Space calendar 2026: Rocket launches, skywatching events, missions & more!
Keep up to date with the latest space events with our 2026 space calendar!
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
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Note: Launch dates are subject to change. Please DO NOT schedule travel based on launch dates you see here.
March

March 16, 12:10 a.m. EST (0010 GMT): Chinese company Expace, a commercial spinoff from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), will launch a Kuaizhou 1A rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in China.
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Is there a rocket launch today?

March 16, 10:37 p.m. EST (0237 GMT, March 17): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), from Space Launch Complex-4E (SLC-4E), at Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California. 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.

March 17, 6:26 a.m. EST (1026 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.

March 18: NASA astronauts astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams are scheduled to begin the station's 278th spacewalk, U.S. EVA 94. 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.

March 19, 6:35 a.m. EST (1035 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.

March 19, 1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT): Rocket Lab will launch an Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The Eight Days A Week mission will launch a single StriX satellite to grow an Earth observation constellation for Synspective.

March 19, 4:00 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT): 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.

March 20, 5:48 p.m. EST (2248 GMT): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), from Space Launch Complex-4E (SLC-4E), at Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California. 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.

March 22, 7:59 a.m. EDT (1159 GMT): The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, will send a Soyuz 2.1A rocket up to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a progress and resupply mission. The rocket will launch from the Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

March 22, 10:43 a.m. EST (1443 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.

NET March 23: Rocket Lab will launch an Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The Daughter Of The Stars mission will launch two pathfinder satellites of a future European navigation constellation, for the European Space Agency, Thales Alenia Space and GMV.

NET March: 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.

NET March: 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
April

April 1, 6:24 p.m. EST (2324 GMT): Artemis 2 will send three NASA astronauts and one Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut around the moon for 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.

April 9: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket with Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus XL spacecraft to the International Space Station on NG-24 mission. The cargo vehicle will deliver more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the ISS.

NET Spring 2026: 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 prepare the station’s 3B power channel for a future IROSA installation.

Q1 2026: The Chinese company iSpace is expected to launch an unknown payload aboard a solid propellant-fueled Hyperbola-1 rocket.

Q1 2026: 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.

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.

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.

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.
2027

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

NET Q1 2027: 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
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