2016 in spaceflight

2016 in spaceflight

Highlights from spaceflight in 2016.[a]
Orbital launches
First	15 January
Last	28 December
Total	85
Successes	82
Failures	2
Partial failures	1
Catalogued	83
Rockets
Maiden flights	Soyuz-2.1a / Volga Long March 7 Antares 230 Long March 5
Retirements	Atlas V 431 Falcon 9 v1.1 PSLV-G
Crewed flights
Orbital	5
Total travellers	14
EVAs	4
v t e

Several new rockets and spaceports began operations in 2016.

Overview[edit]

Russia inaugurated the far-Eastern Vostochny Cosmodrome on 28 April 2016 with a traditional Soyuz-2.1a flight,^[1] before expanding it for the Angara rocket family in the following years. The Chinese Long March 7 flew its maiden flight from the new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island on 25 June, and the maiden flight of the Long March 5 took place on 3 November. Two years after its 2014 accident, the Antares rocket returned to flight on 17 October with its upgraded 230 version featuring the Russian RD-181 engine.

After many failed attempts, SpaceX began landing its Falcon 9 first stages on autonomous spaceport drone ships, edging closer to their long-stated goal of developing reusable launch vehicles. The company indicated that the recovered engines and structures did not suffer significant damage.^[2] One of the landed boosters, B1021, launched in April 2016, was flown again in March 2017;^[3] two others were converted to side boosters for the maiden flight of Falcon Heavy.^[4]

The ExoMars mission, a collaboration between the European and Russian space agencies, was launched on 14 March and reached Mars on 19 October.^[5] Dedicated to astrobiology investigations, this flight carried the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which reached Mars orbit, and the Schiaparelli EDM lander, which crashed upon landing. A subsequent flight scheduled for 2020 will carry the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover along with four static surface instruments.^[6] Meanwhile, the Japanese space probe Akatsuki started its observations of Venus in May^[7] after spending five months gradually adjusting its orbit. Planetary exploration activities took center stage with the orbit insertion of NASA's Juno probe at Jupiter on 4 July, followed by the launch of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid 101955 Bennu on 8 September. Finally, on 30 September, the Rosetta probe executed a slow crash-landing on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.^[8][9]

Human spaceflights included the return of Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko in March after a yearlong mission on the ISS, the longest-ever continuous stay by astronauts at the station. Kelly also set the record for the longest-duration stay of an American in orbit. Four ISS Expeditions numbered 47 to 50 were launched in 2016, the first one using the last Soyuz TMA-M spacecraft and the next three inaugurating the modernized Soyuz MS. Expedition 50 will continue into 2017. Several EVAs were performed to maintain the exterior of the ISS. The experimental BEAM inflatable habitat was attached to the ISS on 16 April and expanded on 28 May to begin two years of on-orbit tests. Meanwhile, China launched its new Tiangong-2 space laboratory in September, which was first visited by two astronauts for a month between 19 October and 17 November.

Orbital launches[edit]

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January[edit]
15 January 16:57:04	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-3		CASC
		Belintersat 1	Belarus	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
17 January 18:42:18	Falcon 9 v1.1		F9-021	Vandenberg SLC-4E		SpaceX
		Jason-3	NOAA / EUMETSAT	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Final flight of the standard Falcon 9 v1.1, future flights will use the upgraded Falcon 9 Full Thrust. Falcon 9's first stage performed a soft landing on an autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Pacific Ocean, but the failure of one landing leg to lock into position caused it to fall over and break apart.[10]
20 January 04:01:00	PSLV-XL		C31	Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		IRNSS-1E	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
27 January 23:20:48	Ariane 5 ECA		VA228	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Intelsat 29e	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Spacecraft failure in 2019[11]
29 January 22:20:09	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Eutelsat 9B	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Carries the first laser communication node for the European Data Relay System
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February[edit]
1 February 07:29:04	Long March 3C/E / YZ-1			Xichang LC-3		CASC
		BeiDou M3-S	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
5 February 13:38:00	Atlas V 401		AV-057	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-266 (GPS IIF-12)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
7 February 00:21:07	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2514 (GLONASS-M 751)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
7 February 00:30	Unha			Sohae		KCST
		Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4[12]	KCST	Low Earth	Earth observation	30 June 2023[13]	Successful
10 February 11:40:32	Delta IV M+ (5,2)			Vandenberg SLC-6		United Launch Alliance
		USA-267 / Topaz-4[14]	NRO	Retrograde LEO	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		NROL-45 mission. Spacecraft launched in a retrograde orbit.
