital	SLBM test	15 May	Successful
25 May 07:12 [34]	Long March 2D			Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CNSA
		Yaogan 2	CNSA	Sun-synchronous	Earth imaging	In orbit	Operational
		Zheda PiXing-1 (MEMS-Pico)	Zhejiang University	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Operational
		100th successful Chinese orbital launch, [35] MEMS-Pico conducted microelectronic research
25 May 13:15	UGM-27 Polaris (STARS)		FTG-03	Kodiak		Sandia
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM Target	25 May	Failure
		FTG-03 target, did not reach correct altitude, GMD-OBV interceptor not launched [36]
29 May 10:20 [6]	RS-24			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	29 May	Successful
		Maiden flight of RS-24 missile
29 May 20:31:30 [34]	Soyuz-FG/Fregat			Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
		Globalstar 65	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 69	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 71	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 72	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
31 May 16:08 [34]	Long March 3A			Xichang LA-2		CNSA
		Sinosat-3	Sinosat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		100th flight of Long March carrier rocket
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
7 June 18:00 [34]	Soyuz-U			Plesetsk Site 16/2		VKS
		Kosmos 2427 (Kobal't-M)	VKS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	22 August 21:00	Successful
8 June 02:34:01 [34]	Delta II 7420-10			Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		COSMO-1	ASI [37]	Sun-synchronous	Imaging	In orbit	Operational
8 June 23:38:04 [34]	Space Shuttle Atlantis			Kennedy Space Center LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-117	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	22 June 19:49:38	Successful
		ITS S3/4 Truss	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS component	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed orbital flight with 7 astronauts, ISS crew rotation
10 June	Shavit-2			Palmachim		Israel Aerospace Industries
		Ofeq-7	IAI/Israeli military	Low Earth (retrograde)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational [38]
		Maiden flight of Shavit-2
15 June 02:14 [34]	Dnepr			Baikonur Site 109/95		ISC Kosmotras
		TerraSAR-X	DLR	Low Earth	Radar imaging	In orbit	Operational
15 June 02:45 [6]	Talos-Castor			Woomera		DSTO
		HyShot/HYCAUSE	DSTO	Suborbital	Hypersonic research	15 June	Successful
15 June 15:04 [34]	Atlas V 401			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-194 (NOSS-3-4A)	NRO	Low Earth	Ocean surveillance	In orbit	Partial launch failure Operational
		USA-194 (NOSS-3-4B)	NRO	Low Earth	Ocean surveillance	In orbit	Partial launch failure Operational
		NRO Launch 30R, placed in incorrect orbit due to premature cutoff of Centaur upper stage, [39] spacecraft corrected using their own thrusters, reducing lifespan
15 June [6]	Terrier-Orion			Kauai		US Navy
		ARAV	US Navy	Suborbital	Target	15 June	Successful
15 June [6]	Terrier-Orion			Kauai		US Navy
		ARAV	US Navy	Suborbital	Target	15 June	Successful
20 June	MEI-F3			Las Cruces		MEI
		RocketSat III	NASA/Colorado	Suborbital	Technology	20 June	Successful
		Antimatter/Space2O	MEI	Suborbital	Drink ingredients	20 June	Successful
21 June [6]	Terrier-Orion			White Sands		NASA
		ST-5000/CACS	NASA/NSROC	Suborbital	Test rocket	21 June	Successful
21 June [6]	M51			Biscarrosse, Submarine		FOST
			FOST	Suborbital	Missile test	21 June	Successful
23 June 02:40 [6]	Castor 4B		FTM-12	Kauai		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Target	23 June	Successful
		Intercepted by SM-3
23 June 02:44 [6]	RIM-161 SM-3		FTM-12	USS Decatur, Kauai		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	23 June	Successful
		Intercepted Castor 4B
28 June [6]	RSM-56 Bulava			White Sea, Submarine		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
28 June 15:02 [40]	Dnepr			Dombarovskiy		ISC Kosmotras
		Genesis II	Bigelow Aerospace	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
		Experimental inflatable module
29 June 10:00 [40]	Zenit-2M			Baikonur Site 45/1		VKS
		Kosmos 2428 (Tselina-2)	VKS	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of Zenit-2M
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
2 July 19:38 [40]	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1		COSMOS International
