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2011 in spaceflight

Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at the Shuttle Landing Facility on 21 July 2011, completing the final mission of the Space Shuttle programme.
Orbital launches
First	20 January
Last	28 December
Total	84
Successes	78
Failures	6
Catalogued	80
National firsts
Satellite	Isle of Man
Rockets
Maiden flights	Zenit-3F Long March 2F/G Atlas V 541
Retirements	Space Shuttle Delta II Heavy
Crewed flights
Orbital	7
Total travellers	28
EVAs	10
v t e

2011 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 2010 2012 →

The year 2011 saw a number of significant events in spaceflight, including the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle after its final flight in July 2011, and the launch of China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, in September. A total of 84 orbital launches were conducted over the course of the year, of which 78 were successful. Russia, China and the United States conducted the majority of the year's orbital launches, with 35, 19 and 18 launches respectively; 2011 marked the first year that China conducted more successful launches than the United States.^[1] Seven crewed missions were launched into orbit during 2011, carrying a total of 28 astronauts to the International Space Station. Additionally, the Zenit-3F and Long March 2F/G carrier rockets made their maiden flights in 2011, while the Delta II Heavy made its last.

A total of 84 orbital launches were attempted in 2011, with 78 being reported as successful; 80 launches reached orbit. 35 launches were conducted using Russian and former Soviet rockets, whilst China launched 19 rockets, and the United States launched 18. Europe conducted five launches, India and Japan launched three rockets each, and Iran conducted one launch.

Seven crewed spaceflights – four Soyuz and three Space Shuttle missions – were launched in 2011, carrying a total of 28 astronauts and cosmonauts into orbit. At the beginning of the year, the Expedition 26 crew was aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The first crewed flight of 2011 was STS-133, the final flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 24 February. STS-133 carried Leonardo, the final American pressurised module of the ISS, for installation. Discovery returned to Earth on 9 March.

On 16 March, Expedition 27 began aboard the ISS with the departure of the Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft, which had been docked since October 2010. On 4 April, Soyuz TMA-21 launched to the space station, delivering a further three crewmembers. On 16 May, Space Shuttle Space Shuttle Endeavour launched to the station on its final mission, STS-134, delivering and installing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, before returning to Earth on 1 June. Expedition 28 began aboard the ISS on 23 May with the departure of Soyuz TMA-20, which had been launched in December 2010, and landed in the early morning of 24 May. Three more crewmembers were launched to the space station aboard Soyuz TMA-02M on 7 June.

The final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, began on 8 July with the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, carrying supplies for the ISS aboard the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). After resupplying the space station, Atlantis returned to Earth, landing at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility at 09:57 UTC on 21 July, and concluding thirty years of Space Shuttle operations. Two days before landing, Atlantis deployed PSSC-2, the last satellite to be launched from a Space Shuttle.

On 29 September, China launched its first space station module, Tiangong-1, which was placed into orbit by a Long March 2F/G carrier rocket flying from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. Although no crewed missions to Tiangong-1 were conducted in 2011, the uncrewed Shenzhou 8 spacecraft, which was launched on 31 October, docked twice with the module to test its systems in preparation for a successful 2012 crewed docking.

ISS Expedition 28 ended, and Expedition 29 began, with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-21 on 16 September. The launch of Soyuz TMA-22 did not take place until 14 November, having been delayed by reliability concerns surrounding the Soyuz rocket after an uncrewed launch failure in August. A week later, Soyuz TMA-02M undocked, beginning Expedition 30, with the Soyuz spacecraft landing on 22 November. The final crewed launch of the year took place on 21 December, when Soyuz TMA-03M was launched to bring a further three crewmembers to the ISS.

Ten spacewalks were conducted in 2011, all of them by ISS or Space Shuttle astronauts. The final spacewalk by a Space Shuttle crew was conducted on 27 May, during the STS-134 mission.

Numerous scientific exploration missions were begun in 2011. In March 2011, the MESSENGER probe became the first artificial satellite of the planet Mercury. In July, the Dawn spacecraft became the first artificial satellite of the asteroid 4 Vesta. The Mars Science Laboratory – at the time, the largest Mars rover ever constructed – was launched in November, conducting a successful landing on Mars in August 2012.^[2]

Six orbital launches failed in 2011, four of which failed to achieve orbit and the remaining two reached lower orbits than expected. The first failure occurred on 1 February, when a Rokot with a Briz-KM upper stage placed Kosmos 2470 into a useless orbit, from which it could not recover. The failure was later traced to a software problem on the Briz-KM.

The next failure occurred on 4 March, when the payload fairing of a Taurus-XL failed to separate, resulting in the rocket being too heavy to reach orbit. The Glory climate research satellite was lost in the failure, along with the KySat-1, Hermes and Explorer-1 [PRIME] CubeSats. The previous Taurus-XL launch, carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory in February 2009, also failed due to the fairing not separating.

No more launch failures occurred until mid-August when, over the space of a week, three consecutive orbital launches failed. On 17 August, a Proton-M/Briz-M launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the Ekspress-AM4 communications satellite. In the morning of 18 August, the rocket's upper stage failed to conduct the fourth of five planned burns due to an attitude control system malfunction, leaving the spacecraft in a parking orbit. Later that same day, a Long March 2C launched from Jiuquan carrying the Shijian XI-04 satellite. The second stage vernier engine's mounting suffered a structural failure, resulting in a loss of control, and the rocket failed to reach orbit. Finally, on 24 August, a Soyuz-U carrying the Progress M-12M cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station suffered a third-stage engine failure and also failed to attain orbit.

