2015 in spaceflight

2015 in spaceflight

Highlights from spaceflight in 2015[a]
Orbital launches
First	10 January
Last	28 December
Total	87
Successes	82
Failures	4
Partial failures	1
Catalogued	83[b]
National firsts
Satellite	Turkmenistan  Laos
Space traveller	Denmark  Kazakhstan
Rockets
Maiden flights	Long March 3C/E / YZ-1 Long March 3B / YZ-1 Long March 6 Long March 11 Super Strypi Falcon 9 Full Thrust
Retirements	Dnepr-1
Crewed flights
Orbital	4
Total travellers	12
EVAs	7
v t e

In 2015, the maiden spaceflights of the Chinese Long March 6 and Long March 11 launch vehicles took place.

A total of 87 orbital launches were attempted in 2015, of which 82 were successful, one was partially successful and four were failures. The year also saw seven EVAs by ISS astronauts. The majority of the year's orbital launches were conducted by Russia, the United States and China, with 27, 20 and 19 launches respectively.

Overview[edit]

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[edit]

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January[edit]
10 January 09:47:10	Falcon 9 v1.1			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-5	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	11 February 2015 00:44	Successful
		⚀ AESP-14	ITA	Low Earth	Ionospheric research	11 May 2015	Successful
		⚀ Flock-1d' 1	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	13 October 2015	Successful
		⚀ Flock-1d' 2	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	27 December 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	Atlas V 551			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		MUOS-3	US Navy	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
31 January 14:22:00	Delta II 7320			Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		SMAP	NASA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ExoCube	Cal Poly	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ FIREBIRD II A	Montana State	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	2 August 2023[4]	Successful
		⚀ FIREBIRD II B	Montana State	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	2 August 2023[5]	Successful
		⚀ GRIFEX	NASA / JPL	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February[edit]
1 February 01:21:00	H-IIA 202			Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		IGS-Radar Spare	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
1 February 12:31:00	Proton-M/Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Inmarsat 5-F2	Inmarsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
2 February 08:50	Safir			Semnan		ISA
		Fajr	ISA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	26 February 2015	Successful
11 February 13:40:00	Vega			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		IXV	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	Falcon 9 v1.1			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		DSCOVR	NOAA	Sun–Earth L1	Earth observation / Heliophysics	In orbit	Operational
		First SpaceX launch aimed beyond GTO. First stage soft landed on water.
17 February 11:00:17	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-26M / 58P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	14 August 2015 14:17	Successful
27 February 11:01:35	Soyuz-2.1a			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2503 (Bars-M 1L)	VKO	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March[edit]
2 March 03:50:00	Falcon 9 v1.1			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Eutelsat 115 West B	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		ABS-3A	ABS	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First communication satellites to use all-electric propulsion to reach intended orbits from GTO.
13 March 02:44:00	Atlas V 421			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		MMS-1	NASA	Elliptical High Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		MMS-2	NASA	Elliptical High Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		MMS-3	NASA	Elliptical High Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		MMS-4	NASA	Elliptical High Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
18 March 22:05:00	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		Khrunichev
		Ekspress AM7	RSCC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
25 March 18:36:00	Delta IV M+(4,2)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-260 (GPS IIF-9)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
25 March 22:08:53	Dnepr			Dombarovsky Site 13		ISC Kosmotras
		KOMPSat-3A	KARI	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Final flight of Dnepr-1 rocket, due to Russia-Ukraine conflict.
26 March 01:21:00	H-IIA 202			Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		IGS-Optical 5	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
27 March 19:42:57	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-16M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 43/44/45/46	12 September 2015 00:51	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts, including two on a year-long mission.
27 March 21:46:18	Soyuz-STB / Fregat			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		Galileo FOC 3	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Galileo FOC 4	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
28 March 11:49:00	PSLV-XL			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		IRNSS-1D	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
30 March 13:52:30	Long March 3C/E/YZ-1			Xichang LC-2		CASC
		BeiDou I1-S	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
31 March 13:47:56	Rokot / Briz-KM			Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 133/3		VKO
		Gonets-M 11	Gonets Satellite System	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Gonets-M 12	Gonets Satellite System	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Gonets-M 13	Gonets Satellite System	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2504	VKO	Low Earth	Technology demonstration / Satellite inspection (?)	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April[edit]
14 April 20:10:41	Falcon 9 v1.1			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-6	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	21 May 2015 16:42	Successful
		Arkyd 3 Reflight	Planetary Resources	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	23 December 2015	Successful
		⚀ Flock-1e × 14	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	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.[6] 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	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Thor 7	Telenor	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SICRAL-2	MDD/DGA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