16 February 17:57:40	Rokot / Briz-KM			Plesetsk Site 133/3		/ Eurockot
		Sentinel-3A	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
17 February 08:45:00	H-IIA 202		F30	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		Hitomi (ASTRO-H)	JAXA / NASA	Low Earth	X-ray astronomy	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		ChubuSat-2	Nagoya University	Low Earth	Radiation / Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational
		ChubuSat-3	MHI	Low Earth	Remote sensing / Space debris monitor	In orbit	Operational
		Horyu-4	Kyushu Institute of Technology	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Hitomi malfunctioned after initial checkouts, and is believed to have lost attitude control and snapped off its solar array. 28 April, JAXA has abandoned efforts to recover the spacecraft.[15][16]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March[edit]
4 March 23:35:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-022	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SES-9	SES S.A.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		High-velocity landing test ended with a hard landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You and destruction of the first stage.
9 March 05:20:07	Ariane 5 ECA		VA229	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Eutelsat 65 West A	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
10 March 10:31:00	PSLV-XL		C32	Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		IRNSS-1F	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
13 March 18:56:00	Soyuz-2.1b			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Resurs-P No.3	Roscosmos	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	17 October 2023[17]	Partial spacecraft failure[18]
		The launch succeeded on its second attempt after a rare pad abort the day before.
14 March 09:31:42[6]	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 200/39		Khrunichev
		/ ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter	ESA	Areocentric orbit	Mars orbiter	In orbit	Operational
		Schiaparelli EDM lander	ESA	TMI to Martian Surface	Mars lander	19 October 2016	Landing failure
		Briz-M upper stage exploded after separation, apparently without damaging the orbiter or lander.[19]
18 March 21:26:38	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-20M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 47/48	7 September 2016 01:13	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts. Final flight of the Soyuz TMA-M variant
23 March 03:05:52	Atlas V 401		AV-064	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Cygnus CRS OA-6 S.S. Rick Husband	Orbital ATK / NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	22 June 2016 13:29	Successful
		Diwata-1	DOST / TU	Low Earth	Earth observation	6 April 2020[21]	Successful
		⚀ Flock-2e' × 20	Planet Labs	Low Earth	Earth observation	First: 3 October 2017[22] Last: 10 November 2018[23]	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 9	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	First: 27 February 2017[24] Last: 7 April 2017[25]	8 successful, 1 failed to deploy
		Anomaly in the mixture ratio control valve assembly, causing the Atlas V booster engine to cut off five seconds early, resulting in a longer-than-usual Centaur orbital insertion burn.[20] Cubesats deployed from the ISS and the Cygnus spacecraft at a later date.