The final launch failure of 2011 occurred on 23 December, when a Soyuz-2-1b/Fregat carrying the Meridian 5 satellite failed to achieve orbit due to a third-stage malfunction. Debris fell over Novosibirsk Oblast, with one piece hitting a house; however, no casualties were reported.

In November 2011, Russia's Fobos-Grunt Martian sample return probe launched successfully, but experienced a malfunction post-launch and became stranded in orbit. The spacecraft, which was Russia's first attempt at an interplanetary mission since the 1996 Mars 96 mission, disintegrated over the Pacific Ocean on 15 January 2012.^[3][4] China's first Mars probe, Yinghuo-1, which was being carried by the same rocket as Fobos-Grunt, was also lost in the incident.

← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January
20 January 12:29:01	Zenit-3F			Baikonur Site 45/1		Roscosmos
		Elektro-L No.1	Roscosmos	Geostationary	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational[5]
		Maiden flight of Zenit-3F.
20 January 21:10[7]	Delta IV-H			Vandenberg SLC-6		United Launch Alliance
		USA-224 (KH-11)	NRO	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 49, first Delta IV Heavy launch from Vandenberg.[6]
22 January 05:37:57[8]	H-IIB			Tanegashima LA-Y2		JAXA[9]
		Kounotori 2 (HTV-2)	JAXA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	30 March	Successful
28 January 01:31:41	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-09M / 41P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	26 April 13:22:53	Successful
		Kedr	RKK Energia	Low Earth	Amateur radio	4 January 2012[10]	Successful
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February
1 February 14:00	Rokot / Briz-KM			Plesetsk Site 133/3		VKS
		Kosmos 2470 (Geo-IK-2 No.11)	VKS	Low Earth	Geodesy	15 July 2013[12]	Launch failure
		Upper stage malfunctioned due to problems with the flight software,[11] reached lower orbit than planned.
6 February 12:26	Minotaur I			Vandenberg SLC-8		Orbital Sciences
		USA-225 (RPP)	NRO	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational[13]
		NRO Launch 66
16 February 21:50[14]	Ariane 5 ES			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Johannes Kepler ATV	ESA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	21 June	Successful
24 February 21:53:24	Space Shuttle Discovery			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-133	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	9 March 16:57:17	Successful
		Leonardo (PMM)[15]	ASI / NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	In orbit	Operational
		ExPRESS-4	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight, final flight of Discovery.
26 February 03:07	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2471 (Glonass-K 701)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	12 November 2021	Successful[16]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March
4 March 10:09:43	Taurus-XL 3110			Vandenberg LC-576E		Orbital Sciences
		Glory	NASA	Intended: Low Earth (SSO)	Climatology	4 March	Launch failure
		⚀ KySat-1	Kentucky Space	Intended: Low Earth	Technology demonstration
		⚀ Hermes	Colorado	Intended: Low Earth	Technology demonstration
		⚀ Explorer-1 [PRIME]	Montana State	Intended: Low Earth	Radiation
		All payloads CubeSats except Glory, which would have been part of the A-train constellation. Fairing failed to separate.
5 March 22:46	Atlas V 501			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-226 (X-37B FLT-2)	U.S. Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	16 June 2012 12:48[17][18]	Successful
11 March 23:38	Delta IV-M+ (4,2)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-227 (SDS-3)	NRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 27
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April
4 April 22:18:20[19][20]	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-21	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 27/28	16 September 03:59:39	Successful
9 April 20:47:04	Long March 3A			Xichang LC-3		CNSA
		Compass-IGSO3	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
14 April 04:24	Atlas V 411[21]			Vandenberg SLC-3E		United Launch Alliance
		USA-229 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		USA-229 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 34
20 April 04:42[22][23][24]	PSLV			Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Resourcesat-2	ISRO	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		YouthSat	ISRO / MGU	Low Earth (SSO)	Education	In orbit	Operational
		X-Sat	CREST	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
22 April 21:37[25][26][27]	Ariane 5 ECA[28]			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Yahsat 1A	Yahsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		New Dawn[29]	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
		New Dawn's C-Band antenna failed to deploy.
27 April 13:05:21	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-10M / 42P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	29 October 13:00:31	Successful
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May
4 May 17:41:33[30]	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Meridian 4	VKS	Medium Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
7 May 18:10	Atlas V 401			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		USA-230 (SBIRS-GEO 1)	U.S. Air Force	Geosynchronous	Missile defense	In orbit	Operational
16 May 12:56	Space Shuttle Endeavour			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-134	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	1 June 06:35	Successful
		AMS-02[15]	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	Cosmic-ray observatory	In orbit	Operational
		ExPRESS-3	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed flight, final flight of Endeavour.
20 May 19:15[32]	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		Telstar 14R	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
		Second solar panel failed to deploy due to tangled cable[31]
20 May 20:38[33]	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		ST-2	SingTel / Chunghwa	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		INSAT-4G/GSAT-8[34]	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June
7 June 20:12:45	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-02M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 28/29	22 November 02:26	Successful
10 June 14:20	Delta II 7320			Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		SAC-D	CONAE / NASA	Low Earth (SSO)	Oceanography	In orbit	Operational
		Final scheduled flight of Delta II 7300 series; spacecraft carrying NASA's Aquarius instrument.
15 June 09:14[citation needed]	Safir-1A		UIS.0001	Semnan LP-1		ISA
		Rasad 1	ISA	Low Earth	Earth observation	6 July 2011	Successful
20 June 16:13[35]	Long March 3B			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		ChinaSat 10	China Satellite Communications	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 June 14:38	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-11M / 43P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	1 September 10:21:41	Successful
27 June 16:00[36]	Soyuz-U			Plesetsk Site 16/2		VKS
		Kosmos 2472 (Kobalt-M No.7)	VKS	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	24 October	Successful
30 June 03:09	Minotaur I			MARS LP-0B		Orbital Sciences
		USA-231 (ORS-1)	ORSO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	12 March 2018[37]	Successful
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July
6 July 04:28[38]	Long March 2C			Jiuquan SLS-2		CNSA
		Shijian 11-03	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
8 July 15:29	Space Shuttle Atlantis			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-135	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	21 July 2011 09:57	Successful
		Raffaelo MPLM	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics		Successful
		PSSC-2	U.S. Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	8 December	Successful
		Crewed flight, final flight of Atlantis and of Space Shuttle programme.
11 July 15:41[39][40]	Long March 3C			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		Tianlian I-02 (1B)	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
13 July 02:27[41][42]	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat			Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
		Globalstar M081	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M083	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M085	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M088	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M089	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M091	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 July 11:18	PSLV-XL			Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		GSAT-12	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 July 23:16	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		SES-3	SES World Skies (July–September) SES S.A. (September—)	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		KazSat-2	JSC KazSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
16 July 06:41	Delta IV-M+ (4,2)			Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
		USA-232 (GPS-IIF-2)	U.S. Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
18 July 02:31[43]	Zenit-3F			Baikonur Site 45/1		Roscosmos
		Spektr-R (RadioAstron)	Roscosmos	High Earth	Radio astronomy	30 May 2019	Successful
		Russian scientific satellite with a 10 m (33 ft) radio telescope on board. Together with some of the largest ground-based radio telescopes, the Spektr-R formed interferometric baselines extending up to 350,000 km (220,000 mi).
26 July 21:44[44]	Long March 3A			Xichang LC-3		CNSA
		Compass-IGSO4	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
29 July 07:42[45]	Long March 2C			Jiuquan SLS-2		CNSA
		Shijian 11-02	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August
5 August 16:25[46]	Atlas V 551			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Juno	NASA	Jovicentric	Jupiter orbiter	In orbit	Operational
6 August 22:52[47]	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Astra 1N	SES Astra (August–September) SES S.A. (September—)	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BSAT-3c / JCSAT-110R	BSAT / JSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
11 August 16:15[48]	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		Paksat-1R	SUPARCO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 August 22:57[49]	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Hai Yang 2A	CAST	Low Earth (SSO)	Oceanography	In orbit	Operational
17 August 07:12[50]	Dnepr			Dombarovsky Site 13		ISC Kosmotras
		Sich-2	NKAU	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		NigeriaSat-2	NASRDA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
