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2011 in spaceflight

Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at theShuttle Landing Facility on 21 July 2011, completing thefinal mission of theSpace Shuttle programme.
Orbital launches
First	20 January
Last	28 December
Total	84
Successes	78
Failures	6
Catalogued	80
National firsts
Satellite	Isle of Man
Rockets
Maiden flights	Zenit-3F Long March 2F/G Atlas V 541
Retirements	Space Shuttle Delta II Heavy
Crewed flights
Orbital	7
Total travellers	28
EVAs	10
v t e

The year 2011 saw a number of significant events in spaceflight, including theretirement ofNASA'sSpace Shuttle after its final flight in July 2011, and the launch ofChina's firstspace station module,Tiangong-1, in September. A total of 84 orbital launches were conducted over the course of the year, of which 78 were successful.Russia, China and theUnited States conducted the majority of the year's orbital launches, with 35, 19 and 18 launches respectively; 2011 marked the first year that China conducted more successful launches than the United States.^[1] Seven crewed missions were launched into orbit during 2011, carrying a total of 28 astronauts to theInternational Space Station. Additionally, theZenit-3F andLong March 2F/Gcarrier rockets made their maiden flights in 2011, while theDelta II Heavy made its last.

A total of 84 orbital launches were attempted in 2011, with 78 being reported as successful; 80 launches reached orbit. 35 launches were conducted using Russian and former Soviet rockets, whilst China launched 19 rockets, and the United States launched 18. Europe conducted five launches, India and Japan launched three rockets each, and Iran conducted one launch.

Seven crewed spaceflights – fourSoyuz and threeSpace Shuttle missions – were launched in 2011, carrying a total of 28 astronauts and cosmonauts into orbit. At the beginning of the year, theExpedition 26 crew was aboard theInternational Space Station (ISS). The first crewed flight of 2011 wasSTS-133, the final flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery, which launched from theKennedy Space Center on 24 February. STS-133 carriedLeonardo, the final American pressurised module of the ISS, for installation.Discovery returned to Earth on 9 March.

On 16 March,Expedition 27 began aboard the ISS with the departure of theSoyuz TMA-01M spacecraft, which had been docked since October 2010. On 4 April,Soyuz TMA-21 launched to the space station, delivering a further three crewmembers. On 16 May, Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Endeavour launched to the station on its final mission,STS-134, delivering and installing theAlpha Magnetic Spectrometer, before returning to Earth on 1 June.Expedition 28 began aboard the ISS on 23 May with the departure ofSoyuz TMA-20, which had been launched in December 2010, and landed in the early morning of 24 May. Three more crewmembers were launched to the space station aboardSoyuz TMA-02M on 7 June.

The final Space Shuttle mission,STS-135, began on 8 July with the launch ofSpace Shuttle Atlantis, carrying supplies for the ISS aboard theRaffaelloMulti-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). After resupplying the space station,Atlantis returned to Earth, landing atKennedy Space Center'sShuttle Landing Facility at 09:57 UTC on 21 July, and concluding thirty years of Space Shuttle operations. Two days before landing,Atlantis deployedPSSC-2, the last satellite to be launched from a Space Shuttle.

On 29 September, China launched its first space station module,Tiangong-1, which was placed into orbit by aLong March 2F/G carrier rocket flying from theJiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. Although no crewed missions to Tiangong-1 were conducted in 2011, theuncrewedShenzhou 8 spacecraft, which was launched on 31 October, docked twice with the module to test its systems in preparation fora successful 2012 crewed docking.

ISS Expedition 28 ended, andExpedition 29 began, with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-21 on 16 September. The launch ofSoyuz TMA-22 did not take place until 14 November, having been delayed by reliability concerns surrounding theSoyuz rocket after an uncrewed launch failure in August. A week later, Soyuz TMA-02M undocked, beginningExpedition 30, with the Soyuz spacecraft landing on 22 November. The final crewed launch of the year took place on 21 December, whenSoyuz TMA-03M was launched to bring a further three crewmembers to the ISS.

Tenspacewalks were conducted in 2011, all of them by ISS or Space Shuttle astronauts. The final spacewalk by a Space Shuttle crew was conducted on 27 May, during the STS-134 mission.