		SAR-Lupe-2	Bundeswehr	Low Earth (Polar)	Radar reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
5 July 12:08 [40]	Long March 3B			Xichang LA-2		CNSA
		Chinasat-6B	ChinaSatcom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
7 July 01:16:00 [40]	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		DirecTV-10	DirecTV	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of Proton-M Enhanced [41]
19 July [6]	VSB-30 (306)			Alcântara		AEB
		Cuma II	INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	19 July	Partial spacecraft failure
		Parachute or flotation system malfunction prevented recovery
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
2 August 17:33:48 [42]	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Progress M-61	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics Technology	22 January 2008 19:52	Successful
		ISS flight 26P, Remained in orbit after undocking to conduct technological experiments
3 August 22:51:20 [6]	Terrier-Orion			Andøya		NASA
		MASS 1	NASA/Colorado	Suborbital	Atmospheric	3 August	Successful
3 August 23:22 [6]	Nike Orion			Andøya		DLR
		ECOMA 3	ARR, DLR, IAP	Suborbital	Atmospheric	3 August	Successful
		Apogee: 126.5 kilometres (78.6 mi)
4 August 09:26:34 [42]	Delta II 7925			Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		United Launch Alliance
		Phoenix	NASA	Heliocentric	Mars lander	25 May 2008 23:38	Successful
		Landed on Mars, discovered water there, last signal from spacecraft received on 2 November 2008
6 August 22:56 [6]	Terrier-Orion			Andøya		NASA
		MASS 2	NASA/Colorado	Suborbital	Atmospheric	6 August	Successful
7 August [6]	R-29R Volna			Pacific Ocean, Delta III submarine		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	7 August	Successful
8 August 22:36:42 [43]	Space Shuttle Endeavour			Kennedy Space Center LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-118	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	21 August 16:32	Successful
		SpaceHab LSM	NASA/SpaceHab	Low Earth (STS)	Logistics		Successful
		S5 Truss	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS component	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts, final flight of SpaceHab module
13 August 05:45 [6]	Black Brant IX			White Sands LC-36		NASA
		LIDOS 2	NASA/JHU	Suborbital	Ultraviolet astronomy	13 August	Successful
14 August 23:44 [43]	Ariane 5ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Spaceway 3	Hughes	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BSat 3a	BSAT	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Operational
23 August 08:31 [6]	Chimera (Minuteman/Minotaur II)			Vandenberg LF-06		Orbital Sciences
		NFIRE 2a	MDA	Suborbital	Target	23 August 09:01	Successful
		Tracking target for the NFIRE spacecraft
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
2 September 10:20	S-520			Uchinoura		JAXA
		WIND	JAXA/Kochi	Suborbital	Thermospheric	2 September	Successful
2 September 12:51 [6]	GSLV			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		INSAT-4CR	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial launch failure Partial spacecraft failure Operational
		Apogee lower and inclination higher than expected, due to carrier rocket underperformance, [44] lifespan further reduced by drift following tracking failure. 5 years of operational life lost. [45]
5 September 22:43 [6]	Proton-M/Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		JCSAT-11	JSAT Corporation	Intended: Geostationary	Communications	~+135 seconds	Launch failure
		Second stage failed to separate due to damaged cabling. [46]
6 September 21:09	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Flight Facility		NASA
		PLAYER	NASA	Suborbital	Technology	6 September 21:19	Successful
11 September 13:05 [6]	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1		VKS
		Kosmos 2429 (Parus)	VKS	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
13 September	Sounding Rocket VI			Jiu Peng Air Base		NSPO
			NSPO	Suborbital	Ionospheric research	13 September	Successful
		Apogee: ~280 km (174 mi)
14 September 01:31:01 [6]	H-IIA 2022			Tanegashima LA-Y1		Mitsubishi
		Kaguya (SELENE)	JAXA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	In orbit	Operational
		Okina (RStar)	JAXA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	12 February 2009 08:46	Successful
