Space calendar 2026: Rocket launches, skywatching events, missions & more!

Note: Launch dates are subject to change. Please DO NOT schedule travel based on launch dates you see here.

January

Rocket Launch
A white rocket topped with a payload fairing stands on the launch pad in a close-up set against a blue sky.
Rocket Launch
SpaceX, Falcon 9: Starlink 6-98

January 14, 1:01 p.m. EST (1801 GMT): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40), at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, in Florida. SpaceX's megaconstellation of LEO Starlink satellites provides low-cost internet to locations around the globe, with nearly seven thousand currently in the orbital network.

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Spaceflight
two white spacecraft are seen docked at different orientations on a space station, floating above Earth.
Spaceflight
SpaceX Crew-11 ISS undocking

January 14, 5:00 p.m. EST (2200 GMT): Astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission for NASA will undock from the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour. The four crew members are ending their six-month rotation aboard the ISS short due to a undisclosed medical situation.

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NASA will return 4 astronauts home early in 1st-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station

Spaceflight
A SpaceX Dragon capsule descends to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The company is seeking permission to carry out such landings in the Gulf of Mexico as a backup option to the Pacific or Atlantic.
Spaceflight
SpaceX Crew-11 splashdown

January 15, 3:40 a.m. EST (0740 GMT): For the first time ever, astronauts will depart the International Space Station early due to a medical issue. NASA decided to bring the four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission home from the International Space Station (ISS) ahead of schedule due to a medical issue experienced by a crewmember in orbit.

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NASA will return 4 astronauts home early in 1st-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station

Rocket Launch
A Chinese Long March 3B rocket launches the military space debris mitigation satellite Shijian-21from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Oct. 24, 2021.
Rocket Launch
CASC, Long March 3B/E: unknown payload

January 15, 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT): The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is expected to launch an unknown payload on a Long March 3B/E rocket. The mission will liftoff from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in China.

Rocket Launch
A Chinese Long March 2C rocket carrying the remote sensing satellites Siwei 01 and Siwei 02 launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on April 29, 2022.
Rocket Launch
Galactic Energy, Ceres 1S: unknown payload

January 15, 1:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT): Private Chinese space launch company Galactic Energy is expected to launch an unknown payload on a Ceres 1 rocket. The mission will liftoff from the Haiyang Oriental Spaceport, in China.

Rocket Launch
a crane stretches above a rocket on a launchpad, flanked by tall, cylindrical pressure tanks on either side. the hazy clouds in the sky wash the background in dim sunset hues.
Rocket Launch
Isar Aerospace, Spectrum: Flight Two

January 16, 7:00 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT, Jan. 17): The second flight of the first orbital rocket to launch from Europe will launch Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket from Andøya Spaceport, in Norway. The mission will launch several cubesats from the European Space Agency's "Boost!" program.

Rocket Launch
Liftoff of Galactic Energy's second Ceres-1 solid rocket from Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert on Dec. 7, 2021. The 10th launch of the rocket, on Sept. 21, 2023, ended in failure.
Rocket Launch
Galactic Energy, Ceres 2: Demo flight

January 16, 11:05 p.m. EST (0405 GMT, Jan. 17): Private Chinese space launch company Galactic Energy is expected to launch a demonstration flight of its new Ceres 2 rocket. The mission will liftoff from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in China.

Rocket Launch
rocket engines spit fire
Rocket Launch
SpaceX, Falcon 9: NROL-105

January 16, 11:18 p.m. EDT (0418 GMT, Jan. 17): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, from SLC-41; Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida.

Spaceflight
a rocket stands on a launch tower against a fading blue sky and a distant full moon casting rays outward.
Spaceflight
NASA, Artemis 2: Space Launch System rollout

January 17: NASA will roll the Artemis 2 Space Launch System rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, to Launch Complex-39B. The four-mile journey to the pad will kickoff the first launch campaign of Artemis 2, and will include comprehensive system checks and a wet dress rehearsal of the rocket ahead of a launch attempt no earlier than Feb. 5.

Rocket Launch
A white rocket topped with a payload fairing stands on the launch pad in a close-up set against a black sky.
Rocket Launch
SpaceX, Falcon 9: Starlink 6-100

January 18, 5:04 p.m. EST (2204 GMT): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40), at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, in Florida. SpaceX's megaconstellation of LEO Starlink satellites provides low-cost internet to locations around the globe, with nearly seven thousand currently in the orbital network.