27 April 23:03:00	Falcon 9 v1.1			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		TürkmenÄlem 52°E / MonacoSAT	Turkmen Telecom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First Turkmen satellite.
28 April 07:09:50	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress M-27M / 59P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	8 May 2015	Failure
		Spacecraft lost communications and attitude control soon after separation failure during launch.[7] International Space Station docking attempt cancelled.[8] Mission declared a total loss.[9]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May[edit]
16 May 05:47:39	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Mexsat-1	SCT	Geosynchronous	Communications	16 May 2015	Launch failure
		Proton third stage vernier engine failed at T+497 seconds due to turbopump shaft coating degradation causing excess vibration.[10]
20 May 15:05:00	Atlas V 501			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		AFSPC-5 (X-37B OTV-4)	U.S. Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	7 May 2017	Operational
		ULTRASat	NASA	Low Earth	CubeSat Deployment	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lightsail-A	The Planetary Society	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	14 June 2015 17:23	Successful
		⚀ USS Langley	U.S. Naval Academy	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ BRICSat-P	U.S. Naval Academy / George Washington	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ParkinsonSat	U.S. Naval Academy	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ GEARRS-2	Taylor	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ AeroCube-8A	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	11 October 2021[12]	Successful
		⚀ AeroCube-8B	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	2 October 2021[13]	Successful
		⚀ OptiCube 1	CalPoly	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ OptiCube 2	CalPoly	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ OptiCube 3	CalPoly	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	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.[11]
27 May 21:16:07	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		DirecTV-15	DirecTV	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Sky Mexico 1	SKY Mexico	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June[edit]
5 June 15:23:54	Soyuz-2.1a			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2505 (Kobalt-M №10)	VKO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	18 September 2015	Successful
23 June 01:51:58	Vega			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		Sentinel-2A	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
23 June 16:44:00	Soyuz-2.1b			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2506 (Persona №3)	VKO	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
26 June 06:22:04	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Gaofen 8	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation / Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
28 June 14:21:11	Falcon 9 v1.1			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-7	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	28 June 2015	Launch Failure
		⚀ Flock-1f × 8[15]	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	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.[14] 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.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July[edit]
3 July 04:55:48	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-28M / 60P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	19 December 2015	Successful
10 July 16:28:00	PSLV-XL			Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		UK-DMC-3A	DMCii	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		UK-DMC-3B	DMCii	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		UK-DMC-3C	DMCii	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		CBNT-1	SSTL	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ DeOrbitSail	Surrey Space Centre	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
15 July 15:36:00	Atlas V 401			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-262 (GPS IIF-10)	U.S. Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
15 July 21:42:07	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Star One C4	Star One	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		MSG-4	EUMETSAT	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
22 July 21:02:44	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-17M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 44/45	11 December 2015 13:10	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts.
24 July 00:07:00	Delta IV M+(5,4)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-263 (WGS-7)	U.S. Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
25 July 12:29:04	Long March 3B/YZ-1			Xichang LA-2		CASC
		BeiDou M1-S	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		BeiDou M2-S	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August[edit]
19 August 11:50:49	H-IIB			Tanegashima LA-Y2		MHI
		HTV-5	JAXA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	29 September 2015	Successful
		⚀ AAUSAT5	Aalborg	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	15 March 2016	Successful
		⚀ Flock-2b × 14[17]	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	First: 22 May 2016 Last: 17 October 2016	Successful (12 deployed)
		⚀ GOMX-3	GomSpace	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	19 October 2016[18]	Successful
		⚀ S-CUBE	Chiba Institute of Technology	Low Earth	Meteor observation	23 November 2016[19]
		⚀ SERPENS	University of Brasília / Brazilian Space Agency	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	27 March 2016	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.[16]
20 August 20:34:08	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Eutelsat 8 West B	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Intelsat 34	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
27 August 02:31:35	Long March 4C			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Yaogan 27	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
27 August 11:22:00	GSLV Mk II			Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		GSAT-6	Indian Armed Forces/ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 August 11:44:00	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Inmarsat 5-F3	Inmarsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September[edit]
2 September 04:37:43	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-18M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 45/46/iriss[22]	2 March 2016 04:26	Successful