		Ouna (VStar)	JAXA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	In orbit	Operational
14 September 11:00 [6]	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Foton-M3	Roskosmos/ESA	Low Earth	Scientific	26 September	Successful
		YES2		Low Earth	Technology development	Unknown	Spacecraft failure
		YES2 tether may have failed to deploy fully. Satellite recovery failed. [47]
18 September 18:35 [6]	Delta II 7920-10C			Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		WorldView-1	DigitalGlobe	Low Earth	Imaging	In orbit	Operational
		75th consecutive successful Delta II launch.
19 September 03:26 [6]	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-1		CNSA
		CBERS-2B (Ziyuan 1-02B)	CASC/INPE	Sun-synchronous	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
27 September 11:34 [48]	Delta II 7925H			Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		United Launch Alliance
		Dawn	NASA	Heliocentric Then: Ceres orbit Then: Vesta orbit	Asteroid research	In orbit	Operational
		Will explore dwarf planet Ceres and asteroid 4 Vesta, Ceres was designated as an asteroid during mission planning
28 September 20:16	Polaris (STARS)		FTG-03a	Kodiak		Sandia
			MDA	Suborbital	Target	28 September	Successful
		Intercepted by Ground Based Interceptor
28 September 20:18	Ground Based Interceptor		FTG-03a	Vandenberg LF-23		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	28 September	Successful
		Intercepted Polaris (STARS)
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
5 October 05:50	Agni-I			Integrated Test Range		IDRDL
			IDRDL	Suborbital	Missile test	5 October	Successful
5 October 22:02:26 [48]	Ariane 5GS			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Intelsat 11	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Optus D2	Optus	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
10 October 13:22:39 [48]	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Soyuz TMA-11	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS Expedition 16	19 April 2008	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with 3 cosmonauts, first Malaysian & South Korean in space
11 October 00:22 [48]	Atlas V 421			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-195 (WGS-1)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of Atlas V 421
17 October 12:23:00 [49]	Delta II 7925-9.5			Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		United Launch Alliance
		USA-196 (GPS 2R-17/M4)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		700th flight of Thor rocket (Variant used as first stage).
20 October 20:12:25 [49]	Soyuz-FG/Fregat			Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
		Globalstar 66	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 67	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 68	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 70	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
23 October 04:39 [49]	Molniya-M/2BL			Plesetsk Site 16/2		VKS
		Kosmos 2430 (Oko)	VKS	Molniya	Early warning	5 January 2019 07:58 [50]	Successful
23 October 15:38:19 [49]	Space Shuttle Discovery			Kennedy Space Center LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-120	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	7 November 18:01	Successful
		Harmony (Node 2)	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS component	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed orbital flight with 7 astronauts, crew rotation
24 October 10:05 [49]	Long March 3A			Xichang LA-3		CNSA
		Chang'e 1	CNSA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	1 March 2009 08:13 [51]	Successful
		First Chinese lunar probe
26 October 07:35:24 [49]	Proton-K/DM-2			Baikonur Site 81/24		VKS
		Kosmos 2431 (GLONASS-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2432 (GLONASS-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2433 (GLONASS-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
29 October	RS-18 UR-100N			Baikonur		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	29 October	Successful
30 October 04:12:52	Black Brant IX			Wallops Flight Facility Pad 1		NASA
		EARLE	NASA/Texas	Suborbital	Ionospheric	30 October 04:26:17	Successful
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
1 November 00:51:44 [52]	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1		COSMOS International
