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2009 Space Launch Log

Every major space launch to orbit during the year 2009 is listed here. Please send any corrections to SPACE.com.

Failures resulting in loss of mission are noted in red.

January 23: A Japanese H-2A booster launched JAXA's GOSAT greenhouse gas monitoring satellite from Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima, Japan to study global warming. 10:54 p.m. EST (0354 Jan. 23 GMT, 12:54 p.m. Japanese time). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

January 30: Ukrainian Tsyklon 3 rocket launches the Russian Coronas-Photon sun-watching satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

Februray 2: An Iranian Safir rocket reportedly launches the Omid communications satellite into orbit in the country's first orbital space shot from its own territory. Read More from Spaceflight Now.

Februray 6: A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 booster lofts the NOAA-N Prime weather satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 5:22 a.m. EST (1022 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

Februray 10: A Russian Soyuz rocket launches the Progress 32 unmanned cargo ship toward the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 12:49 a.m. EST (0549 GMT). Read More.

February 10: A Russian Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage launches the Russian AM44 and Express MD1 communications satellites from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 7:03 p.m. EST (0003 Wednesday, Feb. 11 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

February 12: An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket launches the Hot Bird 9 and NSS 9 communications satellites from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. 5:09 p.m. EST (2209 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

February 24: An Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket launches NASA's Orbital Carbon Observatory from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but mission was lost three minutes into flight due to payload fairing separation failure. 4:55 a.m. EST (0955 GMT). Read More.

February 26:A Land Launch Zenit 3SLB rocket launches the Telstar 11N communications satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

February 27:A Russian Proton rocket hauled a military communications satellite into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. 11:10 p.m. EST (0410 Feb. 28 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

March 6: A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket launches the Kepler observatory to hunt extrasolar planets in a space shot staged from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Fla. 10:49:57 p.m. EST (0349:57 March 7 28 GMT). Read More.

March 15: NASA's space shuttle Discovery launches from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the STS-119 mission to deliver the fourth U.S. solar array truss segment to the International Space Station. 7:43 p.m. EDT (2343 GMT). Read More. Click here for mission updates.

March 17: A Rockot booster launches the European Space Agency's GOCE satellite to study Earth's gravity field in a space shot to be staged from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. 10:21 a.m. EDT (1421 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

March 24: A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket launches GPS 2R-20 global positioning system satellite for the U.S. Air Force in a space shot staged from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Fla. 4:34 a.m. EDT (0834 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

March 26: A Russian Soyuz rocket launches the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft carrying the Expedition 19 crew to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. 7:49 a.m. EDT (1149 GMT).Read More. Click here for mission updates.

April 3: An International Launch Services Proton rocket with Breeze M upper stage launched the W2A communications satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan 12:24 p.m. EDT (1624 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

April 3: A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launches the second Wideband Global SATCOM satellite from Cape Canaveral, Fla. 8:32 EDT (0032 April 4 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

April 5: A North Korean Taepo-Dong-2 rocket fails in an apparent attempt to launch a communications satellite into orbit from the Musudan-ri launch on the northeast coast of the Korean peninsula. Read More from Spaceflight Now.

April 14: China launched a new Compass G2 navigation satellite atop a Long March 3C rocket in a space shot staged from the Xichang launch base in southwestern China's Sichuan province. 12:16 p.m. EDT (1616 GMT GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

April 20: A Sea Launch Zenit 3SL launches the Sicral 1B military communications satellite for Italy from the Odyssey Launch Platform on the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean. 4:16 a.m. EDT (0816 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

April 20: India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launched the Radar Imaging Satellite and a student-built microsat from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. Read More from Spaceflight Now.

April 22: A Chinese Long March 2C rocket blasted off carrying the Yaogan 6 remote sensing satellite from the Taiyuan space base in northern China's Shanxi province. 10:55 p.m. EDT (0255 April 23 GMT) Read More from Spaceflight Now.

April 29: A Russian Proton rocket launched a military satellite for Russia's Ministry of Defense from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. 12:58 p.m. EDT (1658 GMT) Read More from Spaceflight Now.

May 2: A suborbital UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL rocket launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico but failed to reached the edge of space. 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) . Read More.

May 5: The Space Tracking and Surveillance System Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (STSS-ATRR) Demonstration satellite launched atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 booster for the Missile Defense Agency from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. 4:24 EDT (2024 GMT).Read More from Spaceflight Now.

May 7: A Russian Soyuz rocket launches the Progress 33 unmanned cargo ship toward the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 2:37 p.m. EDT (1837 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

May 11: NASA shuttle Atlantis launches from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the STS-125 Hubble Servicing Mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. 2:01 p.m. EDT (1801 GMT). Read More. Click here for mission updates.

May 14: An Ariane 5 rocket launches the European Space Agency's Herschel and Planck spacecraft into orbit from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. 9:12 a.m. EDT (1312 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

May 15: An International Launch Services Proton rocket with Breeze M upper stage launches the Protostar 2 direct broadcasting communications satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. 8:57 p.m. EDT (0057 May 16 GMT)

May 19: An Orbital Sciences Minotaur rocket launches the TacSat 3 research satellite for the Air Force Research Laboratory from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia. 7:55 p.m. EDT (2355 GMT). Click here for mission preview.