Numerous scientific exploration missions were begun in 2011. In March 2011, theMESSENGER probe became the first artificial satellite of the planetMercury. In July, theDawn spacecraft became the first artificial satellite of theasteroid4 Vesta. TheMars Science Laboratory – at the time, the largestMars rover ever constructed – was launched in November, conducting a successful landing on Mars in August 2012.^[2]

Six orbital launches failed in 2011, four of which failed to achieve orbit and the remaining two reached lower orbits than expected. The first failure occurred on 1 February, when aRokot with aBriz-KM upper stage placedKosmos 2470 into a useless orbit, from which it could not recover. The failure was later traced to a software problem on the Briz-KM.

The next failure occurred on 4 March, when the payload fairing of aTaurus-XL failed to separate, resulting in the rocket being too heavy to reach orbit. TheGlory climate research satellite was lost in the failure, along with theKySat-1,Hermes andExplorer-1 [PRIME]CubeSats. The previous Taurus-XL launch, carrying theOrbiting Carbon Observatory in February 2009, also failed due to the fairing not separating.

No more launch failures occurred until mid-August when, over the space of a week, three consecutive orbital launches failed. On 17 August, aProton-M/Briz-M launched from theBaikonur Cosmodrome, carrying theEkspress-AM4 communications satellite. In the morning of 18 August, the rocket's upper stage failed to conduct the fourth of five planned burns due to an attitude control system malfunction, leaving the spacecraft in a parking orbit. Later that same day, aLong March 2C launched from Jiuquan carrying theShijian XI-04 satellite. The second stage vernier engine's mounting suffered a structural failure, resulting in a loss of control, and the rocket failed to reach orbit. Finally, on 24 August, aSoyuz-U carrying theProgress M-12M cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station suffered a third-stage engine failure and also failed to attain orbit.

The final launch failure of 2011 occurred on 23 December, when aSoyuz-2-1b/Fregat carrying theMeridian 5 satellite failed to achieve orbit due to a third-stage malfunction. Debris fell overNovosibirsk Oblast, with one piece hitting a house; however, no casualties were reported.

In November 2011, Russia'sFobos-GruntMartiansample return probe launched successfully, but experienced a malfunction post-launch and became stranded in orbit. The spacecraft, which was Russia's first attempt at an interplanetary mission since the 1996Mars 96 mission, disintegrated over the Pacific Ocean on 15 January 2012.^[3][4] China's first Mars probe,Yinghuo-1, which was being carried by the same rocket as Fobos-Grunt, was also lost in the incident.