		SAR-Lupe 3	Bundeswehr	Low Earth (polar)	Radar reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Rubin-7	OHB System	Low Earth (polar)	Technology	In orbit	Operational
6 November 18:00	Black Brant IX			White Sands LC-36		NASA
		EUNIS	NASA	Suborbital	Solar	6 November	Successful
11 November 01:50 [52]	Delta IV Heavy 9250H			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-197 (DSP-23)	DoD	Geosynchronous	Missile defence	In orbit	Spacecraft failure [53]
		Final DSP satellite Stopped transmitting in September 2008 [53]
11 November 22:48 [52]	Long March 4C (4B-II)			Taiyuan LC-1		CNSA
		Yaogan 3	CNSA	Sun-synchronous	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
		First launch of Long March 4C after redesignation
14 November 22:06 [52]	Ariane 5ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Skynet 5B	Paradigm/MoD	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Star One C1	Star One	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Record mass to GTO – 9,535 kg (21,021 lb) [54]
17 November 22:39:47 [52]	Proton-M/Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Sirius 4	SES Sirius	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →
8 December	RT-2UTTH Topol-M			Kapustin Yar		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	8 December	Successful
9 December 00:16 [55]	Proton-M/Briz-M			Baikonur Site 81/24		VKS
		Globus-1M #11L (Raduga-1M 1)	VKS	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 December 02:31:42 [55]	Delta II 7420-10			Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		COSMO-2	ASI [37]	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
10 December 09:00:00	Black Brant XII			Andøya		NASA
		TRICE-High	NASA/UoI	Suborbital	Electrodynamics	10 December	Successful
10 December 09:02:00	Black Brant XII			Andøya		NASA
		TRICE-Low	NASA/UoI	Suborbital	Electrodynamics	10 December	Successful
10 December 22:05 [55]	Atlas V 401			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-198 (SDS-3-5)	NRO	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 24
14 December 13:17:34 [55]	Soyuz-FG/Fregat			Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
		RADARSAT 2	MDA Corporation	Sun-synchronous	Radar imaging	In orbit	Operational
17 December 22:05 [56]	Castor 4B		JFTM-1	Kauai		US Navy
		Mock warhead	US Navy	Suborbital	Target	17 December	Successful
		Intercepted by SM-3
17 December 22:08 [56]	RIM-161 SM-3		JFTM-1	JDS Kongō		JMSDF
			JMSDF	Suborbital	ABM test	17 December	Successful
		Intercepted Castor 4B, first Japanese ABM test (Using American technology)
17 December	R-29RM Sineva (RSM-54)			Barents Sea, K-114		VMF
		Re-entry vehicles	VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	17 December	Successful
		Multiple re-entry vehicles, impacted Kura Test Range
17 December	VS-30			Barreira do Inferno		AEB
		Angicos	AEB/CONAE	Suborbital	Microgravity	17 December	Successful
20 December 20:04:00 [55]	Delta II 7925-9.5			Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		United Launch Alliance
		USA-199 (GPS 2R-18/M5)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
21 December 21:41:55 [55]	Ariane 5GS			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Horizons-2	Intelsat/JSAT Corporation	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Rascom-QAF 1	RascomSTAR-QAF	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure Operational
		Helium leak affected early operations of Rascom-QAF 1, [57] reducing operational lifetime by 13 years.
23 December 07:12:41 [58]	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Progress M-62	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	15 February 2008 10:29	Successful
		ISS flight 27P
25 December 10:00	R-29RM Sineva (RSM-54)			Barents Sea, K-114		VMF
		Re-entry vehicles	VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	25 December	Successful
		Multiple re-entry vehicles, Impacted Kura Test Range
25 December 13:10	RS-24			Plesetsk		RVSN
		Re-entry vehicles	RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	25 December	Successful
		Multiple re-entry vehicles
25 December 19:32 [58]	Proton-M/DM-2			Baikonur Site 81/24		VKS
		Kosmos 2434 (GLONASS-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2435 (GLONASS-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2436 (GLONASS-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of Proton-M/DM-2