24 March 09:42:00	Soyuz-2.1a			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2515 (Bars-M 2L)	VKS	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
29 March 20:11:04	Long March 3A			Xichang LC-2		CASC
		BeiDou IGSO-6	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
31 March 16:23:57	Soyuz-2.1a			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-02 / 63P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	14 October 2016 13:39	Successful
		⚀ Tomsk-TPU-120	Tomsk Polytechnic University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	20 October 2019[27]	Successful
		Tomsk-TPU-120 is a CubeSat deployed into orbit from ISS by Russian astronauts spacewalk on 17 August 2017.[26]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April[edit]
5 April 17:38:04	Long March 2D			Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CASC
		Shijian 10	CAS	Low Earth	Microgravity Science	18 April 2016 08:30	Successful
8 April 20:43:31	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-023	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-8	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	11 May 2016 18:31	Successful
		BEAM	Bigelow Aerospace / NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	Technology demonstration / ISS Assembly	In orbit	Operational
		First stage landed successfully on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You for the first time, the second successful landing overall
25 April 21:02:13	Soyuz-STA / Fregat			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		Sentinel-1B	ESA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		MICROSCOPE	CNES	Low Earth (SSO)	Astrophysics	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ AAUSAT-4	Aalborg	Low Earth (SSO)	AIS ship tracking	8 September 2023[28]	Successful
		⚀ e-st@r-II	Polytechnic University of Turin	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ OUFTI-1	Liège	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
28 April 02:01:21	Soyuz-2.1a / Volga			Vostochny Site 1S		Roscosmos
		Mikhailo Lomonosov	MSU	Low Earth (SSO)	Gamma-ray astronomy	16 December 2023[29]	Satellite malfunction
		Aist-2D	SSAU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ SamSat 218	SSAU	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	4 March 2022[30]	Spacecraft failure
		First orbital flight from Vostochny Cosmodrome.
28 April 07:20:00	PSLV-XL		C33	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		IRNSS-1G	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May[edit]
6 May 05:21:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-024	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		JCSAT-14	JSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First stage landed on Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, the third successful landing and the first landing with a payload to geostationary transfer orbit.
15 May 02:43	Long March 2D			Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CASC
		Yaogan 30	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
24 May 08:48:43	Soyuz-STB / Fregat			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		Galileo FOC 10	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Galileo FOC 11	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
27 May 21:39:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-025	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Thaicom 8	Thaicom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		First stage landed on Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, the fourth successful landing and the second landing with a payload to geostationary transfer orbit.
29 May 08:44:35	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2516 (GLONASS-M 753)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		Kosmos 2516 experienced a depressurization event in November 2020, which permanently disabled the satellite after four years in operation. It was replaced by GLONASS-K 705.[31]
30 May 03:17:04	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Ziyuan III-02	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		ÑuSat-1/-2 (Aleph-1 constellation)[32]	Satellogic	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June[edit]
4 June 14:00:13	Rokot / Briz-KM			Plesetsk Site 133/3		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2517 (Geo-IK-2 No.12)	VKS	Low Earth	Geodesy	In orbit	Operational
9 June 07:10:00	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 81/24		International Launch Services
		Intelsat 31 / DLA-2	Intelsat / DirecTV	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
11 June 17:51:00	Delta IV Heavy			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-268 (Orion 9)	NRO	Geosynchronous	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		NROL-37 mission.
12 June 15:30:04	Long March 3C/E			Xichang LC-3		CASC
		BeiDou G7	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
15 June 14:29:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-026	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		Eutelsat 117 West B	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		ABS-2A	ABS	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Satellites were successfully delivered to orbit, first stage landing on drone ship failed.
18 June 21:38:39	Ariane 5 ECA		VA230	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		EchoStar 18	EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BRIsat	BRI	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
22 June 03:56:00	PSLV-XL		C34	Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		Cartosat-2C	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		BIROS	DLR	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		GHGSat-D (Claire)	GHGSat	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		LAPAN-A3	LAPAN	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		M3MSat	CSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SkySat-C1	Terra Bella	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ BeeSat 4	TU Berlin	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Flock-2p × 12	Planet Labs	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	First: 20 October 2022 Last: 28 March 2023[33]	Successful
		⚀ SathyabamaSat	Sathyabama University	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Swayam	College of Engineering, Pune	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
24 June 14:30:00	Atlas V 551		AV-063	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		MUOS-5	US Navy	GSO	Communications	In orbit	Operational in off-nominal but usable orbit[34]
25 June 12:00:07	Long March 7 / YZ-1A		Y1	Wenchang LC-2		CASC
		Next-generation crew capsule scale model	CMSA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration Flight test	26 June 2016 07:41	Successful
		⚀ Star of Aoxiang	NPU	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	29 September 2016	Successful
		Aolong-1	CALT	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	27 August 2016	Successful
		Tiange-1		Low Earth	Technology demonstration	27 August 2016	Successful
		Tiange-2		Low Earth	Technology demonstration	24 August 2016	Successful
		Maiden flight of the Long March 7 rocket and the first launch from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.[35]
29 June 03:21:04	Long March 4B			Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CASC
		Shijian 16-02	CNSA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July[edit]
7 July 01:36:40	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-01	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 48/49	30 October 2016 03:58	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts. Maiden flight of the modernized Soyuz MS spacecraft variant.