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ =CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January [edit]
20 January 12:29:01	Zenit-3F			BaikonurSite 45/1		Roscosmos
		Elektro-L No.1	Roscosmos	Geostationary	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational[5]
		Maiden flight of Zenit-3F.
20 January 21:10[7]	Delta IV-H			VandenbergSLC-6		United Launch Alliance
		USA-224 (KH-11)	NRO	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 49, first Delta IV Heavy launch from Vandenberg.[6]
22 January 05:37:57[8]	H-IIB			TanegashimaLA-Y2		JAXA[9]
		Kounotori 2 (HTV-2)	JAXA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	30 March	Successful
28 January 01:31:41	Soyuz-U			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-09M / 41P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	26 April 13:22:53	Successful
		Kedr	RKK Energia	Low Earth	Amateur radio	4 January 2012[10]	Successful
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ February [edit]
1 February 14:00	Rokot /Briz-KM			PlesetskSite 133/3		VKS
		Kosmos 2470 (Geo-IK-2 No.11)	VKS	Low Earth	Geodesy	15 July 2013[12]	Launch failure
		Upper stage malfunctioned due to problems with the flight software,[11] reached lower orbit than planned.
6 February 12:26	Minotaur I			VandenbergSLC-8		Orbital Sciences
		USA-225 (RPP)	NRO	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational[13]
		NRO Launch 66
16 February 21:50[14]	Ariane 5 ES			KourouELA-3		Arianespace
		Johannes Kepler ATV	ESA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	21 June	Successful
24 February 21:53:24	Space Shuttle Discovery			KennedyLC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-133	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	9 March 16:57:17	Successful
		Leonardo (PMM)[15]	ASI /NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	In orbit	Operational
		ExPRESS-4	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight, final flight ofDiscovery.
26 February 03:07	Soyuz-2.1b /Fregat			PlesetskSite 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2471 (Glonass-K 701)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	12 November 2021	Successful[16]
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ March [edit]
4 March 10:09:43	Taurus-XL 3110			VandenbergLC-576E		Orbital Sciences
		Glory	NASA	Intended: Low Earth (SSO)	Climatology	4 March	Launch failure
		⚀KySat-1	Kentucky Space	Intended:Low Earth	Technology demonstration
		⚀Hermes	Colorado	Intended:Low Earth	Technology demonstration
		⚀Explorer-1 [PRIME]	Montana State	Intended:Low Earth	Radiation
		All payloads CubeSats except Glory, which would have been part of theA-train constellation. Fairing failed to separate.
5 March 22:46	Atlas V 501			Cape CanaveralSLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-226 (X-37B FLT-2)	U.S. Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	16 June 2012 12:48[17][18]	Successful
11 March 23:38	Delta IV-M+ (4,2)			Cape CanaveralSLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-227 (SDS-3)	NRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 27
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ April [edit]
4 April 22:18:20[19][20]	Soyuz-FG			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-21	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 27/28	16 September 03:59:39	Successful
9 April 20:47:04	Long March 3A			XichangLC-3		CNSA
		Compass-IGSO3	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
14 April 04:24	Atlas V 411[21]			VandenbergSLC-3E		United Launch Alliance
		USA-229 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		USA-229 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 34
20 April 04:42[22][23][24]	PSLV			Satish DhawanFLP		ISRO
		Resourcesat-2	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		YouthSat	ISRO /MGU	Low Earth (SSO)	Education	In orbit	Operational
		X-Sat	CREST	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
22 April 21:37[25][26][27]	Ariane 5 ECA[28]			KourouELA-3		Arianespace
		Yahsat 1A	Yahsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		New Dawn[29]	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
		New Dawn's C-Band antenna failed to deploy.
27 April 13:05:21	Soyuz-U			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-10M / 42P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	29 October 13:00:31	Successful
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ May [edit]
4 May 17:41:33[30]	Soyuz-2.1a /Fregat			PlesetskSite 43/4		RVSN RF
		Meridian 4	VKS	Medium Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
7 May 18:10	Atlas V 401			Cape CanaveralSLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-230 (SBIRS-GEO 1)	U.S. Air Force	Geosynchronous	Missile defense	In orbit	Operational
16 May 12:56	Space Shuttle Endeavour			KennedyLC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-134	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	1 June 06:35	Successful
		AMS-02[15]	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	Cosmic-ray observatory	In orbit	Operational
		ExPRESS-3	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight, final flight ofEndeavour.
20 May 19:15[32]	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced			BaikonurSite 200/39		International Launch Services
		Telstar 14R	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