Rocket Launch
A Chinese Long March 5B rocket launches the first 10 satellites for the Guowang broadband megaconstellation on Dec. 16, 2024.
Rocket Launch
CASC, Long March 12: unknown payload

January 19, 2:48 a.m. EDT (0748 GMT): The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is expected to launch an unknown payload on a Long March 12 rocket. The mission will liftoff from the Wenchang Space Launch Center, China (WSLC), in China.

Rocket Launch
Spectators watch the launch of the Jielong No.3 carrier rocket from the seaside in Haiyang, China, on Sept. 24, 2024 local time.
Rocket Launch
China Rocket Co., Smart Dragon-3: Geely Constellation Group 06

January 20, 1:30 a.m. EDT (0630 GMT): The China Rocket Co. Ltd. is expected to launch an unknown payload into low-Earth orbit. The mission will liftoff on a Smart Dragon-3 rocket from a launch complex at sea.

Rocket Launch
a white-and-blue rocket launches in a sandy desert under clear sunny skies
Rocket Launch
Blue Origin, New Shepard: NS-38

January 21, 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT): Blue Origin will launch a New Shepard rocket on the NS-38 mission.

Rocket Launch
This still image from a state-run CCTV newscast shows the Long March 2F rocket carrying China's Tiangong-2 space lab rolling out to the launch pad for a mid-September 2016 launch from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Rocket Launch
CASC, Long March 7A: Unknown payload

January 26, 4:00 p.m. EST (2100 GMT): The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is expected to launch an unknown payload on a Long March 7A rocket. The mission will liftoff from Launch Area-201 (LA-201) at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (WSLC), in China. The Long March 7A is a 197-foot-tall (60 meters) variant of the Long March 7 rocket and is designed to send spacecraft into GTO. It is also a nontoxic alternative to the workhorse Long March 3B.

Rocket Launch
A black mission patch with pale lime green colors is shaped like the home plate on a baseball field.
Rocket Launch
Rocket Lab, Electron: Bridging The Swarm (NeonSat-1A)

NET January: Rocket Lab will launch an Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The Bridging The Swarm mission will launch NeonSat-1A, an Earth observation satellite from the Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Rocket Launch
An Indian Space Research Organisation GLSV-F14 rocket launches the powerful INSAT-3DS weather satellite to orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota, India on Feb. 17, 2024 local time.
Rocket Launch
ISRO, GSLV Mk II: IRNSS (NVS-03)

NET January: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch a GPS satellite, known as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II (GSLV Mk II) rocket. The mission will liftoff from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Rocket Launch
An Indian LVM3 rocket launches the final 36 satellites for OneWeb's first-generation broadband constellation from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on March 25, 2023.
Rocket Launch
ISRO, LVM-3 (GSLV Mk III): Gaganyaan-1

NET January: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch the first uncrewed test flight of the Gaganyaan spacecraft. The uncrewed demonstration will test crew and service modules, reentry, parachute deployment and a safe splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.

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India delays its 1st-ever Gaganyaan astronaut launch to 2026

February

Rocket Launch
blistering white flames burst from the two nozels piped on either side of the bottom of a rocket, fixed with two dark metalic engines shining through the smoke, shooting out a faint blue flame like two diamonds toward the ground.
Rocket Launch
ULA, Vulcan Centaur: USSF-87

February 2: ULA will launch a classified payload on behalf of the U.S. Space Force. The mission will liftoff on a Vulcan Centaur rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSF), in Florida.

Rocket Launch
two massive side booster spew yellow orange fire lifting the core stage of a rocket as two main engines also ignite
Rocket Launch
NASA, SLS: Artemis 2

February 6, 9:41 p.m. EST (0241 GMT, Feb. 7): NASA's Artemis 2 mission is expected to launch no earlier than Feb. 5, during a window open several days each month through April 2026. Artemis 2 will send three NASA astronauts and one Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut around the moon for the humanity's first lunar excursion in more than 50 years. The mission will launch the crew aboard an Orion spacecraft on NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, on a free-return trajectory lunar flyby to the moon and back to Earth.

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NASA commander Reid Wiseman, NASA pilot Victor Glover, NASA mission specialist Christina Koch and CSA mission specialist Jeremy Hansen will fly around the moon on a roughly 10-day-long mission.

Rocket Launch
a white cone-shaped spacecraft
Rocket Launch
SpaceX, Falcon 9: NASA — Crew-12

mid-February: Crew-12 is the 12th crew rotation mission of SpaceX's human space launch to the space station through NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

Human Spaceflight
an astronaut in a white spacesuit works outside a space station opposite a space capsule
Human Spaceflight
U.S. Spacewalk 94

NET February: NASA astronauts Mike Finke and Zena Cardman are scheduled to begin the station's 278th spacewalk, U.S. EVA 94 early Jan. 8. The duo will spend about 6.5 hours outside the International Space Station (ISS) to prepare the station's 2A power channel for the upcoming attachment of additional International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (IROSAs). The two will also collect surface sample swabs to look for microbes on the exterior of various ISS modules.