16 July 21:41:45	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-03 / 64P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	1 February 2017 18:24	Successful
18 July 04:45:29	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-027	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		SpaceX CRS-9	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	26 August 15:47	Successful
		Delivering the IDA-2 segment of the NASA Docking System. Second successful return to launch site and vertical landing of a first stage, demonstrated as part of a controlled descent test.
28 July 12:37:00	Atlas V 421		AV-065	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-269 (Quasar NROL-61)	NRO	Geosynchronous[36]	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August[edit]
5 August 16:22:04	Long March 3B			Xichang LC-3		CASC
		Tiantong-1 01	CAST	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 August 22:55:25	Long March 4C			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Gaofen-3	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
14 August 05:26:00	Falcon 9 Full Thrust		F9-028	Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		JCSAT-16	JSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 August 17:40:04	Long March 2D			Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CASC
		Quantum Experiments At Space Scale (QUESS)[37]	CAS	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Lixing-1	CAS	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	19 August 2016[38]	Spacecraft failure
		⚀ 3Cat 2	UPC	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	18 December 2023[39]	Successful
19 August 04:52:00	Delta IV M+ (4,2)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		AFSPC 6 / USA-270 / GSSAP #3	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Space surveillance	In orbit	Operational
		AFSPC 6 / USA-271 / GSSAP #4	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Space surveillance	In orbit	Operational
24 August 22:16:01	Ariane 5 ECA		VA232	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Intelsat 33e	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational[40]
		Intelsat 36	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
31 August 18:50:00	Long March 4C			Taiyuan LC-9		CASC
		Gaofen-10	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	31 August 2016	Launch failure
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September[edit]
3 September 07:00–09:00 (scheduled)[42]	Falcon 9 Full Thrust			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
		AMOS-6	Spacecom	Planned: Geosynchronous	Communications	N/A	Destroyed prior to launch[41]
		Launch pad explosion destroyed both the rocket and the satellite two days prior to scheduled launch, on 13:07, 1 September 2016 (UTC) (2016-09-01T13:07Z).[41]
8 September 11:20:00	GSLV Mk II		F05	Satish Dhawan SLP		ISRO
		INSAT-3DR	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
8 September 23:05:00	Atlas V 411		AV-067	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		OSIRIS-REx	NASA	Heliocentric	Asteroid sample return	In orbit	Operational
		Reached asteroid Bennu in December 2018. Scheduled to return to Earth in September 2023.
13 September 14:38:00	Shavit-2			Palmachim		Israel Aerospace Industries
		Ofeq 11	Israel Defense Forces	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Satellite malfunction[43]
15 September 14:04:12	Long March 2F/G		T2	Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1		CNSA
		Tiangong-2	CMSA	Low Earth	Space station	19 July 2019[44] 13:06	Successful
		BanXing 2	SAST	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	15 July 2019[45]	Successful
		Second Chinese space laboratory, BanXing 2 deployed 22 October
16 September 01:43:35	Vega			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		PeruSat-1	Peruvian Armed Forces	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		SkySat x 4	Terra Bella	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
26 September 03:42:00	PSLV-G		C35	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		ScatSat-1	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Meteorology	In orbit	Successful[46]
		Alsat-1B	Algerian Space Agency	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Alsat-2B	Algerian Space Agency	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Blacksky Pathfinder-1	BlackSky Global	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Pratham	IIT Bombay	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		PISat	PES University	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Alsat-1N	Algerian Space Agency	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ CanX-7	UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	21 April 2022[47]	Successful
		Final launch of the original Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-G configuration with S9 solid rocket motors.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October[edit]
5 October 20:30	Ariane 5 ECA		VA231	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		NBN-Co 1B / Sky Muster II	NBN	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		GSAT-18	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
16 October 23:30	Long March 2F		Y11	Jiuquan LA-4 / SLS-1		CASC
		Shenzhou 11	CMSA	Low Earth	Docking with Tiangong-2	18 November 2016 06:15	Successful
		Crewed flight with two astronauts[48]
17 October 23:45	Antares 230			MARS Pad 0A		Orbital ATK
		Cygnus CRS OA-5	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	27 November 2016 23:36	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 4	Spire Global	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		CubeSats were deployed from the ISS and Cygnus spacecraft at a later date.
