2028 in spaceflight

2028 in spaceflight
The rotorcraft Dragonfly probe to Titan is planned to be launched in 2028.
2028 in spaceflight

This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2028.

NASA plans to launch Dragonfly, a robotic rotorcraft probe which will explore Saturn's moon Titan.[1]

NASA plans to launch Artemis 4. The first to use SLS Block 1B.

Russia expects to launch the Luna 27 lunar lander in 2028.

Chang'e 8, the last mission before China’s moon base begins construction, is planned to launch.

The first uncrewed flight of Orel, Russia's replacement for the crewed Soyuz spacecraft, is scheduled for 2028.

India plans to launch the first module for the Bharatiya Antariksha Station in 2028.[2] India also plans to launch the Chandrayaan-4 and LUPEX lunar missions.

The Rosalind Franklin (rover) aims to launch to Mars.[3]

Orbital launches

Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat) 		Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks


March

29 March [4] India LVM3 India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Venus Orbiter Mission (Shukrayaan) ISRO Cytherocentric Venus orbiter  
Q1 (TBD)[5][6] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan MHI
United Arab Emirates MBR Explorer UAESA Heliocentric Asteroid flyby and landing  
Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA).

April

April (TBD)[7] TBA TBA TBA
Europe Ramses ESA Heliocentric Asteroid flyby  
Flyby of 99942 Apophis.


June

Q2 (TBD)[8] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
TBA TBA Low Earth TBA  
Small Satellites Mission Service (SSMS) #18 rideshare mission.

July

July (TBD)[1] United States Commercial launch vehicle United States TBA United States TBA
United States Dragonfly NASA Heliocentric (to Saturn) Exploration of Titan  
Rotorcraft probe to fly in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.
July (TBD)[11] Japan Epsilon S Japan Uchinoura Japan JAXA
Japan Solar-C EUVST JAXA Low Earth (SSO) Heliophysics  
Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission.[9][10]

August

August (TBD)[12] TBA TBA TBA
Argentina SAOCOM-2A CONAE Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  

September

September (TBD)[15] United States SLS Block 1B United States Kennedy LC-39B United States NASA
United States Artemis 4 NASA Selenocentric (NRHO) Crewed Gateway expedition
Crewed lunar landing		  
Europe International Habitation Module (I-HAB) ESA Selenocentric (NRHO) Lunar Gateway component  
Third crewed Orion flight, second Artemis lunar landing, and first lunar landing with 4 crew members.[13] First launch of the SLS Block 1B variant with the Exploration Upper Stage. Delivery of I-HAB to the Lunar Gateway.[14]
Q3 (TBD)[8] Europe Ariane 64 France Kourou ELA-4 France Arianespace
TBA TBA Geosynchronous TBA  
Multi-Launch Service (MLS) #3 rideshare mission.

October

October (TBD)[17] United States TBA United States Kennedy United States TBA
Europe TBA ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars lander  
Europe Rosalind Franklin ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars rover  
ExoMars mission. Delayed and retooled due to the suspension of ESA–Russia cooperation on ExoMars.[16]

December

December (TBD) [18][19] Russia Amur / Fregat-M Russia Vostochny Site 2A Russia Roscosmos
Russia GVM-M Roscosmos Low Earth Mass simulator  
Russia Sfera × ?[20] Roscosmos Low Earth Communications  
Maiden flight of Amur (Soyuz-7), a partially reusable methane-powered launch vehicle.
Q4 (TBD)[21][22] United States Falcon 9 Block 5 United States TBA United States SpaceX
United States Germany GRACE-C1 NASA / DLR Low Earth (Polar) Gravimetry  
United States Germany GRACE-C2 NASA / DLR Low Earth (Polar) Gravimetry  
Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment-Continuity (GRACE-C).
Q4 (TBD)[23][24] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
Europe CRISTAL (Sentinel-9) ESA Low Earth (Polar) Earth observation  
Part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme.
Q4 (TBD)[8] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
TBA TBA Low Earth TBA  
SSMS #19 rideshare mission.