		Second solar panel failed to deploy due to tangled cable[31]
20 May 20:38[33]	Ariane 5 ECA			KourouELA-3		Arianespace
		ST-2	SingTel /Chunghwa	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		INSAT-4G/GSAT-8[34]	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ June [edit]
7 June 20:12:45	Soyuz-FG			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-02M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 28/29	22 November 02:26	Successful
10 June 14:20	Delta II 7320			VandenbergSLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		SAC-D	CONAE /NASA	Low Earth (SSO)	Oceanography	In orbit	Operational
		Final scheduled flight of Delta II 7300 series; spacecraft carrying NASA'sAquarius instrument.
15 June 09:14[citation needed]	Safir-1A		UIS.0001	SemnanLP-1		ISA
		Rasad 1	ISA	Low Earth	Earth observation	6 July 2011	Successful
20 June 16:13[35]	Long March 3B			XichangLC-2		CNSA
		ChinaSat 10	China Satellite Communications	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 June 14:38	Soyuz-U			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-11M / 43P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	1 September 10:21:41	Successful
27 June 16:00[36]	Soyuz-U			PlesetskSite 16/2		VKS
		Kosmos 2472 (Kobalt-M No.7)	VKS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	24 October	Successful
30 June 03:09	Minotaur I			MARSLP-0B		Orbital Sciences
		USA-231 (ORS-1)	ORSO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	12 March 2018[37]	Successful
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ July [edit]
6 July 04:28[38]	Long March 2C			JiuquanSLS-2		CNSA
		Shijian 11-03	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
8 July 15:29	Space Shuttle Atlantis			KennedyLC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-135	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	21 July 2011 09:57	Successful
		Raffaelo MPLM	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics		Successful
		PSSC-2	U.S. Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	8 December	Successful
		Crewed flight, final flight ofAtlantis and ofSpace Shuttle programme.
11 July 15:41[39][40]	Long March 3C			XichangLC-2		CNSA
		Tianlian I-02 (1B)	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
13 July 02:27[41][42]	Soyuz-2.1a /Fregat			BaikonurSite 31/6		Starsem
		Globalstar M081	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M083	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M085	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M088	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M089	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M091	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 July 11:18	PSLV-XL			Satish DhawanFLP		ISRO
		GSAT-12	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 July 23:16	Proton-M /Briz-M Enhanced			BaikonurSite 200/39		International Launch Services
		SES-3	SES World Skies (July–September) SES S.A. (September—)	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		KazSat-2	JSC KazSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
16 July 06:41	Delta IV-M+ (4,2)			Cape CanaveralSLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-232 (GPS-IIF-2)	U.S. Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Named after StarSirius.
18 July 02:31[43]	Zenit-3F			BaikonurSite 45/1		Roscosmos
		Spektr-R (RadioAstron)	Roscosmos	High Earth	Radio astronomy	30 May 2019	Successful
		Russian scientific satellite with a 10 m (33 ft)radio telescope on board. Together with some of the largest ground-based radio telescopes, the Spektr-R formedinterferometric baselines extending up to 350,000 km (220,000 mi).
26 July 21:44[44]	Long March 3A			XichangLC-3		CNSA
		Compass-IGSO4	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
29 July 07:42[45]	Long March 2C			JiuquanSLS-2		CNSA
		Shijian 11-02	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ August [edit]
5 August 16:25[46]	Atlas V 551			Cape CanaveralSLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Juno	NASA	Jovicentric	Jupiterorbiter	In orbit	Operational
6 August 22:52[47]	Ariane 5 ECA			KourouELA-3		Arianespace
		Astra 1N	SES Astra (August–September) SES S.A. (September—)	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BSAT-3c /JCSAT-110R	BSAT /JSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
11 August 16:15[48]	Long March 3B/E			XichangLC-2		CNSA
		Paksat-1R	SUPARCO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 August 22:57[49]	Long March 4B			TaiyuanLC-2		CNSA
		Hai Yang 2A	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Oceanography	In orbit	Operational
17 August 07:12[50]	Dnepr			Dombarovsky Site 13		ISC Kosmotras
		Sich-2	NKAU	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		NigeriaSat-2	NASRDA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		NigeriaSat-X	NASRDA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		RASAT	TÜBİTAK	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Successful
		EduSAT	GAUSS Srl	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		AprizeSat-5	exactEarth	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		AprizeSat-6	exactEarth	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BPA-2	Hartron-Arkos	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Successful
17 August 21:25[52]	Proton-M /Briz-M Enhanced			BaikonurSite 200/39		Khrunichev