		NigeriaSat-X	NASRDA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		RASAT	TÜBİTAK	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Successful
		EduSAT	GAUSS Srl	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		AprizeSat-5	exactEarth	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		AprizeSat-6	exactEarth	Low Earth (SSO)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BPA-2	Hartron-Arkos	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Successful
17 August 21:25[52]	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		Khrunichev
		Ekspress AM-4	RSCC	Intended: Geosynchronous Achieved: GTO	Communications	25 March 2012	Launch failure
		Briz-M upper stage failed before the planned fourth burn. An insufficient time slot was allocated for re-setting the gyroscopes of the upper stage control system before launch, which led to loss of adequate attitude control in flight.[51]
18 August 09:28[54]	Long March 2C			Jiuquan SLS-2		CNSA
		Shijian 11-04	CNSA	Intended: Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	18 August	Launch failure
		Failed to reach orbit. Second stage's vernier engine support structure failed in flight, led to loss of attitude control.[53]
24 August 13:00[56]	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-12M / 44P	Roscosmos	Intended: Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	24 August	Launch failure
		Third stage engine failure 325 seconds after launch due to the gas generator fuel supply pipeline being blocked by contaminants.[55]
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September
10 September 13:08:52[57]	Delta II 7920H			Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		United Launch Alliance
		GRAIL-A (Ebb)	NASA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	17 December 2012 22:28:51[58]	Successful
		GRAIL-B (Flow)	NASA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	17 December 2012 22:29:21[58]	Successful
		Final launch of Delta II Heavy, final Delta II launch from Cape Canaveral, and last launch from SLC-17.
18 September 16:33[59]	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		Chinasat-1A	China Satcom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
20 September 22:47	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
		Kosmos 2473 (Garpun #1)	VKS	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 September 21:38	Ariane 5 ECA			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Arabsat 5C	Arabsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		SES-2	SES S.A.	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
23 September 04:36:50	H-IIA			Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		IGS Optical 4	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Successful[60]
24 September 20:18	Zenit-3SL			Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
		Atlantic Bird 7	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
27 September 15:49	Minotaur IV+			Kodiak LP-1		Orbital Sciences
		TacSat-4	U.S. Air Force	Highly elliptical	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
29 September 13:16:03[61]	Long March 2F/G		T1	Jiuquan SLS-1		CNSA
		Tiangong-1	CMSA	Low Earth	Space station	2 April 2018 00:16[62]	Successful
		Maiden flight of Long March 2F/G, first Chinese space station prototype.
29 September 18:32[63]	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		QuetzSat 1	SES Satellite Leasing	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Intended for lease to QuetzSat.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October
2 October 20:15	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2474 (Glonass-M 742)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
5 October 21:00	Zenit-3SLB			Baikonur Site 45/1		Land Launch
		Intelsat 18	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
7 October 08:21	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		Eutelsat W3C	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 October 05:31	PSLV-CA			Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
		Megha-Tropiques[64]	ISRO / CNES	Low Earth	Climatology	7 March 2023[65]	Successful
		SRMSAT	SRM	Low Earth	Climatology	In orbit	Operational
		VesselSat-1	Luxspace	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ Jugnu	IITK	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
19 October 18:48	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		ViaSat-1	ViaSat-IOM / ManSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 October[66][67] 10:30	Soyuz ST-B / Fregat-MT			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		Galileo IOV 1	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation / Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Galileo IOV 2	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation / Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		First Soyuz launch from Kourou.
28 October 09:48:01	Delta II 7920-10			Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
		NPP	NASA / NOAA	Low Earth	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ AubieSat 1	Auburn University	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ DICE-1	Space Dynamics Laboratory	Low Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ DICE-2	Space Dynamics Laboratory	Low Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ E1P-U2	Montana State	Low Earth	Radiation	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ M-Cubed	University of Michigan	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		⚀ RAX-2	University of Michigan	Low Earth	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
30 October 10:11	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Progress M-13M / 45P	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	25 January 2012	Successful
		Chibis-M (RS-39)	IKI	Low Earth	Ionospheric research	15 October 2014	Successful
31 October 21:58:10	Long March 2F		Y8	Jiuquan SLS-1		CNSA
		Shenzhou 8	CMSA	Low Earth (Tiangong-1)	Technology demonstration	17 November 11:36	Successful
		Shenzhou-8-GC	CMSA	Low Earth (Tiangong-1)	Technology demonstration	2 April 2012	Successful
		Uncrewed flight, first Chinese orbital docking.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → November
4 November 12:51:41[68]	Proton-M / Briz-M			Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
		Kosmos 2475 (Glonass-M 743)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2476 (Glonass-M 744)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2477 (Glonass-M 745)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
8 November 20:16	Zenit-2M			Baikonur Site 45/1		Roscosmos
		Fobos-Grunt	Roscosmos	Intended: Areocentric Achieved: Low Earth	Phobos sample return	15 January 2012	Spacecraft failure
		Yinghuo-1	CNSA	Intended: Areocentric Achieved: Low Earth	Mars orbiter
		First Russian attempt at an interplanetary mission since 1996.[69] First Chinese Mars probe Spacecraft stranded in low Earth orbit, as telemetry was lost soon after launch and the two trans-Martian injection burns by the payload did not take place[70]
9 November 03:21[71]	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Yaogan 12	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		Tian Xun 1	Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	7 February 2016[72]	Successful
14 November 04:14[73]	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-22	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 29/30	27 April 2012	Successful
20 November 00:15[74]	Long March 2D			Jiuquan SLS-2		CNSA
		Shiyan 4	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Chuang Xin 1C	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
25 November 19:10:34	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
		AsiaSat 7	AsiaSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
26 November 15:02	Atlas V 541			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
		Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)	NASA	TMI to Martian Surface	Mars rover	6 August 2012 05:18	Successful[2]
		Maiden flight of Atlas V 541, largest Mars rover yet launched.
28 November 08:25:57	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN RF
		Kosmos 2478 (Glonass-M 746)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
29 November 18:50[75]	Long March 2C			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Yaogan 13	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → December
1 December 21:07[76]	Long March 3A			Xichang LC-3		CNSA
		Compass-IGSO5	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
11 December 11:17	Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced			Baikonur Site 81/24		Roscosmos
		Luch 5A	Gonets Satellite System	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Amos-5	SCL	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 December 01:21	H-IIA			Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
		IGS Radar 3	CSICE	Low Earth (SSO)	Reconnaissance (radar)	In orbit	Operational
17 December 02:03:08	Soyuz ST-A / Fregat			Kourou ELS		Arianespace
		Pléiades-HR 1A	CNES	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation/Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
		FASat-Charlie (SSOT)	MDN	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation/Reconnaisance	In orbit	Operational
		ELISA 1	CNES / DGA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		ELISA 2	CNES / DGA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		ELISA 3	CNES / DGA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
		ELISA 4	CNES / DGA	Low Earth (SSO)	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
19 December 16:41[77]	Long March 3B/E			Xichang LC-2		CNSA
		NigComSat-1R	NIGCOMSAT / NASRDA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 December 13:16	Soyuz-FG			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roscosmos
		Soyuz TMA-03M	Roscosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 30/31	1 July 2012 08:14[78]	Successful
22 December 03:26	Long March 4B			Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
		Ziyuan 1-02C	CNSA	Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
23 December 12:08	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat			Plesetsk Site 43/4		VKO
		Meridian 5	VKO	Intended: Molniya	Communications	23 December	Launch failure
		Third stage engine malfunctioned 421 seconds after launch, failed to reach orbit; first launch conducted by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces
28 December 17:09	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat			Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
		Globalstar M080	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M082	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M084	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M086	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M090	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar M092	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational

← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
22 January 06:10[79]	Terrier-Oriole			Wallops Island		MDA
		Aegis Radar Test	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	22 January	Successful
		Aegis Radar target, not intercepted, Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 January 10:46:00[80]	Black Brant IX			Poker Flat		NASA
		FIRE	Colorado	Suborbital	Astronomy	28 January	Spacecraft failure[80]
5 February 08:11:11[80]	Black Brant IX			Poker Flat		NASA
		Polar NOx	VPI	Suborbital	Geospace	5 February	Spacecraft failure[80]
February[79]	Shahab-3					IRGC
			IGRC	Suborbital	Missile test	February	Successful
		Two missiles with a range of 1,900 kilometres were fired into the Indian Ocean prior to 19 February[citation needed]
February[79]	Sejjil-2					IRGC
			IGRC	Suborbital	Missile test	February	Successful
		Two missiles with a range of 1,900 kilometres were fired into the Indian Ocean prior to 19 February[citation needed]
1 March 21:00[79]	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS Nevada, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	1 March	Successful
		Demonstration and Shakedown Operation 22 (DASO-22)
2 March 13:40[79]	Juno			Fort Wingate LC-96		U.S. Army
			U.S. Army	Suborbital	Target	2 March	Successful
		Target for MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 MSE test, successfully intercepted
9 March[79]	Terrier-Oriole			Kauai		MDA
		ARAV-B	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	9 March	Successful
		Tracked by STSS satellites
11 March	Dhanush			Sea launch from Indian Ocean		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Target	11 March	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
11 March	Prithvi II			Integrated Test Range IC-3		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	11 March	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
15 March[79]	Kavoshgar (Zelzal-based)			Semnan Space Center		ISA
		Kavoshgar-4	ISA	Suborbital	Test flight	15 March	Successful
		Test of biological capsule. Apogee: 120 kilometres (75 mi)
16 March[79]	Terrier-Oriole			Kauai		MDA
		ARAV-B	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	16 March	Successful
		Tracked by both STSS Demo satellites
23 March 18:50:00[80]	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		EVE	CU Boulder	Suborbital	SDO calibration[81]	23 March	Successful[80]
29 March 04:01[82]	VSB-30			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		TEXUS-49	DLR/ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity	29 March	Successful
		Apogee: 268 kilometres (167 mi)
15 April 06:52[79]	UGM-96 Trident I C4 (LV-2)[83]		FTM-15	Meck		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	15 April	Successful
15 April 07:03[79]	RIM-161 Standard Missile 3		FTM-15	USS O'Kane, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
		FTM-15	US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	15 April	Successful
		First intercept of an IRBM by an SM-3 (FTM-15 Stellar Charon)
26 April[79]	R-29RMU Sineva			K-84 Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	26 April	Successful
27 April 08:00:00[80]	Black Brant IX			Poker Flat		NASA
			WFF	Suborbital	Test flight	27 April	Successful[80]
6 May[84] 23:02[85]	Tianying 3C			Hainan		CNSA
		Kunpeng-1	CSSAR	Suborbital	Environment monitoring	23:09	Successful
		Apogee: 196.6 kilometres (122.2 mi).
11 May 18:00[79]	Improved Orion			Barreira do Inferno		AEB
			INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	11 May	Successful
20 May 13:21[citation needed]	SpaceLoft XL			Spaceport America		UP Aerospace
				Suborbital	Technology demonstration	20 May	Successful
		Goddard	Celestis	Suborbital	Space burial		Successful
		Apogee: 118.3 kilometres (73.5 mi), successfully recovered.
20 May 14:50[79]	R-29RMU2.1 Layner			K-84 Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	20 May	Successful
		Maiden flight of Layner missile
10 June 11:11:16[80]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Island		NASA
		SubTec IV[79]	GSFC	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	10 June	Successful[80]
22 June 13:35	LGM-30G Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-10		U.S. Air Force
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	22 June	Successful
23 June 10:18:00[80]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Island		NASA
		RockOn	Colorado	Suborbital	Student experiments	23 June	Successful[80]
28 June 11:55[79]	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535 Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
28 June[79]	Shahab-1			Iran		IRGC
			IGRC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 June[79]	Shahab-1			Iran		IGRC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 June[79]	Shahab-2			Iran		IRGC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 June[79]	Shahab-2			Iran		IRGC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
28 June[79]	Ghadr-1[79]			Iran		IRGC
			IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
		Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 500 kilometres (310 mi)
9 July 02:04[79]	SRALT			C-17, Pacific Ocean		MDA
		FTX-17	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	9 July	Successful
		Tracked by STSS Demo satellites
9 July 09:00:00[80]	Black Brant VB			Wallops LA-2[79]		NASA
		Daytime Dynamo	NASA	Suborbital	Geospace	9 July	Successful[80]
9 July 09:00:15[80]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops LA-2[79]		NASA
		Daytime Dynamo	NASA	Suborbital	Geospace	9 July	Successful[80]
11 July 15:35[79]	Gradicom II			Chamical		CITEFA
			CITEFA	Suborbital	Test flight	11 July	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
21 July 07:00[86]	Nike-Improved Orion			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		PHOCUS	Stockholm/SSC	Suborbital	Atmospheric	21 July	Successful
21 July 11:58:00[80]	Terrier-Orion			Wallops Island		NASA
		RockSat-X	Wallops Flight Facility	Suborbital	Student experiments	21 July	Successful[80]