To be determined

2028 (TBD)[25] Russia Angara A5 Russia Vostochny Site 1A Russia Roscosmos
Russia Luna 27 Roscosmos TLI to lunar surface Lunar lander  
Third mission of Luna-Glob Programme.
2028 (TBD)[26][27] Russia Angara A5 Russia Vostochny Site 1A Russia Roscosmos
Russia Orel Roscosmos Low Earth Flight test  
First uncrewed test flight of Russia's new crewed spacecraft, Orel. First launch of Angara A5 from Vostochny.
2028 (TBD)[26][29] Russia Angara A5P Russia Vostochny Site 1A Russia Roscosmos
Russia Orel Roscosmos Low Earth (ISS) Flight test  
First flight of the Angara A5P, a crew-rated variant of the Angara A5.[28] An uncrewed Orel capsule will be sent to the International Space Station to test docking procedures.
2028 (TBD)[26][30][28] Russia Angara A5P Russia Vostochny Site 1A Russia Roscosmos
Russia Orel Roscosmos Low Earth (ISS) Crewed flight test  
Crewed flight test of the Orel capsule to the International Space Station.
2028 (TBD)[31][32] Europe Ariane 62 or Vega-C[33] France Kourou ELA-4 or ELV France Arianespace
Europe ROSE-L (Sentinel-12) ESA Low Earth (Polar) Earth observation  
Part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme.
2028 (TBD)[34][35] Japan Epsilon S Japan Uchinoura Japan JAXA
Japan JASMINE JAXA / NAOJ Low Earth (SSO) Astrometric observatory  
2028 (TBD)[37] United States Falcon 9 Block 5 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-40 United States SpaceX
United Arab Emirates Al Yah 5 Yahsat Geosynchronous Communications  
Replacement for Yahsat 1B (Al Yah 2).[36]
2028 (TBD)[15][38] United States Falcon Heavy United States Kennedy LC-39A United States SpaceX
United States SpaceX GLS-1 SpaceX / NASA Selenocentric (NRHO) Gateway logistics  
First Lunar Gateway resupply mission, using the Dragon XL logistics module.
JFY 2028 (TBD)[39] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan JAXA
Japan DESTINY+ JAXA Heliocentric Asteroid flyby  
Aims to conduct a flyby of 3200 Phaethon in 2030.
2028 (TBD)[40] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan MHI
Japan Himawari 10 JMA Geosynchronous Meteorology  
2028 (TBD)[41] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan MHI
Japan India LUPEX JAXA / ISRO TLI to lunar surface Lunar lander  
Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission. Known as Chandrayaan-5 in India.
2028 (TBD)[42] China Long March 5 China Wenchang LC-1 China CASC
China Chang'e 8 CNSA Selenocentric to lunar surface Lunar lander
ISRU demonstration		  
2028 (TBD)[2] India LVM3 India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Bharatiya Antariksha Station-B1 ISRO Low Earth Space station module  
First module for ISRO's Bharatiya Antariksha space station.
2028 (TBD)[43] India HLVM 3 India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Gaganyaan-7 / G5 ISRO Low Earth (BAS) Resupply Spacecraft  
India's first resupply mission to BAS.
2028 (TBD)[44] China Long March 4B China Taiyuan LC-9 China CASC
China Brazil CBERS 6 CASC / INPE Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  
2028 (TBD)[45] India LVM3 SC India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Chandrayaan-4 ascent module ISRO TLI to lunar surface Space rendezvous  
India Chandrayaan-4 descend module ISRO TLI to lunar surface Lunar lander  
Chandrayaan-4 ascender and lander.
2028 (TBD)[45] India LVM3 SC India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Chandrayaan-4 propulsion module ISRO Selenocentric Lunar sample-return  
India Chandrayaan-4 transfer module ISRO Selenocentric Space rendezvous  
India Chandrayaan-4 reentry module ISRO Selenocentric Lunar sample-return  
Chandrayaan-4 reentry and transfer modules.
2028 (TBD)[46] Russia Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat Russia Vostochny Site 1S Russia Roscosmos
Russia Belarus RBKA №1 Roscosmos / Belarus Low Earth Earth observation  
RBKA will follow in the footsteps of BKA (Belarusian Satellite) launched along with Kanopus-V 1 and several other satellites in July 2012.
2028 (TBD)[47] United States Starship United States TBA United States SpaceX
United States Europe Starlab Starlab Space Low Earth Space station  
Starlab Space is a joint venture between Voyager Space (Nanoracks) and Airbus.
2028 (TBD)[48] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
France Germany MERLIN CNES / DLR Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation of atmospheric methane  
2028 (TBD)[23] Europe Vega-C[49] France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
Europe Sentinel-3D[50] ESA Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  
Fourth Sentinel-3 satellite.
2028 (TBD)[51][52] Russia TBA Kazakhstan Baikonur or Russia Vostochny Russia Roscosmos
Russia Ekspress-40 RSCC Geosynchronous Communications  
Replacement for Ekspress-AM7 at 40° East.
2028 (TBD)
[53] 		United States TBA United States Cape Canaveral United States TBA
United States HelioSwarm Hub NASA Low Earth Research  
United States HelioSwarm Node × 8 NASA Low Earth Research  
2028 (TBD)[54] TBA TBA TBA
Europe Genesis ESA Low Earth Satellite geodesy  
Aims to greatly improve the International Terrestrial Reference Frame.
2028 (TBD)[55] United States Commercial launch vehicle United States Cape Canaveral or Kennedy[56] United States TBA
United States Europe Sample Retrieval Lander NASA / ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars sample-return  
United States Mars Ascent Vehicle NASA Martian surface to TMI Mars sample-return  
United States TBA NASA TMI to Martian surface Mars aircraft
United States TBA NASA TMI to Martian surface Mars aircraft
First lander component of the NASA–ESA Mars sample-return mission. It will carry NASA's Mars Ascent Vehicle and two sample recovery Ingenuity class helicopters.