		Ekspress AM-4	RSCC	Intended:Geosynchronous Achieved:GTO	Communications	25 March 2012	Launch failure
		Briz-M upper stage failed before the planned fourth burn. An insufficient time slot was allocated for re-setting the gyroscopes of the upper stage control system before launch, which led to loss of adequate attitude control in flight.[51]
18 August 09:28[54]	Long March 2C			JiuquanSLS-2		CNSA
		Shijian 11-04	CNSA	Intended: Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	18 August	Launch failure
		Failed to reach orbit. Second stage's vernier engine support structure failed in flight, led to loss of attitude control.[53]
24 August 13:00[56]	Soyuz-U			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-12M / 44P	Roscosmos	Intended:Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	24 August	Launch failure
		Third stage engine failure 325 seconds after launch due to the gas generator fuel supply pipeline being blocked by contaminants.[55]
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ September [edit]
10 September 13:08:52[57]	Delta II 7920H			Cape CanaveralSLC-17B		United Launch Alliance
		GRAIL-A (Ebb)	NASA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	17 December 2012 22:28:51[58]	Successful
		GRAIL-B (Flow)	NASA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	17 December 2012 22:29:21[58]	Successful
		Final launch of Delta II Heavy, final Delta II launch from Cape Canaveral, and last launch from SLC-17.
18 September 16:33[59]	Long March 3B/E			XichangLC-2		CNSA
		Chinasat-1A	China Satcom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
20 September 22:47	Proton-M /Briz-M			BaikonurSite 81/24		Khrunichev
		Kosmos 2473 (Garpun #1)	VKS	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 September 21:38	Ariane 5 ECA			KourouELA-3		Arianespace
		Arabsat 5C	Arabsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SES-2	SES S.A.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
23 September 04:36:50	H-IIA			TanegashimaLA-Y1		MHI
		IGS Optical 4	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Successful[60]
24 September 20:18	Zenit-3SL			Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
		Atlantic Bird 7	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
27 September 15:49	Minotaur IV+			KodiakLP-1		Orbital Sciences
		TacSat-4	U.S. Air Force	Highly elliptical	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
29 September 13:16:03[61]	Long March 2F/G		T1	JiuquanSLS-1		CNSA
		Tiangong-1	CMSA	Low Earth	Space station	2 April 2018 00:16[62]	Successful
		Maiden flight of Long March 2F/G, first Chinese space station prototype.
29 September 18:32[63]	Proton-M /Briz-M Enhanced			BaikonurSite 200/39		International Launch Services
		QuetzSat 1	SES Satellite Leasing	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Intended for lease toQuetzSat.
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ October [edit]
2 October 20:15	Soyuz-2.1b /Fregat			PlesetskSite 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2474 (Glonass-M 742)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
5 October 21:00	Zenit-3SLB			BaikonurSite 45/1		Land Launch
		Intelsat 18	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
7 October 08:21	Long March 3B/E			XichangLC-2		CNSA
		Eutelsat W3C	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 October 05:31	PSLV-CA			Satish DhawanFLP		ISRO
		Megha-Tropiques[64]	ISRO /CNES	Low Earth	Climatology	7 March 2023[65]	Successful
		SRMSAT	SRM	Low Earth	Climatology	In orbit	Operational
		VesselSat-1	Luxspace	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀Jugnu	IITK	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
19 October 18:48	Proton-M /Briz-M Enhanced			BaikonurSite 200/39		International Launch Services
		ViaSat-1	ViaSat-IOM /ManSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 October[66][67] 10:30	Soyuz ST-B /Fregat-MT			KourouELS		Arianespace
		GalileoIOV 1	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation /Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		GalileoIOV 2	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation /Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		First Soyuz launch from Kourou.
28 October 09:48:01	Delta II 7920-10			VandenbergSLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		NPP	NASA /NOAA	Low Earth	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
		⚀AubieSat 1	Auburn University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀DICE-1	Space Dynamics Laboratory	Low Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀DICE-2	Space Dynamics Laboratory	Low Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀E1P-U2	Montana State	Low Earth	Radiation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀M-Cubed	University of Michigan	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀RAX-2	University of Michigan	Low Earth	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
30 October 10:11	Soyuz-U			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-13M / 45P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	25 January 2012	Successful
		Chibis-M (RS-39)	IKI	Low Earth	Ionospheric research	15 October 2014	Successful
31 October 21:58:10	Long March 2F		Y8	JiuquanSLS-1		CNSA
		Shenzhou 8	CMSA	Low Earth (Tiangong-1)	Technology demonstration	17 November 11:36	Successful
		Shenzhou-8-GC	CMSA	Low Earth (Tiangong-1)	Technology demonstration	2 April 2012	Successful