		Crewed 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.[20] Japanese space tourist Satoshi Takamatsu was believed to be taking Brightman's place, but he declined and Roscosmos chose Aimbetov as an alternative instead.[21] Landed with the Year in Space crew of Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenko
2 September 10:18:00	Atlas V 551			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		MUOS-4	U.S. Navy	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
11 September 02:08:10	Soyuz-STB / Fregat			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		Galileo FOC 5	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Galileo FOC 6	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
12 September 15:42:04	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-2		CASC
		TJS-1	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
14 September 04:42	Long March 2D			Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Gaofen 9	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation / Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
14 September 19:00:00	Proton-M / Blok DM-03			Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
		Ekspress AM8	RSCC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
19 September 23:01:14	Long March 6			Taiyuan LC-16		CASC
		LilacSat-2	HIT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		NS-2	Tsinghua University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		NUDT-PhoneSat	NUDT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	29 March 2023[23]	Successful
		Tiantuo-3	NUDT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Xingchen 1	NUDT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Xingchen 2	NUDT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Xingchen 3	NUDT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Xingchen 4	NUDT	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Xiwang-2A	CAMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Amateur radio	25 April 2023[24]	Successful
		Xiwang-2B	CAMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational
		Xiwang-2C	CAMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational
		Xiwang-2D	CAMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational
		Xiwang-2E	CAMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational
		Xiwang-2F	CAMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational
		XY-2	CASC	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		ZDPS-2A	ZJU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		ZDPS-2B	ZJU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		ZJ-1	Tsinghua University	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		ZJ-2	Tsinghua / Xidian	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ DCBB	CAMSAT	Low Earth (SSO)	Education	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of the Long March 6 vehicle.
23 September 21:59:38	Rokot / Briz-KM			Plesetsk Site 133/3		VKO
		Kosmos 2507 (Strela-3M)	VKO	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2508 (Strela-3M)	VKO	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2509 (Strela-3M)	VKO	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
25 September 01:41:40	Long March 11			Jiuquan LS-95A		CASC
		Pujiang-1	SAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Tianwang 1A (Shankeda 2)	ShanghaiTech	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	30 December 2022[25]	Successful
		⚀ Tianwang 1B (NJUST 2)	NJUST	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	31 March 2021[26]	Successful
		⚀ Tianwang 1C (NJFA 1)	ShanghaiTech	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	27 February 2021[27]	Successful
		Maiden flight of the Long March 11 vehicle.
28 September 04:30:00	PSLV-XL			Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Astrosat	ISRO	Low Earth	X-ray astronomy	In orbit	Operational
		LAPAN-A2	LAPAN	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		ExactView 9	exactEarth	Low Earth	Maritime observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 1	NanoSatisfi	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 2	NanoSatisfi	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 3	NanoSatisfi	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lemur-2 4	NanoSatisfi	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
29 September 23:13:04	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LA-3		CASC
		BeiDou I2-S	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
30 September 20:30:07	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		NBN-Co 1A (Sky Muster)	NBN Co	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		ARSAT-2	ARSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October[edit]
1 October 16:49:40	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-29M / 61P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	8 April 2016	Successful
2 October 10:28:00	Atlas V 421			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Mexsat-2	SCT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
7 October 04:13:04	Long March 2D			Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Jilin-1 Smart Verification Satellite[28]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Jilin-1 Optical-A[29]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Jilin-1 Video-01 (Lingqiao 1-01)[30]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Jilin-1 Video-02 (Lingqiao 1-02)[30]	Chang Guang Satellite Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
8 October 12:49:30	Atlas V 401			Vandenberg SLC-3E		United Launch Alliance
		USA-264 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		USA-264 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Aerocube-5c	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Aerocube-7	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ AMSAT Fox-1	AMSAT	Low Earth	Amateur radio / Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ ARC-1	UAF	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ BisonSat	SKC	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ LMRST-Sat	NASA / JPL	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ PropCube x 2	Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ SINOD-D x 2	SRI International	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ SNaP-3 x 3	U.S. Army SMDC	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 55
16 October 16:16:04	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-2		CASC
		APStar-9	APT Satellite Holdings	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
16 October 20:40:11	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Türksat 4B	Türksat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
26 October 07:10:04	Long March 2D			Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		Tianhui 1C	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation (Cartography)	In orbit	Operational