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

Deep Space Rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
13 January	Cassini	23rd flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 950 kilometres (590 mi)
29 January	Cassini	24th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 2,775 kilometres (1,724 mi)
22 February	Cassini	25th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 953 kilometres (592 mi)
25 February	Rosetta	Flyby of Mars	Gravity assist
28 February	New Horizons	Flyby of Jupiter	Gravity assist
10 March	Cassini	26th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 956 kilometres (594 mi)
26 March	Cassini	27th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 953 kilometres (592 mi)
10 April	Cassini	28th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 951 kilometres (591 mi)
26 April	Cassini	29th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 951 kilometres (591 mi)
12 May	Cassini	30th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 950 kilometres (590 mi)
28 May	Cassini	31stflyby of Titan	Closest approach: 2,425 kilometres (1,507 mi)
5 June	MESSENGER	2nd flyby of Venus	Gravity assist; Closest approach: 338 kilometres (210 mi)
13 June	Cassini	32nd flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 950 kilometres (590 mi)
29 June	Cassini	33rd flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,942 kilometres (1,207 mi)
19 July	Cassini	34thflyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,302 kilometres (809 mi)
30 August	Cassini	Flyby of Rhea	Closest approach: 5,100 kilometres (3,200 mi)
31 August	Cassini	35th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 3,227 kilometres (2,005 mi)
10 September	Cassini	Flyby of Iapetus	Closest approach: 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)
2 October	Cassini	36th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 950 kilometres (590 mi)
3 October [59]	Kaguya	Selenocentric orbit injection
5 November	Chang'e 1	Selenocentric orbit injection
13 November	Rosetta	2nd flyby of the Earth	Mistaken for asteroid, given the designation 2007 VN84
19 November	Cassini	37th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 950 kilometres (590 mi)
5 December	Cassini	38th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,300 kilometres (810 mi)
20 December	Cassini	39th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 953 kilometres (592 mi)
31 December	Deep Impact (EPOXI)	Flyby of Earth	Closest approach: 15,566 kilometres (9,672 mi)

Distant, non-targeted flybys of Dione, Enceladus, Mimas, Tethys and Titan by Cassini occurred throughout the year.