		Uncrewed flight, first Chinese orbital docking.
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ November [edit]
4 November 12:51:41[68]	Proton-M /Briz-M			BaikonurSite 81/24		Khrunichev
		Kosmos 2475 (Glonass-M 743)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2476 (Glonass-M 744)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2477 (Glonass-M 745)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
8 November 20:16	Zenit-2M			BaikonurSite 45/1		Roscosmos
		Fobos-Grunt	Roscosmos	Intended:Areocentric Achieved:Low Earth	Phobossample return	15 January 2012	Spacecraft failure
		Yinghuo-1	CNSA	Intended:Areocentric Achieved:Low Earth	Marsorbiter
		First Russian attempt at an interplanetary mission since 1996.[69] First Chinese Mars probe Spacecraft stranded in low Earth orbit, as telemetry was lost soon after launch and the two trans-Martian injection burns by the payload did not take place[70]
9 November 03:21[71]	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Yaogan 12	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Tian Xun 1	Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	7 February 2016[72]	Successful
14 November 04:14[73]	Soyuz-FG			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-22	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 29/30	27 April 2012	Successful
20 November 00:15[74]	Long March 2D			JiuquanSLS-2		CNSA
		Shiyan 4	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Chuang Xin 1C	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
25 November 19:10:34	Proton-M /Briz-M Enhanced			BaikonurSite 200/39		International Launch Services
		AsiaSat 7	AsiaSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
26 November 15:02	Atlas V 541			Cape CanaveralSLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)	NASA	TMI to Martian Surface	Mars rover	6 August 2012 05:18	Successful[2]
		Maiden flight of Atlas V 541, largest Mars rover yet launched.
28 November 08:25:57	Soyuz-2.1b /Fregat			PlesetskSite 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2478 (Glonass-M 746)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
29 November 18:50[75]	Long March 2C			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Yaogan 13	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
←Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec→ December [edit]
1 December 21:07[76]	Long March 3A			XichangLC-3		CNSA
		Compass-IGSO5	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
11 December 11:17	Proton-M /Briz-M Enhanced			BaikonurSite 81/24		Roscosmos
		Luch 5A	Gonets Satellite System	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Amos-5	SCL	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 December 01:21	H-IIA			TanegashimaLA-Y1		MHI
		IGS Radar 3	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance (radar)	In orbit	Operational
17 December 02:03:08	Soyuz ST-A /Fregat			KourouELS		Arianespace
		Pléiades-HR 1A	CNES	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation/Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		FASat-Charlie (SSOT)	MDN	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation/Reconnaisance	In orbit	Operational
		ELISA 1	CNES /DGA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		ELISA 2	CNES /DGA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		ELISA 3	CNES /DGA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		ELISA 4	CNES /DGA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
19 December 16:41[77]	Long March 3B/E			XichangLC-2		CNSA
		NigComSat-1R	NIGCOMSAT /NASRDA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 December 13:16	Soyuz-FG			BaikonurSite 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-03M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 30/31	1 July 2012 08:14[78]	Successful
22 December 03:26	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Ziyuan 1-02C	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
23 December 12:08	Soyuz-2.1b /Fregat			PlesetskSite 43/4		VKO
		Meridian 5	VKO	Intended:Molniya	Communications	23 December	Launch failure
		Third stage engine malfunctioned 421 seconds after launch, failed to reach orbit; first launch conducted by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces
28 December 17:09	Soyuz-2.1a /Fregat			BaikonurSite 31/6		Starsem
		Globalstar M080	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M082	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M084	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M086	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M090	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M092	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ =CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
22 January 06:10[79]	Terrier-Oriole			Wallops Island		MDA
		Aegis Radar Test	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	22 January	Successful
		Aegis Radar target, not intercepted, Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 January 10:46:00[80]	Black Brant IX			Poker Flat		NASA
		FIRE	Colorado	Suborbital	Astronomy	28 January	Spacecraft failure[80]
5 February 08:11:11[80]	Black Brant IX			Poker Flat		NASA
		Polar NOx	VPI	Suborbital	Geospace	5 February	Spacecraft failure[80]
February[79]	Shahab-3					IRGC
			IGRC	Suborbital	Missile test	February	Successful