19 October 08:05	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 31/6		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-02	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 49/50	10 April 2017 11:20	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → November[edit]
2 November 06:20:00	H-IIA 202		F31	Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		Himawari 9	JMA	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
3 November 12:42	Long March 5			Wenchang LC-1		CASC
		Shijian 17	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Technology demonstration / Space rendezvous	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of the Long March 5 rocket. Chinese state media claims Shijian-17 is a test of electric propulsion, though this is disputed by outside analysts tracking the satellite's unusual space rendezvous movements.[49][50]
9 November 23:42[51]	Long March 11			Jiuquan LS-95A		CASC
		XPNAV 1[52]	CAS	Low Earth (SSO)	X-ray pulsar-based navigation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Xiaoxiang 1[53]	Changsha Gaoxinqu Tianyi Research Institute	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Lishui 1-01	Zhejiang LiTong Electronic Technology Co.	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Pina-2 × 2		Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
11 November 18:30	Atlas V 401		AV-062	Vandenberg SLC-3E		United Launch Alliance
		WorldView-4	DigitalGlobe	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	30 November 2021 05:20[55]	Spacecraft failure
		⚀ CELTEE 1	M42 Technologies	Low Earth (SSO)	Calibration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Prometheus-2 × 2	LANL	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ AeroCube 8 × 2	Aerospace	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ OptiCube 4	NASA Orbital Debris Program Office	Low Earth (SSO)	Calibration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ RAVAN	JHU/APL	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration / Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		CubeSats deployed after WorldView-4 separation as part of NRO-sponsored ENTERPRISE mission. WorldView-4 experienced a failure in one of its control moment gyroscopes in January 2019, making the spacecraft unrecoverable.[54]
11 November 23:14	Long March 2D			Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CASC
		Yunhai-1	SAST	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
17 November 13:06:48	Ariane 5 ES		VA233	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Galileo FOC 7	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Galileo FOC 12	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Galileo FOC 13	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Galileo FOC 14	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		First Galileo launch with Ariane 5 (8th overall), carrying Antonianna, Lisa, Kimberley, and Tijmen.
17 November 20:20:14	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz MS-03	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 50/51/52	2 June 2017	Successful
		Crewed flight with three cosmonauts. Peggy Whitson's mission was prolonged over Expedition 52 until September 2017.