EVAs

Start date/time	Duration	End time	Spacecraft	Crew	Function	Remarks
31 January 15:14	7 hours 55 minutes	23:09	Expedition 14   ISS Quest	Michael Lopez-Alegria Sunita Williams	Reconfigured Destiny cooling system, connected SSPTS, secured P6 starboard radiator, disconnected EAS. [60]
4 February 13:38	7 hours 11 minutes	20:49	Expedition 14 ISS Quest	Michael Lopez-Alegria Sunita Williams	Completed Destiny cooling system reconfiguration and EAS disconnection, photographed P6 inboard solar array, continued SSPTS installation. [61]
8 February 13:26	6 hours 40 minutes	20:06	Expedition 14 ISS Quest	Michael Lopez-Alegria Sunita Williams	Removed and jettisoned P3 thermal covers, install P3 attachment point, remove P5 launch restraints, continued SSPTS installation. [62]
22 February 10:27	6 hours 18 minutes	16:45	Expedition 14 ISS Pirs	Mikhail Tyurin Michael Lopez-Alegria	Retracted an antenna at the aft port of the Zvezda, photographed a satellite navigation antenna, and replaced a Russian materials experiment, inspected and photographed an antenna for the ATV, photographed a German robotics experiment, and inspected, remated, and photographed hardware connectors. [63]
30 May 19:05	5 hours 25 minutes	31 May 00:30	Expedition 15 ISS Pirs	Fyodor Yurchikhin Oleg Kotov	Installed Service Module Debris Protection (SMDP) panels and rerouted a Global Positioning System antenna cable. [64]
6 June 14:23	5 hours 37 minutes	20:00	Expedition 15 ISS Pirs	Fyodor Yurchikhin Oleg Kotov	Installed a section of Ethernet cable on the Zarya module, installed additional Service Module Debris Protection (SMDP) panels on Zvezda, and deployed a Russian scientific experiment. [65]
11 June 20:02	6 hours 15 minutes	12 June 02:17	STS-117 ISS Quest	James F. Reilly John D. Olivas	Began the S3/S4 Truss installation. [66]
13 June 18:28	7 hours 16 minutes	14 June 01:44	STS-117 ISS Quest	Patrick G. Forrester Steven Swanson	Assisted in retraction of the solar panels on the P6 Truss. Completed the S3/S4 truss installation. Partial failure due to the S3/S4 SARJ motor control circuits being wired in reverse, so some launch restraints were left in place to prevent the possibility of undesired rotation. [67]
15 June 17:24	7 hours 58 minutes	16 June 01:22	STS-117 ISS Quest	James F. Reilly John D. Olivas	Repaired the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod thermal blanket, finished the P6 solar array retraction, and installed a hydrogen ventilation valve onto Destiny. [68]
17 June 16:25	6 hours 29 minutes	22:54	STS-117 ISS Quest	Patrick G. Forrester Steven Swanson	Retrieved a television camera and its support structure from an ESP attached to Quest, and installed it on the S3 truss, verified the Drive Lock Assembly (DLA) 2 configuration, and removed the last six SARJ launch restraints. Installed a computer network cable on Unity, opened the hydrogen vent valve on Destiny, and tethered two orbital debris shield panels on Zvezda. [69]
23 July 10:25	7 hours 41 minutes	18:06	Expedition 15 ISS Quest	Clayton Anderson Fyodor Yurchikhin	Replaced components for the Mobile Transporter's redundant power system, jettisoned an ammonia tank and flight support equipment, and cleaned the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) on the nadir port of Unity. [70] [71]
11 August 16:28	6 hours 17 minutes	23:45	STS-118 ISS Quest	Richard Mastracchio Dafydd Williams	Attached the Starboard 5 (S5) segment of the station's truss, and retracted the forward heat-rejecting radiator from the station's Port 6 (P6) truss. [72]
13 August 15:32	6 hours 28 minutes	22:00	STS-118 ISS Quest	Richard Mastracchio Dafydd Williams	Removed the new Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) from the shuttle's payload bay and installed it onto the Z1 truss. Installed the failed CMG onto an External Stowage Platform (ESP-2). [73]
15 August 14:38	5 hours 28 minutes	20:05	STS-118 ISS Quest	Richard Mastracchio Clayton Anderson	Relocated two CETA carts around the Mobile Transporter and an antenna base from the P6 truss to P1, and installed a new transponder and signal processor for an S-band communications upgrade. [74]	Mastracchio noted a hole on the thumb of his left glove and returned to the airlock as a precautionary measure.
18 August 14:17	5 hours 2 minutes	19:02	STS-118 ISS Quest	Dafydd Williams Clayton Anderson	Retrieved Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) containers 3 and 4, installed the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) Boom Stand, installed an External Wireless Instrumentation System (EWIS) antenna, and secured Z1 gimbal locks. [75]
26 October 10:02	6 hours 14 minutes	16:16	STS-120 ISS Quest	Scott E. Parazynski Douglas H. Wheelock	Installed the new Harmony module in its temporary location, retrieved the S-Band Antenna Support Assembly, and prepared for the relocation of the P6 truss by disconnecting fluid lines on the P6/Z1 truss segments. [76]
28 October 09:32	6 hours 33 minutes	16:05	STS-120 ISS Quest	Scott E. Parazysnki Daniel M. Tani	Disconnected the Z1-to-P6 umbilicals, detached P6 from Z1, configured the S1 radiator, installed handrails onto Harmony, and inspected the S4 starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ). [77]
30 October 08:45	7 hours 8 minutes	15:53	STS-120 ISS Quest	Scott E. Parazysnki Douglas H. Wheelock	Attached P6 to P5, installed P6/P5 umbilical connections, reconfigured S1 following its redeployment, and inspected the port SARJ. [78]
3 November 10:03	7 hours 19 minutes	17:22	STS-120 ISS Quest	Scott E. Parazysnki Douglas H. Wheelock	Inspection and repair of the P6 solar array. [79]
9 November 09:54	6 hours 55 minutes	16:49	Expedition 16 ISS Quest	Peggy Whitson Yuri Malenchenko	Disconnected and stored the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System cables, stored the PMA-2 umbilical, and stowed a Harmony node avionics umbilical into a temporary position. [80] [81]
20 November 10:10	7 hours 16 minutes	17:26	Expedition 16 ISS Quest	Peggy Whitson Daniel M. Tani	External configuration of PMA-2 and Harmony: Fluid, electrical, and data lines attached, avionics lines hooked up, heater cables attached, and relocated a fluid tray. [82]
24 November 09:50	7 hours 4 minutes	16:54	Expedition 16 ISS Quest	Peggy Whitson Daniel M. Tani	Completion of fluid, electrical, and data line hookups for PMA-2 and Harmony. Loop B Fluid Tray connected to the port side of the Destiny laboratory. Inspected and photographed the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) to assist with troubleshooting on the ground. [83]
18 December 09:50	6 hours 56 minutes	16:46	Expedition 16 ISS Quest	Peggy Whitson Daniel M. Tani	Inspected the S4 starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), and a Beta Gimbal Assembly (BGA). [84] [85]	100th EVA in support of the ISS. Whitson became the female astronaut with the most EVAs and the most time spent in EVA. [86] [87]