31 October 16:13:00	Atlas V 401			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-265 (GPS IIF-11)	U.S. Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → November[edit]
3 November 16:25:04	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-3		CASC
		ChinaSat 2C	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
4 November 03:45:00	SPARK			Pacific Missile Range Facility LP-41		ORS
		HiakaSat	ORS	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	4 November 2015	Launch failure
		⚀ EDSN x 8	NASA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	4 November 2015	Launch failure
		⚀ PrintSat	Montana State University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	4 November 2015	Launch failure
		⚀ Argus	St. Louis University and Vanderbilt University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	4 November 2015	Launch failure
		⚀ STACEM	Utah State University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	4 November 2015	Launch failure
		⚀ Supernova-Beta	Pumpkin, Inc.	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	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Yaogan 28	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
10 November 21:34:07	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Arabsat 6B	Arabsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		GSAT-15	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
17 November 06:33:41	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2510 (EKS (Tundra))	VKO	Molniya[32]	Early warning	In orbit	Operational[33]
		First space component for Russia's new unified missile early warning network.[31]
20 November 16:07:04	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-2		CASC
		LaoSat-1	Laos National Authority for Science and Technology	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First Laotian satellite[34]
24 November 06:50:00	H-IIA 204			Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		Telstar 12V	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
26 November 21:24:04	Long March 4C			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Yaogan 29	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → December[edit]
3 December 04:04:00	Vega			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		LISA Pathfinder	ESA / NASA	Sun–Earth L1	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
5 December 14:08:33	Soyuz-2-1v / Volga			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2511 (Kanopus-ST)	VKO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	8 December 2015 05:43	Launch failure
		Kosmos 2512 (KYuA-1)	Almaz-Antey	Low Earth (SSO)	Radar calibration	In orbit	Operational
		Kanopus-ST failed to separate from the Volga upper stage.[35][36]
6 December 21:44:57	Atlas V 401			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Cygnus CRS OA-4 S.S. Deke Slayton II	Orbital ATK / NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	20 February 2016	Successful
		SIMPL	NovaWurks	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	26 July 2022[39]	Successful
		⚀ Flock-2e x 12	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	First: 25 July 2017[40] Last: 14 August 2018[41]	Successful
		⚀ CADRE	University of Michigan	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	3 January 2017[42]	Successful
		⚀ MinXSS 1	University of Colorado Boulder	Low Earth	Solar physics, Space weather	5 May 2017[43]	Successful
		⚀ Nodes x 2	NASA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	23 September 2017[44]	Successful
		⚀ STMSat 1	St. Thomas More Cathedral School	Low Earth	Education	21 April 2017[45]	Successful
		Flight moved from Antares 130 rocket following launch failure of Cygnus CRS Orb-3. Originally scheduled for 1 April 2015.[37] MinXSS was deployed into orbit from ISS on 16 May 2016.[38]
9 December 16:46:04	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-3		CASC
		ChinaSat 1C	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
11 December 13:45:33	Zenit-3F			Baikonur Site 45/1		Roscosmos
		Elektro-L No.2	Roscosmos	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
13 December 00:19:00	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
		Kosmos 2513 (Garpun No. 12L)	VKO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 December 11:03:09	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-19M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 46/47	18 June 2016 09:15	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts.
16 December 12:30:00	PSLV-CA			Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		TeLEOS-1	AgilSpace	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		VELOX C1	NTU	Low Earth	Atmospheric science	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ VELOX 2	NTU	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Kent Ridge 1	NUS	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Galassia	NUS	Low Earth	Atmospheric science	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Athenoxat-1	NTU	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
17 December 00:12:04	Long March 2D			Jiuquan SLS-2		CASC
		DAMPE	CAS	Low Earth (SSO)	High-energy astronomy	In orbit	Operational
17 December 11:51:56	Soyuz ST-B / Fregat			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		Galileo FOC 8	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Galileo FOC 9	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
21 December 08:44:39	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-01 / 62P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS resupply	3 July 2016 07:50	Operational
		First launch of the new Progress-MS variant.
22 December 01:29:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Orbcomm-2 F2	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F5	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F8	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F10	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F12	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F13	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F14	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F15	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F16	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F17	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm-2 F18	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	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	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		Khrunichev
		Ekspress AMU1	RSCC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 December 16:04:04	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-2		CASC
		Gaofen 4	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational

Suborbital flights[edit]

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
26 January 09:13	Terrier-Improved Malemute			Poker Flat		NASA
		M-TEX	Alaska	Suborbital	Auroral	26 January	Successful
		Apogee: ~160 kilometres (99 mi)?
26 January 09:14	Terrier-Orion			Poker Flat		NASA
		MIST	Clemson	Suborbital	Auroral	26 January	Successful
		Apogee: ~130 kilometres (81 mi)?
26 January 09:46	Terrier-Improved Malemute			Poker Flat		NASA
		M-TEX	Alaska	Suborbital	Auroral	26 January	Successful
		Apogee: ~160 kilometres (99 mi)?
26 January 09:47	Terrier-Orion			Poker Flat		NASA
		MIST	Clemson	Suborbital	Auroral	26 January	Successful
		Apogee: ~130 kilometres (81 mi)?
28 January 10:41	Talos Terrier Oriole Nihka			Poker Flat		NASA
		ASSP	USU	Suborbital	Auroral	28 January	Successful
		Apogee: ~590 kilometres (370 mi)?
31 January 02:36:00[46]	Agni V			Integrated Test Range Launch Complex IV		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	31 January	Successful
		Apogee: ~800 kilometres (500 mi)
19 February	Prithvi II			Integrated Test Range Launch Complex 3		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	19 February	Successful
		Apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi)
19 February 22:06	VS-30/Improved Orion			Andøya		Andøya
		ICI-4 (CanoRock 4)	Oslo/Andøya	Suborbital	Technology	19 February	Successful
		Apogee: 365 kilometres (227 mi)
22 February 07:52	VSB-30			Esrange		CNES
		Cryofenix	CNES	Suborbital	Microgravity	22 February	Successful
		Apogee: 265 kilometres (165 mi)
22 February	UGM-133 Trident II D5			Submarine, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	22 February	Successful
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