Please note: Launch dates are subject to change. Please DO NOT schedule travel based on launch dates you see here.
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December 2025
December 6, 2:50 p.m. EST (0750 GMT): The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is expected to launch an unknown payload on a Long March 8A rocket. The mission will liftoff from the Wenchang Space Launch Center, China (WSLC), in China.
December 6, 10:00 p.m. EST (0300 GMT, Dec. 6): 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 7, 11:13 a.m. EST (1413 GMT): A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), fromSLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. SpaceX's megaconstellation of LEO Starlink satellites provide low-cost internet to locations around the globe, with more than 8,000 currently in the orbital network.
December 7, 4:40 p.m. EST (2140 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 8, 5:10 p.m. EST (2210 GMT): The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is expected to launch an unknown payload on a Long March 6A rocket. The mission will liftoff from the Taiyuan Space Launch Site, in China.
December 8, 10:40 p.m. EST (0300 GMT, Sept. 29): The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is expected to launch an unknown payload on a Long March 2D rocket. The mission will liftoff from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in China. The Long March 2D stands at 135 feet (41 meters) tall, and is primarily used to launch satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).
December 9, 10:10 a.m. EST (1510 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.
December 9, 1:14 p.m. EDT (1914 GMT): 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.
December 9, 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 GMT): Chinese commercial launch company CAS Space will launch an unknown payload on a Kinetica-1 rocket. The mission will liftoff from Launch Area-130 (LA-130), at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC), in China. Kinetica-1 is a four-stage solid rocket launch vehicle that stands 101 feet (31 meters) tall.
December 10, 3:54 a.m. ET (0854 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 11, 6:00 p.m. EDT (2300 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.
NET December: The Chinese company iSpace is expected to launch an unknown payload aboard a solid propellant-fueled Hyperbola-1 rocket.
NET Dec. 11: 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.
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.
Dec 13, 8 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
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 Dec: Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky and NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim return to Earth aboard their Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft. They are scheduled to touchdown in Kazakhstan, wrapping up a six-month stint aboard the International Space Station.
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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