Orbital launch statistics

By country

Country		Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
	China	10	10	0	0
	Europe	6	6	0	0
	India	3	2	0	1
	Israel	1	1	0	0
	Japan	2	2	0	0
	Russia	22	21	1	0
	Ukraine	5	4	1	0
	United States	19	17	1	1
World		68	63	3	2

By rocket

5

10

15

20

Ariane

Atlas

Delta

H-II

Long March

PSLV

R-7

R-14

R-36

Space Shuttle

Universal Rocket

Zenit

Others

•   Ariane 5
•   Atlas V
•   Delta II
•   Delta IV
•   Delta IV Heavy
•   H-IIA
•   Long March 2
•   Long March 3
•   Long March 4
•   PSLV
•   Molniya-M
•   Soyuz-U
•   Soyuz-FG
•   Kosmos-3M
•   Dnepr
•   Space Shuttle
•   Proton-K
•   Proton-M
•   Zenit-2M
•   Zenit-3SL
•   Others
•  

By family

Family	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane	Europe	6	6	0	0
Atlas	United States	4	3	0	1
Delta	United States	9	9	0	0
Falcon	United States	1	0	1	0
GSLV	India	1	0	0	1
H-II	Japan	2	2	0	0
Long March	China	10	10	0	0
Minotaur	United States	1	1	0	0
Pegasus	United States	1	1	0	0
PSLV	India	2	2	0	0
R-7	Russia	12	12	0	0
R-14	Russia	3	3	0	0
R-36	Ukraine	3	3	0	0
Shavit 2	Israel	1	1	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	3	3	0	0
Universal Rocket	Russia	7	6	1	0
Zenit	Ukraine	2	1	1	0

By type

Rocket	Country	Family	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5	Europe	Ariane	6	6	0	0
Atlas V	United States	Atlas	4	3	0	1
Delta II	United States	Delta	8	8	0	0
Delta IV	United States	Delta	1	1	0	0
Dnepr	Ukraine	R-36	3	3	0	0
Falcon 1	United States	Falcon	1	0	1	0
GSLV	India	GSLV	1	0	0	1
H-IIA	Japan	H-II	2	2	0	0
Kosmos	Russia	R-12/R-14	3	3	0	0
Long March 2	China	Long March	2	2	0	0
Long March 3	China	Long March	6	6	0	0
Long March 4	China	Long March	2	2	0	0
Minotaur I	United States	Minotaur	1	1	0	0
Molniya	Russia	R-7	1	1	0	0
Pegasus	United States	Pegasus	1	1	0	0
Proton	Russia	Universal Rocket	7	6	1	0
PSLV	India	PSLV	2	2	0	0
Shavit	Israel	Shavit	1	1	0	0
Soyuz	Russia	R-7	11	11	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	3	3	0	0
Zenit	Ukraine	Zenit	2	1	1	0