Human Spaceflight
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Anne McClain is pictured near one of the International Space Station’s main solar arrays during a spacewalk on May 1, 2025 to upgrade the orbital outpost’s power generation system and relocate a communications antenna.
Human Spaceflight
U.S. Spacewalk 95

NET February: Two NASA astronauts will conduct the station's 279th spacewalk, U.S. EVA 95, early Jan. 15. The duo will spend about 6.5 hours outside the International Space Station (ISS) to replace a high-definition camera, install a new navigational aid for visiting spacecraft, as well as other upgrades.

Rocket Launch
A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying the Yamal-601 communications satellite launches into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on May 30, 2019.
Rocket Launch
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, Proton-M: Elektro-L No.5

NET February 12: The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, a Moscow-based space manufacturer, will launch a Proton-M rocket with the Elektro-L No.5 Earth-imaging satellite. Liftoff will occur from launch complex 81/24 (81P) at Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan.

Rocket Launch
A Canadian rocket flies in space
Rocket Launch
NordSpace, Taiga: Getting Screeched In

NET December: NordSpace will launch the first test flight of its suborbital Taiga rocket. The mission will launch from Space Launch Complex-02 (SLC-02) at the company's Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX), in Newfoundland, Canada. The mission, "Getting Screeched In", will launch Taiga on a low-altitude flight to test its primary systems.

Rocket Launch
A Hyperbola 1 solid rocket lifts off from Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi Desert on April 7, 2023.
Rocket Launch
iSpace, Hyperbola-1: unknown payload

NET December: The Chinese company iSpace is expected to launch an unknown payload aboard a solid propellant-fueled Hyperbola-1 rocket.

March


Rocket Launch
A Minotaur 4 rocket sits on its launch pedestal here Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011. The Minotaur 4 will carry DARPA's hypersonic HTV-2 aircraft scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in August 2011.
Rocket Launch
Northrup Grumman, Minotaur IV: EWS OD-1

NET 2026: Northrup Grumman will launch the EWS OD-1 payload for the United States Space Force. The Electro-Optical/Infrared Weather System (EWS) Operational Demonstration-1 (OD-1) is a weather satellite made by General Atomics launching into low-Earth obit (LEO) on a Minotaur IV rocket from Space Launch Complex-8 (SLC-8) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), in California.

Rocket Launch
A Rocket Lab Electron booster is decked out with a big NASA logo ahead of the company's first launch for the U.S. space agency from its New Zealand launch site, on the North Island's Mahia Peninsula. Liftoff is scheduled for Dec. 12, 2018.
Rocket Launch
Rocket Lab, Electron: NASA, Aspera smallsat

Q1 2026: Rocket Lab will launch an Electron rocket with NASA's Aspera smallsat satellite. Aspera will examine hot gas in the space between galaxies, called the intergalactic medium. The mission will study the inflow and outflow of gas from galaxies, a process thought to contribute to star formation.

Rocket Launch
A Canadian rocket flies in space
Rocket Launch
NordSpace, Taiga: Suborbital Flight Test 2

NET 2026: NordSpace will launch the second test flight of its suborbital Taiga rocket. The mission will launch from Space Launch Complex-02 (SLC-02) at the company's Atlantic Spaceport Complex, in Newfoundland, Canada.

Rocket Launch
a black and white space plane stands on end in folded up in a hanger.
Rocket Launch
ULA, Vulcan Centaur: Sierra Space — Dream Chaser

NET 2026: United Launch Alliance (ULA) will launch Sierra Space's Dream Chaser space plane aboard a Vulcan Centaur rocket. The mission will launch from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41), at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida. the first-ever winged commercial spaceplane, to the International Space Station. 

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Read more: ULA delays Dream Chaser space plane launch to certify Vulcan Centaur rocket for US military missions

Rocket Launch
Illustration shows the first the first Haven-2 module, scheduled to be operational  in 2028
Rocket Launch
SpaceX, Falcon 9: Vast — Haven-1

NET May 2026: California-based startup Vast Space plans to loft its Haven-1 outpost aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than May 2026. Haven-1 — which will eventually be incorporated as a module into a larger space station, and will be followed in quick succession by Vast-1, a four-person jaunt to the new station that could last up to 30 days. Vast-1 will also launch atop a Falcon 9, and its astronauts will ride on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

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Read more: SpaceX and Vast want ideas for science experiments on Dragon spacecraft and Haven-1 space station

Past Events

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