Please note: Launch dates are subject to change. Please DO NOT schedule travel based on launch dates you see here.
December 2025
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On This Day in Space!
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Night sky, December 2025: What you can see tonight
Is there a rocket launch today?
December 12, 8:05 p.m. EST (0105 GMT, Dec. 13): The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is expected to launch an unknown payload on a Long March 6 rocket. The mission will liftoff from the Taiyuan Space Launch Site, in China.
Dec 13, 8:00 pm ET (0000 GMT Dec. 14): The Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight on Dec. 13 and Dec. 14. The Geminids are active between Nov. 19 to Dec. 24 each year. Unlike a majority of the meteor showers we see on Earth, the Geminids are the product of an asteroid, not a comet.
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Read More: Geminid meteor shower 2025: When, where and how to see one of the best meteor showers of the year
December 13, 10:00 p.m. EST (0300 GMT, Dec. 14): Rocket Lab will launch an Electron rocket from the company's Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The mission will launch the first of two RApid Innovative payload demonstration SatellitE-4 (RAISE-4) spacecraft for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
December 14, 12:20 a.m. ET (0520 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 (VSFB), in California. SpaceX's megaconstellation of LEO Starlink satellites provide low-cost internet to locations around the globe, with nearly seven thousand currently in the orbital network.
December 14, 9:43 p.m. EST (0243 GMT, Dec. 15): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCFS), 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.
December 14, 11:05 p.m. ET (0405 GMT, Dec. 15): 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.
December 15, 3:49 a.m. EDT (0849 GMT): United Launch Alliance (ULA) will launch an Atlas V 551 rocket to deliver a batch of Amazon Leo, formerly Project Kuiper, megaconstellation internet satellites to low-Earth orbit. Liftoff for the LA-04 mission will take place from ULA's Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41), at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida.
December 15, 7:20 a.m. EDT (1220 GMT): 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.
December 15, 8:11 a.m. EST (1311 GMT): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), from Launch Complex-39A (LC-39A), at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, 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.
December 16, 10:24 a.m. EST (1524 GMT): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), from SLC-4E; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. SpaceX's megaconstellation of LEO Starlink satellites provide low-cost internet to locations around the globe, with nearly seven thousand currently in the orbital network.
December 17, 12:22 a.m. EST (0522 GMT). : An Ariane 6 rocket from Arianespace will launch the Galileo L14 (FOC FM33 & FM34) GPS satellite for the European Union. The mission will lift off from Ariane Launch Area 4 (ALA-4) at the Guiana Space Centre, in French Guiana.
December 18, 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT): Blue Origin will launch its New Shepard rocket on the NS-37 mission carrying a crew of six on a suborbital flight. This will be New Shepard's ninth launch of 2025, and 16th crewed flight.
Dec 21, 8 pm ET (0000 GMT Dec. 22): The Ursid meteor shower is active between Dec. 13 to Dec. 26 and will peak on Dec. 22. The best time to look out for Ursids is the evening of Dec. 21 through dawn.
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Read More: Ursid meteor shower 2025: Everything you need to know
NET December: 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.
NET December: Roscosmos will launch a Soyuz 2.1a rocket with the Obzor-R No.1 satellite, an X-band radar earth observation probe. The mission will liftoff from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, in Russia.
NET December: The Chinese company iSpace is expected to launch an unknown payload aboard a solid propellant-fueled Hyperbola-1 rocket.
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.
2026
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: 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
January
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.
February
Feb. 5: 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.
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 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
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