27 July 10:01[79]	LGM-30G Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-04		U.S. Air Force
			U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	27 July	Launch failure
		An anomaly was detected five minutes after launch and the flight was terminated.
27 July[79]	R-29RMU Sineva			K-84 Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	27 July	Successful
11 August 14:45[79]	Minotaur IV Lite			Vandenberg SLC-8		Orbital
		HTV-2b	U.S. Air Force	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	11 August	Spacecraft failure
		Second flight of the HTV-2, loss of contact approximately 20 minutes after launch at Mach 20.
27 August 03:20[79]	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535 Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	27 August	Successful
1 September 13:53[79]	Terrier-Oriole		FTM-16 E2	Kauai		MDA
			MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	1 September	Successful
		SM-3 Block 1B target
1 September 13:54[79]	RIM-161C SM-3 Block 1B		FTM-16 E2	USS Lake Erie, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	1 September	Spacecraft failure
		First launch of SM-3 Block 1B, intercept failed
3 September 09:46[79]	RS-12M Topol			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	3 September	Successful
15 September[87]	Kavoshgar (Zelzal-based)			Semnan		ISA
		Kavoshgar-5	ISA	Suborbital	Biological	15 September	Launch failure
		First Iranian attempt to launch a monkey into space; failed, resulting in death of the monkey
26 September[88] 03:20[79]	Prithvi II			Integrated Test Range IC-3[79]		DRDO
			DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	27 September	Successful
27 September 07:08[87]	RS-26 Rubezh			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	27 September	Launch failure
29 September[citation needed]	R-29RMU2.1 Layner			K-114 Tula, Barents Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	30 September	Successful
30 September 04:02[89]	Agni-II			ITR IC-4[79]		Indian Army
			Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	30 September	Successful
		Travelled 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) downrange
5 October 05:56[79]	SRALT		FTT-12	C-17, Pacific Ocean		MDA
			U.S. Army / MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	5 October	Successful
		Intercepted by THAAD missile
5 October 05:56[79]	R-17 Elbrus		FTT-12	MLP, Barking Sands		U.S. Army
			U.S. Army / MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	5 October	Successful
		Intercepted by THAAD missile
5 October 06:00[79]	THAAD		FTT-12	Barking Sands		U.S. Army
			U.S. Army / MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	5 October	Successful
		Intercepted target missile
5 October 06:00[79]	THAAD		FTT-12	Barking Sands		U.S. Army
			U.S. Army / MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	5 October	Successful
		Intercepted target missile
8 October 10:25:01[80]	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		PICTURE	Boston	Suborbital	Astronomy	8 October	Spacecraft failure[80]
11 October 21:15:00[80]	Terrier-Orion			Andøya		NASA
		CHAMPS	Colorado	Suborbital	Geospace	11 October	Successful[80]
13 October 13:50:00[80]	Terrier-Orion			Andøya		NASA
		CHAMPS	Colorado	Suborbital	Geospace	13 October[80]	Successful
28 October 03:40[79]	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535 Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful
2 November 07:50[79]	Jericho III			Palmachim		Israeli Air Force
			Israeli Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	2 November	Successful
3 November 06:45[79]	RS-12M Topol			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	3 November	Successful
6 November 07:00[80]	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		XQC F5	Wisconsin	Suborbital	Astronomy	6 November	Successful[80]
15 November 03:30[90]	Agni IV			Integrated Test Range IC-4		DRDO
			Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	15 November	Successful
17 November 11:30	UGM-27 Polaris (STARS)			Barking Sands LC-42		U.S. Air Force
		AHW Flight 1A	U.S. Army	Suborbital	Technology demonstration	17 November	Successful
25 November 23:00[79]	Improved Orion			Barreira do Inferno		AEB
			INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	25 November	Successful
27 November 09:10[91]	VSB-30			Esrange		EuroLaunch
		/ TEXUS-48	DLR/ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity	27 November	Successful
2 December 22:00[79]	VS-30			Barreira do Inferno		AEB
		Brasil-Alemanha	INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	2 December	Successful
3 December 07:21:31[79]	VS-30/Improved Orion			Ny-Ålesund		Andøya
		ICI-3 (CanoRock 4)	Oslo/Andøya	Suborbital	Atmospheric	3 December	Successful[92]
10 December 10:30:00[93]	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
			Colorado	Suborbital	Astronomy	10 December	Successful
19 December 14:48[94]	S-310			Uchinoura		JAXA
			JAXA/TPU/TU	Suborbital	Ionospheric	19 December	Successful
19 December	MN-300			Kapustin Yar		Roshydromet
		MR-30	Roshydromet	Suborbital	Meteorology Test flight	19 December	Successful
		Maiden flight of MN-300
23 December	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535 Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	23 December	Successful
23 December	RSM-56 Bulava			K-535 Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
			VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	23 December	Successful
27 December 12:00	RS-18 UR-100N			Baikonur		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	27 December	Successful
?	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS ?, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	?	Successful
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 44
?	UGM-133 Trident II D5			USS ?, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	?	Launch failure
		Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 44 ?