By configuration

Rocket	Country	Type	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5 ECA	Europe	Ariane 5	4	4	0	0
Ariane 5 GS	Europe	Ariane 5	2	2	0	0
Atlas V 401	United States	Atlas V	3	2	0	1
Atlas V 421	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Delta II 7420	United States	Delta II	2	2	0	0
Delta II 7920	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0
Delta II 7925	United States	Delta II	4	4	0	0
Delta II 7925H	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0	Final flight
Delta IV Heavy	United States	Delta IV	1	1	0	0
Dnepr	Ukraine	Dnepr	3	3	0	0
Falcon 1	United States	Falcon 1	1	0	1	0
GSLV Mk I	India	GSLV	1	0	0	1	Final flight
H-IIA 2022	Japan	H-IIA	1	1	0	0
H-IIA 2024	Japan	H-IIA	1	1	0	0
Kosmos-3M	Russia	Kosmos	3	3	0	0
Long March 2C	China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0
Long March 2D	China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0
Long March 3A	China	Long March 3	4	4	0	0
Long March 3B	China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0
Long March 3B/E	China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0
Long March 4B	China	Long March 4	1	1	0	0
Long March 4C	China	Long March 4	1	1	0	0
Minotaur I	United States	Minotaur I	1	1	0	0
Molniya-M / 2BL	Russia	Molniya	1	1	0	0
Pegasus-XL	United States	Pegasus	1	1	0	0
Proton-K / DM-2	Russia	Proton	1	1	0	0
Proton-M / DM-2	Russia	Proton	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Proton-M / Briz-M	Russia	Proton	5	4	1	0
PSLV-G	India	PSLV	1	1	0	0
PSLV-CA	India	PSLV	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Shavit-2	Israel	Shavit	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Soyuz-FG	Russia	Soyuz	2	2	0	0
Soyuz-FG / Fregat	Russia	Soyuz	3	3	0	0
Soyuz-U	Russia	Soyuz	6	6	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	3	3	0	0
Zenit-2M	Ukraine	Zenit	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Zenit-3SL	Ukraine	Zenit	1	0	1	0

By launch site

5

10

15

20

China

France

India

International waters

Israel

Japan

Kazakhstan

Marshall Islands

Russia

United States

•   Jiuquan
•   Taiyuan
•   Xichang
•   Kourou
•   Satish Dhawan
•   Ocean Odyssey
•   Palmachim
•   Tanegashima
•   Baikonur
•   Kwajalein
•   Dombarovsky
•   Plesetsk
•   Cape Canaveral
•   Kennedy
•   MARS
•   Vandenberg

Site	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Baikonur	Kazakhstan	20	19	1	0
Cape Canaveral	United States	10	9	0	1
Dombarovsky	Russia	1	1	0	0
Jiuquan	China	1	1	0	0
Kennedy	United States	3	3	0	0
Kourou	France	6	6	0	0
Kwajalein	Marshall Islands	1	0	1	0
MARS	United States	1	1	0	0
Ocean Odyssey	International	1	0	1	0	Damaged by explosion
Palmachim	Israel	1	1	0	0
Plesetsk	Russia	5	5	0	0
Satish Dhawan	India	3	2	0	1
Taiyuan	China	3	3	0	0
Tanegashima	Japan	2	2	0	0
Vandenberg	United States	4	4	0	0	One launch used Stargazer aircraft
Xichang	China	6	6	0	0
Total		68	63	3	2

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	9 to ISS
Medium Earth / Molniya	7	7	0	0
Geosynchronous / GTO	19	17	2	0
High Earth / Lunar transfer	3	3	0	0
Heliocentric / Planetary transfer	2	2	0	0
Total	68	65	3	0

References

• Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
• Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
• Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.^{[ dead link ]}
• Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
• Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
• McDowell, Jonathan. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
• Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
• Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
• Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
• Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
• "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
• "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
• "Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.^{[ dead link ]}
• "Space Information Center". JAXA.^{[ dead link ]}
• "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).

Generic references:

• view
• talk
• edit

  Spaceflightportal

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