		Two missiles with a range of 1,900 kilometres were fired into the Indian Ocean prior to 19 February[citation needed]
February[79]	Sejjil-2					IRGC
			IGRC	Suborbital	Missile test	February	Successful
		Two missiles with a range of 1,900 kilometres were fired into the Indian Ocean prior to 19 February[citation needed]
1 March 21:00[79]	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS Nevada, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	1 March	Successful
		Demonstration and Shakedown Operation 22 (DASO-22)
2 March 13:40[79]	Juno			Fort WingateLC-96		U.S. Army
			U.S. Army	Suborbital	Target	2 March	Successful
		Target forMIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 MSE test, successfully intercepted
9 March[79]	Terrier-Oriole			Kauai		MDA
		ARAV-B	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	9 March	Successful
		Tracked by STSS satellites
11 March	Dhanush			Sea launch fromIndian Ocean		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Target	11 March	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
11 March	Prithvi II			Integrated Test Range IC-3		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	11 March	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
15 March[79]	Kavoshgar (Zelzal-based)			Semnan Space Center		ISA
		Kavoshgar-4	ISA	Suborbital	Test flight	15 March	Successful
		Test of biological capsule. Apogee: 120 kilometres (75 mi)
16 March[79]	Terrier-Oriole			Kauai		MDA
		ARAV-B	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	16 March	Successful
		Tracked by bothSTSS Demo satellites
23 March 18:50:00[80]	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		EVE	CU Boulder	Suborbital	SDO calibration[81]	23 March	Successful[80]
29 March 04:01[82]	VSB-30			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		TEXUS-49	DLR/ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity	29 March	Successful
		Apogee: 268 kilometres (167 mi)
15 April 06:52[79]	UGM-96 Trident I C4 (LV-2)[83]		FTM-15	Meck		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	15 April	Successful
15 April 07:03[79]	RIM-161 Standard Missile 3		FTM-15	USS O'Kane, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
		FTM-15	US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	15 April	Successful
		First intercept of an IRBM by an SM-3 (FTM-15Stellar Charon)
26 April[79]	R-29RMU Sineva			K-84Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	26 April	Successful
27 April 08:00:00[80]	Black Brant IX			Poker Flat		NASA
			WFF	Suborbital	Test flight	27 April	Successful[80]
6 May[84] 23:02[85]	Tianying 3C			Hainan		CNSA
		Kunpeng-1	CSSAR	Suborbital	Environment monitoring	23:09	Successful
		Apogee: 196.6 kilometres (122.2 mi).
11 May 18:00[79]	Improved Orion			Barreira do Inferno		AEB
			INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	11 May	Successful
20 May 13:21[citation needed]	SpaceLoft XL			Spaceport America		UP Aerospace
				Suborbital	Technology demonstration	20 May	Successful
		Goddard	Celestis	Suborbital	Space burial		Successful
		Apogee: 118.3 kilometres (73.5 mi), successfully recovered.
20 May 14:50[79]	R-29RMU2.1 Layner			K-84Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	20 May	Successful
		Maiden flight of Layner missile
10 June 11:11:16[80]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Island		NASA
		SubTec IV[79]	GSFC	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	10 June	Successful[80]
22 June 13:35	LGM-30G Minuteman III			VandenbergLF-10		U.S. Air Force
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	22 June	Successful
23 June 10:18:00[80]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Island		NASA
		RockOn	Colorado	Suborbital	Student experiments	23 June	Successful[80]
28 June 11:55[79]	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
28 June[79]	Shahab-1			Iran		IRGC
			IGRC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 June[79]	Shahab-1			Iran		IGRC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 June[79]	Shahab-2			Iran		IRGC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 June[79]	Shahab-2			Iran		IRGC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 June[79]	Ghadr-1[79]			Iran		IRGC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 500 kilometres (310 mi)
9 July 02:04[79]	SRALT			C-17, Pacific Ocean		MDA
		FTX-17	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	9 July	Successful
		Tracked bySTSS Demo satellites
9 July 09:00:00[80]	Black Brant VB			WallopsLA-2[79]		NASA
		Daytime Dynamo	NASA	Suborbital	Geospace	9 July	Successful[80]
9 July 09:00:15[80]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops LA-2[79]		NASA
		Daytime Dynamo	NASA	Suborbital	Geospace	9 July	Successful[80]
11 July 15:35[79]	Gradicom II			Chamical		CITEFA
			CITEFA	Suborbital	Test flight	11 July	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
21 July 07:00[86]	Nike-Improved Orion			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		PHOCUS	Stockholm/SSC	Suborbital	Atmospheric	21 July	Successful
21 July 11:58:00[80]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Island		NASA
		RockSat-X	Wallops Flight Facility	Suborbital	Student experiments	21 July	Successful[80]
27 July 10:01[79]	LGM-30G Minuteman III			VandenbergLF-04		U.S. Air Force
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	27 July	Launch failure
		An anomaly was detected five minutes after launch and the flight was terminated.