Date (UTC)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
9 January	Mars Express	Flyby of Phobos	Closest approach: 100 kilometres (62 mi). Mars Express made a total of 8 flybys of Phobos at a distance of less than 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) between 20 December and 16 January.
9 January	Artemis P1	Spacecraft left LL2 orbit and joined Artemis P2 in LL1 orbit
11 January	Cassini	3rd flyby of Rhea	Closest approach: 76 kilometres (47 mi)[95]
15 February	Stardust (NExT)	Flyby of Tempel 1	Closest approach: 181 kilometres (112 mi). Observed changes since Deep Impact flyby and imaged crater created by Deep Impact impactor, as well as new terrain.
18 February	Cassini	74th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 3,651 kilometres (2,269 mi)
18 March	MESSENGER	Hermocentric orbit injection	First artificial satellite of Mercury; elliptical orbit with a periapsis of 200 kilometers (120 mi) and an apoapsis of 15,000 km (9,300 mi).[96]
19 April	Cassini	75th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 10,053 kilometres (6,247 mi)
8 May	Cassini	76th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,873 kilometres (1,164 mi)
8 June	Chang'e 2	Departed lunar orbit	Travelled to L2 Lagrangian point, which it reached in August 2011.[97]
20 June	Cassini	77th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 1,359 kilometres (844 mi)
27 June	Artemis P1	Lunar orbit insertion	Initial orbital parameters were: apogee 3,543 kilometres (2,202 mi), perigee 27,000 kilometres (17,000 mi). Over the following three months, the orbit was lowered to an apogee of 97 kilometres (60 mi) and a perigee of 18,000 kilometres (11,000 mi), with an inclination of 20 degrees; retrograde orbit.
16 July	Dawn	Vestiocentric orbit injection	First artificial satellite of 4 Vesta.[98] Initial orbit was 16,000 kilometres (9,900 mi) high and was reduced to 2,700 kilometres (1,700 mi) until 11 August.
17 July	Artemis P2	Lunar orbit insertion	Initial orbital parameters were similar to Artemis P1. Over the following three months the orbit was lowered to an apogee of 97 kilometres (60 mi) and a perigee of 18,000 kilometres (11,000 mi), with an inclination of 20 degrees; prograde orbit.
25 August	Cassini	Second-closest flyby of Hyperion[99]	Closest approach: 25,000 kilometres (16,000 mi)
12 September	Cassini	78th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 5,821 kilometres (3,617 mi)
16 September	Cassini	Flyby of Hyperion	Closest approach: 58,000 kilometres (36,000 mi)
1 October	Cassini	14th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 99 kilometres (62 mi)
19 October	Cassini	15th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 1,231 kilometres (765 mi)
6 November	Cassini	16th flyby of Enceladus	Closest approach: 496 kilometres (308 mi)
12 December	Cassini	3rd flyby of Dione	Closest approach: 99 kilometres (62 mi)
13 December	Cassini	79th flyby of Titan	Closest approach: 3,586 kilometres (2,228 mi)
31 December	GRAIL-A	Lunar orbit insertion	Twin satellite Grail-B's insertion occurred a day later, on 1 January 2012.