19 November 23:42:00	Atlas V 541		AV-069	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		GOES-R (GOES-16)	NASA / NOAA	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
22 November 15:24:04	Long March 3C/E			Xichang LC-2		CASC
		Tianlian I-04	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → December[edit]
1 December 14:52	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress MS-04 / 65P	Roscosmos	Planned: Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	1 December	Launch failure
5 December 13:51:44	Vega			Kourou ELV		Arianespace
		Göktürk-1	Turkish Armed Forces	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
7 December 04:54	PSLV-XL		C36	Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Resourcesat-2A	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
7 December 23:53	Delta IV M+ (5,4)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-272 / WGS-8	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 December 13:26:47	H-IIB		F6	Tanegashima LA-Y2		MHI
		HTV-6	JAXA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	5 February 2017 15:06	Successful
		⚀ EGG	UTokyo	Low Earth	Technology demonstration / Re-entry Demonstration	15 May 2017[61]	Successful
		⚀ TuPOD	GAUSS Srl	Low Earth	TubeSat Deployment / Amateur radio	8 September 2017[62]	Successful
		⚀ / AOBA-VELOX 3	NTU / Kyutech	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	1 November 2018[63]	Successful
		⚀ STARS C	Kagawa University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	3 March 2018[64]	Successful
		⚀ FREEDOM	Nakashimada Engineering Works / Tohoku University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	5 February 2017[65]	Successful
		⚀ ITF-2	University of Tsukuba	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	3 January 2019[66]	Successful
		⚀ Waseda-SAT 3	Waseda University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	6 October 2018[67]	Successful
		OSNSAT	Open Space Network	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	11 January 2018[68]	Successful
		Tancredo-1	Escola Municipal Presidente Tancredo de Almeida Neves/INPE	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	18 October 2017[69]	Successful
		⚀ TechEdSat 5	SJSU/UI	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	29 July 2017[70]	Successful
		⚀ Lemur-2 × 4	Spire Global	Low Earth	AIS	First: 15 April 2018[71] Last: 5 December 2018[72]	Successful
		CubeSats to be deployed at a later date. Tancredo-1 and OSNSAT are carried inside TuPOD and to be deployed from it. STARS-C was deployed on 19 December 2016. ITF-2, WASEDA-SAT3, FREEDOM, EGG, AOBA-Velox III, and TuPOD were deployed on 16 January 2017.[56] Tancredo-1 and OSNSAT were released from TuPOD on 19 January 2017.[57] Lemur-2 and TechEdSat-5 were deployed on 6–7 March 2017.[58][59][60]
10 December 16:11:00	Long March 3B			Xichang LC-3		CASC
		Fengyun 4A	CMA	Geosynchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
15 December 13:37:21	Pegasus-XL			Stargazer, Cape Canaveral		Orbital ATK
		CYGNSS x 8	NASA	Low Earth	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
18 December 19:13	Atlas V 431		AV-071	Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		EchoStar 19	HughesNet	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
20 December 11:00	Epsilon		Epsilon-2[73]	Uchinoura		JAXA
		Arase (ERG)	JAXA	Medium Earth (elliptical)	Magnetospherics	In orbit	Operational
21 December 19:22	Long March 2D			Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CASC
		TanSat[74]	CAS	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		Spark x 2	CAS	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
21 December 20:30	Ariane 5 ECA		VA234	Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Star One D1	Star One	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		JCSAT-15	JSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 December 03:23:56	Long March 2D			Taiyuan		CASC
		SuperView / Gaojing-1 01	Beijing Space View Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Partial launch failure; Operational
		SuperView / Gaojing-1 02	Beijing Space View Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Partial launch failure; Operational
		⚀ Bayi Kepu 1	China Association for Science and Technology	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	18 February 2017[76]	Partial launch failure; Successful
		Launch vehicle problem deployed satellites in a lower than planned orbit. SuperView satellites raising their own orbits, but CubeSats cannot so may have short lifespan.[75]

Suborbital flights[edit]

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
15 January 03:00:00	S-310			Uchinoura		JAXA
			TPU / TU / TU / KU / JAXA	Suborbital	Ionospheric research	15 January	Successful
		Apogee: 161 kilometres (100 mi)[77]
22 January	New Shepard			Corn Ranch		Blue Origin
		New Shepard crew capsule	Blue Origin	Suborbital	Test flight	22 January	Successful
		Apogee: 101.7 kilometres (63.2 mi)[78]
23 January 08:30	VSB-30			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		/ TEXUS-53	DLR / ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity	23 January	Successful
		Apogee: 252 kilometres (157 mi)
28 January	SRALT?			C-17, Pacific Ocean		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	28 January	Successful
		Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi), CTV-02+ target
28 January	Ground Based Interceptor			Vandenberg LF-23		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	28 January	Successful
		CTV-02+, successful test flight, the CE-II kill vehicle performed scripted maneuvers to demonstrate performance of alternate divert thrusters. Upon entering terminal phase, the kill vehicle initiated a planned burn sequence to evaluate the alternate divert thrusters until fuel was exhausted, intentionally precluding an intercept.