Suborbital flights

Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat) 		Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
March (TBD)[57] United States Improved Orion Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA / Sweden SNSA
Germany Sweden REXUS-39 DLR / SNSA Suborbital Education  
March (TBD)[57] United States Improved Orion Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA / Sweden SNSA
Germany Sweden REXUS-40 DLR / SNSA Suborbital Education  
October (TBD)[57] Germany Red Kite/Red Kite Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany MAPHEUS-19 DLR Suborbital Microgravity research  
November (TBD)[57] Brazil VSB-30 Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany Europe TEXUS-65 DLR / ESA Suborbital Microgravity research  
November (TBD)[57] Brazil VSB-30 Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany Europe TEXUS-66 DLR / ESA Suborbital Microgravity research  

Deep-space rendezvous

Date (UTC) Spacecraft Event Remarks

Extravehicular activities (EVAs)

Start Date/Time Duration End Time Spacecraft Crew Remarks

Orbital launch statistics

By country

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

By rocket

By family

Family Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By type

Rocket Country Family Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By configuration

Rocket Country Type Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By spaceport

Site Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By orbit

Orbital regime Launches Achieved Not achieved Accidentally
achieved 		Remarks
Transatmospheric 0 0 0 0
Low Earth 0 0 0 0
Geosynchronous / transfer 0 0 0 0
Medium Earth 0 0 0 0
High Earth 0 0 0 0
Heliocentric orbit 0 0 0 0 Including planetary transfer orbits

References

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  2. ^ a b "First module of Indian space station to launch by 2028: ISRO chief". The Indian Express. 23 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
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Generic references:

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