27 July[79]	R-29RMU Sineva			K-84Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	27 July	Successful
11 August 14:45[79]	Minotaur IV Lite			VandenbergSLC-8		Orbital
		HTV-2b	U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	11 August	Spacecraft failure
		Second flight of the HTV-2, loss of contact approximately 20 minutes after launch at Mach 20.
27 August 03:20[79]	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	27 August	Successful
1 September 13:53[79]	Terrier-Oriole		FTM-16 E2	Kauai		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	1 September	Successful
		SM-3 Block 1B target
1 September 13:54[79]	RIM-161C SM-3 Block 1B		FTM-16 E2	USS Lake Erie, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	1 September	Spacecraft failure
		First launch of SM-3 Block 1B, intercept failed
3 September 09:46[79]	RS-12M Topol			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	3 September	Successful
15 September[87]	Kavoshgar (Zelzal-based)			Semnan		ISA
		Kavoshgar-5	ISA	Suborbital	Biological	15 September	Launch failure
		First Iranian attempt to launch amonkey into space; failed, resulting in death of the monkey
26 September[88] 03:20[79]	Prithvi II			Integrated Test RangeIC-3[79]		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	27 September	Successful
27 September 07:08[87]	RS-26 Rubezh			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	27 September	Launch failure
29 September[citation needed]	R-29RMU2.1 Layner			K-114Tula, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	30 September	Successful
30 September 04:02[89]	Agni-II			ITRIC-4[79]		Indian Army
			Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	30 September	Successful
		Travelled 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) downrange
5 October 05:56[79]	SRALT		FTT-12	C-17, Pacific Ocean		MDA
			U.S. Army /MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	5 October	Successful
		Intercepted by THAAD missile
5 October 05:56[79]	R-17 Elbrus		FTT-12	MLP,Barking Sands		U.S. Army
			U.S. Army /MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	5 October	Successful
		Intercepted by THAAD missile
5 October 06:00[79]	THAAD		FTT-12	Barking Sands		U.S. Army
			U.S. Army /MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	5 October	Successful
		Intercepted target missile
5 October 06:00[79]	THAAD		FTT-12	Barking Sands		U.S. Army
			U.S. Army /MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	5 October	Successful
		Intercepted target missile
8 October 10:25:01[80]	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		PICTURE	Boston	Suborbital	Astronomy	8 October	Spacecraft failure[80]
11 October 21:15:00[80]	Terrier-Orion			Andøya		NASA
		CHAMPS	Colorado	Suborbital	Geospace	11 October	Successful[80]
13 October 13:50:00[80]	Terrier-Orion			Andøya		NASA
		CHAMPS	Colorado	Suborbital	Geospace	13 October[80]	Successful
28 October 03:40[79]	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful
2 November 07:50[79]	Jericho III			Palmachim		Israeli Air Force
			Israeli Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	2 November	Successful
3 November 06:45[79]	RS-12M Topol			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	3 November	Successful
6 November 07:00[80]	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		XQC F5	Wisconsin	Suborbital	Astronomy	6 November	Successful[80]
15 November 03:30[90]	Agni IV			Integrated Test Range IC-4		DRDO
			Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	15 November	Successful
17 November 11:30	UGM-27 Polaris (STARS)			Barking SandsLC-42		U.S. Air Force
		AHW Flight 1A	U.S. Army	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	17 November	Successful
25 November 23:00[79]	Improved Orion			Barreira do Inferno		AEB
			INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	25 November	Successful
27 November 09:10[91]	VSB-30			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		/TEXUS-48	DLR/ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity	27 November	Successful
2 December 22:00[79]	VS-30			Barreira do Inferno		AEB
		Brasil-Alemanha	INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	2 December	Successful
3 December 07:21:31[79]	VS-30/Improved Orion			Ny-Ålesund		Andøya
		ICI-3 (CanoRock 4)	Oslo/Andøya	Suborbital	Atmospheric	3 December	Successful[92]
10 December 10:30:00[93]	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
			Colorado	Suborbital	Astronomy	10 December	Successful
19 December 14:48[94]	S-310			Uchinoura		JAXA
			JAXA/TPU/TU	Suborbital	Ionospheric	19 December	Successful
19 December	MN-300			Kapustin Yar		Roshydromet
		MR-30	Roshydromet	Suborbital	Meteorology Test flight	19 December	Successful
		Maiden flight of MN-300
23 December	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	23 December	Successful
23 December	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	23 December	Successful
27 December 12:00	RS-18 UR-100N			Baikonur		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	27 December	Successful
?	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS ?, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	?	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 44
?	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS ?, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	?	Launch failure
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 44 ?