2 February 21:09	VS-30			Esrange		SSC
		SPIDER/LEEWAVES	SSC	Suborbital	Technology	2 February	Successful
		Apogee: 138 kilometres (86 mi)
21 February 07:34	LGM-30G Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-09		US Air Force
			US Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	21 February	Successful
		GT217GM, Apogee: ~1,300 kilometres (810 mi) ?
22 February 04:15	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		CHESS-2	LASP	Suborbital	Astronomy	22 February	Successful
		Apogee: 309 kilometres (192 mi)
26 February 07:01	LGM-30G Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-10		US Air Force
			US Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	26 February	Successful
		GT218GM, Apogee: ~1,300 kilometres (810 mi) ?
1 March 14:50	Terrier Malemute			Wallops Island		NASA
		MUSIC	West Virginia University	Suborbital	Technology experiments	1 March	Successful
		Apogee: ~185 kilometers (115 mi)[79]
7 March 12:05	Terrier Orion			Wallops Island		NASA
		SOAREX-9	NASA Ames	Suborbital	Technology experiment	7 March	Successful
		RadPC	Montana State University	Suborbital	Technology experiment	7 March	Successful
		VIP	Controlled Dynamics	Suborbital	Technology experiment	7 March	Successful
		Apogee: ~159 kilometers (99 mi)
7 March	K-4			Visakhapatnam		Indian Navy
			Indian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	7 March	Successful
		Apogee: 500 km?
8 March	Shahab-3			Iran		IRGC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	8 March	Successful
		Apogee: ~150 kilometres (93 mi)
14 March	Agni-I			Integrated Test Range		IDRDL
			IDRDL	Suborbital	Missile test	14 March	Successful
		Apogee: ~500 kilometres (310 mi)?
14 March	UGM-133 Trident II D5			Submarine, ETR		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	14 March	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 52
15 March	UGM-133 Trident II D5			Submarine, ETR		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	15 March	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 52
16 March	UGM-133 Trident II D5			Submarine, ETR		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	16 March	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 52
31 March	K-4			INS Arihant		Indian Navy
			Indian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	31 March	Successful
		First K-4 launch from a submarine[80]
2 April 15:18	New Shepard			Corn Ranch		Blue Origin
		New Shepard crew capsule	Blue Origin	Suborbital	Test flight	2 April	Successful
		BORE	Southwest Research Institute	Suborbital	Microgravity experiment	2 April	Successful
		COLLIDE	University of Central Florida	Suborbital	Microgravity experiment	2 April	Successful
		Apogee: 103.8 kilometers (64.5 mi). Third successful booster landing of the same rocket.[81]
19 April 06:41	UR-100NU			Yasniy		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	19 April	Successful
		Yu-71 Hypersonic Vehicle Test, Apogee: 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)?
26 April 17:00	Tianying 3F			Hainan		CNSA
		Kunpeng-1B	CSSAR	Suborbital	Environment monitoring	26 April	Successful
		Apogee: 316 kilometres (196 mi)
18 May 00:45	VS-30/Improved Orion			Woomera Test Range		DSTO
		HiFire-5B	DSTO	Suborbital	Technology	18 May	Successful
		Apogee: 278 kilometres (173 mi)
18 May 07:02	MRBM-T3			Kauai		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	18 May	Successful
		Medium Range Ballistic Missile Target, Aegis radar target FTX-21, apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)?
25 May	RIM-161 Standard Missile 3-IB			USS Hopper, Kauai		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	25 May	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)?
26 May	RIM-161 Standard Missile 3-IB			USS Hopper, Kauai		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	26 May	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)?
1 June 19:00	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		EVE	CU Boulder	Suborbital	SDO calibration	1 June	Successful
		Apogee: 290 kilometres (180 mi)
19 June 14:35	New Shepard			Corn Ranch		Blue Origin
		New Shepard crew capsule	Blue Origin	Suborbital	Test flight	19 June	Successful
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