May 27: A Russian Soyuz rocket launches the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft carrying three extra Expedition 19 crewmembers (for a total of six) to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Read More. Click here for mission updates.

June 18: NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) launch toward the moon atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. 5:32 p.m. EDT (2132 GMT). Read More.

June 21: A Land Launch Zenit 3SLB rocket launches the MEASAT 3A broadcasting satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 5:50 p.m. EDT (2150 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

June 27: A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 booster lofts the GOES-O Earth watching satellite into geosynchronous orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Fla. 6:51 p.m. EDT (2251 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

June 30: An International Launch Services Proton rocket launched the Sirius FM5 XM radio satellite into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 3:10 p.m. EDT (1910 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

July 1: An Ariane 5 rocket launched the TerreStar 1 communications satellite from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. 1:52 p.m. EDT (1752 GMT). Read More.

July 5: A Russian Rockot booster launches the three military satellites for the Russian defense department. 9:26 p.m. EDT (0126 July 6 GMT).

July 8: An unmanned prototype for a new astronaut escape pod launched high above the Virginia coast early Wednesday during a NASA test flight. The bullet-shaped Max Launch Abort System, or MLAS, launched from Wallops Island, Va. 6:26 a.m. EDT (1026 GMT). Read More.

July 13: A SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket launches Malaysia's RazakSat Earth watching satelite from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific Ocean. 11:35 p.m. EDT (0335 July 14 GMT).Read More. Countdown coverage from Spaceflight Now.

July 15: NASA's space shuttle Endeavour launches from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the STS-127 mission to deliver a Japanese external platform to the International Space Station. 6:03 p.m. EDT (2203 GMT). Read More.

July 21: A Russian Kosmos 3M booster launches several small satellites into orbit from Dombarovsky, Russia. Read More from Spaceflight Now.

July 24: A Russian Soyuz rocket to launch the Progress 34 unmanned cargo ship toward the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 6:56 a.m. EDT (1056 GMT). Read More.

July 21: An ISC Kosmotras Dnepr booster launches several small satellites into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 2:46 p.m. EDT (1846 GMT).

August 11: An International Launch Services Proton rocket launched the AsiaSat 5 communications satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. 3:47 p.m. EDT (1947 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

August 17: A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 booster to launch the GPS 2R-21 navigation satellite for the U.S. military from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida. 6:35 a.m. EDT (1035 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

August 17: NASA launched an inflatable spacecraft heat shield on Monday to test the technology for use on future space missions. Read More. Watch the video

August 21: An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket launched the JCSAT 12 and Optus D3 communications satellite for Japan and Australia, respectively, in a launch from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. 6:09 p.m. EDT (2209 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

August 25: The Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 makes its launch debut from the new Naro Space Center at the southern tip of South Korea, but fails to orbit a satellite payload. 5:00 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT). Read initial launch story from Spaceflight Now. Failure update.

August 28: NASA's space shuttle Discovery to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the STS-128 mission to deliver supplies and spare parts for the International Space Station. 11:59 p.m. EDT (0359 Aug. 29 GMT). Read More. Click here for mission updates.

August 31: A Chinese Long March 3B booster fails to deliver the Palapa D1 communications satellite for Indonesia's Indosat to the proper orbit from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China. 5:28 a.m. EDT (0928 GMT). Read initial launch story from Spaceflight Now.

September 7: A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket to launch a classifed satellite dubbed PAN for the U.S. government. 5:35 p.m. EDT (2335 GMT) Read More. Countdown coverage from Spaceflight Now.

September 10: A new H-2B rocket launched Japan's first-ever H-2 Transfer Vehicle, a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station, from Tanagashima Space Center. 1:04 p.m. EDT (1704 GMT). Read More. Click here for mission updates. Docking update.

September 17: An International Launch Services Proton rocket launches the Nimiq 5 communications satellite from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. 3:19 p.m. EDT (1919 GMT) Read More from Spaceflight Now.

September 17: A Russian Soyuz 2-1B rocket launched the Meteor M1 weather satellite and other small payloads from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 11:55 a.m. EDT (1555 GMT) Read More from Spaceflight Now.

September 19: A NASA suborbital Black Brant XII sounding rocket launched the CARE experiment to create an artificial noctolucent - or night-shining - cloud from Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. 7:46 p.m. EDT (2346 GMT) Read More.

September 23: India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launches the Oceansat 2 satellite and other payloads from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. 2:21 a.m. EDT (0621 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

September 25: A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket launches to orbit for an Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Demonstrators Program vehicle for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 8:20 a.m. EDT (1220 GMT). Read More.

September 30: A Russian Soyuz rocket launches the Expedition 21 astronaut crew toward the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 3:14 a.m. EDT (0714 GMT). Read More. Click here for mission updates.

October 1: An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket to launch two communications satellites - Amazonas 2 for Hispasat and COMSATBw 1 for the German military - from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. 5:59 p.m. EDT (2159 GMT) Read More from Spaceflight Now.

October 8: A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket to launch the Worldview 2 Earth-watching satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 2:51 p.m. EDT (1851 GMT). Read More from Spaceflight Now.

October 14: A Russian Soyuz rocket to launch the Progress 35 unmanned cargo ship toward the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 9:14 p.m. EDT (0114 GMT).Read More from Spaceflight Now.