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
21 January 10:05	5 hours 23 minutes	15:49	Expedition 26 ISS Pirs	Dmitri Kondratyev Oleg Skripochka	Prepared the ISS Poisk module for future dockings.[100]
16 February 13:15	6 hours 23 minutes	18:15	Expedition 26 ISS Pirs	Dmitri Kondratyev Oleg Skripochka	Installed a radio antenna, deployed a nanosatellite, installed two experiments and retrieved two exposure panels on a third experiment.
28 February 15:46	6 hours 34 minutes	22:20	STS-133 ISS Quest	Stephen Bowen Alvin Drew	Removed a failed coolant pump and routed a power extension cable.
2 March 15:41	6 hours 14 minutes	21:55	STS-133 ISS Quest	Stephen Bowen Alvin Drew	Removed or repaired thermal insulation, swapped out an attachment bracket on the Columbus module, installed a camera assembly on Dextre and installed a light on a cargo cart.
20 May 07:10	6 hours 19 minutes	13:29	STS-134 ISS Quest	Andrew Feustel Gregory Chamitoff	Completed installation of a new set of MISSE experiments, started installing a new wireless video system, installed an ammonia jumper, a new light on the CETA cart on the S3 truss segment, and a cover on the starboard SARJ.
22 May 06:05	8 hours 07 minutes	14:12	STS-134 ISS Quest	Andrew Feustel Michael Fincke	Hooked up a jumper to transfer ammonia to the Port 6 PVTCS, lubricated the SARJ and one of the "hands" on Dextre, and installed a stowage beam on the S1 truss.
25 May 05:43	6 hours 54 minutes	12:37	STS-134 ISS Quest	Andrew Feustel Michael Fincke	Installed PDGF (except for data cable), routed power cables from Unity to Zarya, finished installation of wireless video system, took pictures of Zarya's thrusters and captured infrared video of an experiment in ELC 3.
27 May 04:15	7 hours 24 minutes	11:39	STS-134 ISS Quest	Gregory Chamitoff Mike Fincke	Installed OBSS on S1 truss, removed the EFGF and replaced it with a spare PDGF, and released some torque on the bolts that were holding the spare arm for Dextre down against ELC 3. Final shuttle spacewalk.[101]
12 July 13:22	6 hours 31 minutes	19:53	Expedition 28 ISS Quest	Ronald Garan Michael Fossum	Moved a failed cooling pump from the station to the shuttle Atlantis, transferred a robotic refuelling apparatus from the shuttle to the ISS, installed a materials science experiment on the station's truss, serviced a robot arm attachment fitting, installed a thermal cover over the unused docking port PMA-3, and fixed a protruding wire on a grapple fixture on the Zarya module.
3 August 14:51	6 hours 22 minutes	21:22	Expedition 28 ISS Pirs	Sergei Volkov Aleksandr Samokutyayev	Launched Kedr satellite, installed BIORISK experiment outside Pirs, and installed laser communication equipment to transmit scientific data from the Russian Orbital Segment.

For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. For example, Soyuz launches by Arianespace in Kourou are counted under Russia because Soyuz-2 is a Russian rocket.

Country		Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
	China	19	18	1	0
	Europe	5	5	0	0
	India	3	3	0	0
	Iran	1	1	0	0
	Japan	3	3	0	0
	Russia	29	25	4	0	Includes two European Soyuz launches from Kourou, French Guiana by Arianespace. Fobos-Grunt launched successfully, but failed while on its parking orbit.[102]
	Ukraine	6	6	0	0	Includes one Zenit from Sea Launch and one from Land Launch.
	United States	18	17	1	0
World		84	78	6	0

Family	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane	Europe	5	5	0	0
Atlas	United States	5	5	0	0
Delta	United States	6	6	0	0
H-II	Japan	3	3	0	0
Long March	China	19	18	1	0
Minotaur	United States	4	3	1	0
PSLV	India	3	3	0	0
R-7	Russia	19	17	2	0
R-36	Ukraine	1	1	0	0
Safir	Iran	1	1	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	3	3	0	0	Final flight
Universal Rocket	Russia	10	8	2	0
Zenit	Ukraine	5	5	0	0

Rocket	Country	Family	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5	Europe	Ariane	5	5	0	0
Atlas V	United States	Atlas	5	5	0	0
Delta II	United States	Delta	3	3	0	0
Delta IV	United States	Delta	3	3	0	0
Dnepr	Ukraine	R-36	1	1	0	0
H-IIA	Japan	H-II	2	2	0	0
H-IIB	Japan	H-II	1	1	0	0
Long March 2	China	Long March	7	6	1	0
Long March 3	China	Long March	9	9	0	0
Long March 4	China	Long March	3	3	0	0
Minotaur I	United States	Minotaur	2	2	0	0
Minotaur IV	United States	Minotaur	1	1	0	0
PSLV	India	PSLV	3	3	0	0
Proton	Russia	Universal Rocket	9	8	1	0
Safir	Iran	Safir	1	1	0	0
Soyuz	Russia	R-7	10	9	1	0
Soyuz-2	Russia	R-7	9	8	1	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	3	3	0	0	Final flight
UR-100	Russia	Universal Rocket	1	0	1	0
Taurus	United States	Minotaur	1	0	1	0
Zenit	Ukraine	Zenit	5	5	0	0

Rocket	Country	Type	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5 ECA	Europe	Ariane 5	4	4	0	0
Ariane 5 ES	Europe	Ariane 5	1	1	0	0
Atlas V 401	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0
Atlas V 411	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0
Atlas V 501	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0
Atlas V 541	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0
Atlas V 551	United States	Atlas V	1	1	0	0
Delta II 7320	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0
Delta II 7920	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0
Delta II 7920H	United States	Delta II	1	1	0	0	Final flight
Delta IV Medium+ (4,2)	United States	Delta IV	2	2	0	0
Delta IV Heavy	United States	Delta IV	1	1	0	0
Dnepr	Ukraine	Dnepr	1	1	0	0
H-IIA 202	Japan	H-IIA	2	2	0	0
H-IIB	Japan	H-IIB	1	1	0	0
Long March 2C	China	Long March 2	4	3	1	0
Long March 2D	China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0
Long March 2F	China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0
Long March 2F/G	China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Long March 3A	China	Long March 3	3	3	0	0
Long March 3B	China	Long March 3	5	5	0	0
Long March 3C	China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0
Long March 4B	China	Long March 4	3	3	0	0
Minotaur I	United States	Minotaur I	2	2	0	0
Minotaur IV+	United States	Minotaur IV	1	1	0	0
PSLV-G	India	PSLV	1	1	0	0
PSLV-CA	India	PSLV	1	1	0	0
PSLV-XL	India	PSLV	1	1	0	0
Proton-M / Briz-M	Russia	Proton	9	8	1	0
Rokot / Briz-KM	Russia	UR-100	1	0	1	0
Safir-B	Iran	Safir	1	1	0	0
Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat-M	Russia	Soyuz-2	3	3	0	0
Soyuz ST-A / Fregat	Russia	Soyuz-2	1	1	0	0
Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M	Russia	Soyuz-2	4	3	1	0
Soyuz ST-B / Fregat-MT	Russia	Soyuz-2	1	1	0	0
Soyuz-FG	Russia	Soyuz	4	4	0	0
Soyuz-U	Russia	Soyuz	6	5	1	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	3	3	0	0	Final flight
Taurus-XL	United States	Taurus	1	0	1	0
Zenit-2M	Ukraine	Zenit	1	1	0	0
Zenit-3F	Ukraine	Zenit	2	2	0	0	Maiden flight
Zenit-3SL	Ukraine	Zenit	1	1	0	0
Zenit-3SLB	Ukraine	Zenit	1	1	0	0

Site	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Baikonur	Kazakhstan	25	23	2	0
Cape Canaveral	United States	7	7	0	0
Dombarovsky	Russia	1	1	0	0
Kourou	France	7	7	0	0
Jiuquan	China	6	5	1	0
Kennedy Space Center	United States	3	3	0	0
Kodiak	United States	1	1	0	0
MARS	United States	1	1	0	0
Ocean Odyssey	International waters	1	1	0	0
Plesetsk	Russia	6	4	2	0
Satish Dhawan	India	3	3	0	0
Semnan	Iran	1	1	0	0
Tanegashima	Japan	3	3	0	0
Taiyuan	China	4	4	0	0
Vandenberg	United States	6	5	1	0
Xichang	China	9	9	0	0
Total		84	78	6	0

Orbital regime	Launches	Successes	Failures	Accidentally achieved	Remarks
Transatmospheric	0	0	0	0
Low Earth	44	40	4	0	14 to ISS, 1 to Tiangong-1
Medium Earth / Molniya	8	7	1	0
Geosynchronous / GTO	27	26	1	1
High Earth / Lunar transfer	3	3	0	0
Heliocentric / Planetary transfer	2	2	0	0
Total	84	78	6	1

• 2011 in science
• List of human spaceflights, 2011–2020
• Timeline of spaceflight