2012 in spaceflight

2012 in spaceflight

The Dragon spacecraft (pictured) conducted the first COTS demonstration logistics flight in May 2012, becoming the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous with the International Space Station.
Orbital launches
First	9 January
Last	19 December
Total	77
Successes	72
Failures	2
Partial failures	3
Catalogued	75
National firsts
Satellite	Hungary  Poland  Romania  Belarus  North Korea
Orbital launch	North Korea
Rockets
Maiden flights	Delta IV-M+ (5,2) Unha-3 Vega
Retirements	Proton-K
Manned flights
Orbital	5
Total travellers	15
EVAs	5

The year 2012 saw a number of significant events in spaceflight. In May and October, the first Commercial Orbital Transportation Services resupply missions took place, during which the SpaceX Dragon became the first private spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). In June, China launched the manned Shenzhou 9 orbital mission, and North Korea achieved its first successful orbital launch in December. 2012 also saw China's first successful asteroid exploration mission, and the landing of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. The Vega and Unha-3 rockets made their maiden flights in 2012, while the Proton-K made its last.

A total of 77 orbital launches were attempted in 2012, of which 72 were successful, three were partially successful and two were failures. Five manned orbital missions were conducted over the course of the year, all successfully, carrying a total of 15 individuals into orbit. The year also saw five EVAs by ISS astronauts. The majority of the year's orbital launches were conducted by Russia, China and the United States, with 29, 19 and 13 launches respectively. A total of 139 payloads were launched during the year, including communication and navigation satellites, logistics spacecraft and scientific probes. Additionally, a large number of suborbital sounding rockets and ballistic missiles were launched by scientific and military organisations.

Overview of orbital spaceflight

A total of 77 orbital launches were attempted in 2012, with 72 being reported as successful, and a total of 139 payloads launched.^[1] The three most prolific spacefaring nations were Russia, with 29 launches and 27 successes; China, with 19 launches, all of which succeeded; and the United States, with 13 launches, of which 12 succeeded and one was a partial failure.^[1] European nations conducted eight orbital launches, all successfully, while India and Japan conducted two each, also successfully. Iran and North Korea both achieved one successful orbital launch during 2012, but Iran also suffered one launch failures, while North Korea suffered one.^[2][3]

Manned spaceflight

Five manned orbital launches were conducted during 2012, all successfully, carrying a total of 15 astronauts into orbit. Four of these missions were flown using Russian Soyuz spacecraft, while the fifth was a Chinese Shenzhou launch.^[4] All of the year's manned missions rendezvoused with space stations – the four Soyuz missions docked with the International Space Station (ISS), while China's Shenzhou 9 docked with the Tiangong-1 orbital laboratory. Five spacewalks were also undertaken in 2012, all by ISS crewmembers.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Unmanned exploration

Numerous significant milestones in robotic spaceflight occurred in 2012, including the landing of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars in August,^[10] and the first commercial resupply missions to the ISS in May and October.^[11][12] The latter also marked the first fully operational use of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Elsewhere in the Solar System, NASA's Dawn spacecraft completed its mission to 4 Vesta in September 2012,^[13] while China achieved its first asteroid flyby in December.^[14]

Launches

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Launch site		LSP
	Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
	Remarks
9 January 03:17:09	Long March 4B		Taiyuan LA-9		SAST
	Ziyuan 3	MLR	Low Earth	Earth imaging	In orbit	Operational[15]
	VesselSat-2	Luxspace	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational[15]
	–
11 January 13:25	Terrier-Improved Malemute[16]		Wallops Island		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Test flight	11 January	Successful[17]
	–
11 January 20:51	S-520		Uchinoura		JAXA
		JAXA/HU/TU/TU/TPU/KU/KUT	Suborbital	Atmospheric	11 January	Successful[18]
	–
13 January 00:56:04	Long March 3A		Xichang LA-3		CALT
	Fengyun 2-07[19]	CMA	Geosynchronous	Weather	In orbit	Operational[20]
	–
20 January 00:38:00	Delta IV-M+ (5,4)		Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
	USA-233 (WGS-4)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[21]
	–
24 January	Arrow III		Negev		IAI
		IAI/IDF	Suborbital	ABM Test	24 January	Successful[22]
	First test flight of the Arrow-III
25 January 23:06:40	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-14M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	28 April 13:46	Successful[23]
	–
3 February 00:04	Safir		Semnan		ISA
	Navid	ISA	Low Earth	Imaging	1 April[24]	Successful[25]
	–
10 February 04:40	Prithvi		ITR IC-4		DRDO
		DRDO	Suborbital	Target	10 February	Successful[26]
	Target for ABM test, successfully intercepted
10 February	Blue Sparrow		F-15 Eagle, Israel		IAF
		Israeli Air Force	Suborbital	ABM target	10 February	Successful[27]
	Arrow-3 tracking target
13 February 09:32	VSB-30		Esrange		EuroLaunch
	MASER-12	SSC	Suborbital	Microgravity	13 February	Successful[28]
	–
13 February 10:00:00	Vega		Kourou ELV		Arianespace
	LARES	ASI	Low Earth	Geodesy	In orbit	Operational[29]
	ALMASat-1[30]	Università di Bologna	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational[29]
	Xatcobeo[31]	Vigo/INTA	Low Earth	Technology	31 August 2014	Successful[29]
	UniCubeSat-GG[31]	Rome	Low Earth	Atmospheric	In orbit	Operational[29]
	Robusta[31]	Montpellier	Low Earth	Radiation	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
	e-st@r[31]	Torino	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
	Goliat[31]	Bucharest	Low Earth	Imaging/Radiation	31 December 2014	Successful[29]
	PW-Sat[31]	Warsaw	Low Earth	Technology	28 October 2014	Successful[29]
	MaSat-1	BME	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational[29]
	Maiden flight of Vega rocket; all payloads CubeSats except LARES and ALMASat-1. First Hungarian, Romanian and Polish satellites.
14 February 19:36:37	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
	SES-4	SES World Skies	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[32]
	–
19 February 05:41	Black Brant IX		Poker Flat		NASA
		UNH	Suborbital	Auroral research	19 February	Successful[33]
	–
22 February	UGM-133 Trident II D5		USS Tennessee, ETR		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	22 February	Successful[34]
	Demonstration and Shakedown Operation 23 (DASO-23)
24 February 16:12:04	Long March 3C		Xichang LA-2		CALT
	Compass-G5	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[35]
	–
24 February 22:15:00	Atlas V 551		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
	MUOS-1	US Navy	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational[36]
	–
25 February 10:46	LGM-30G Minuteman III		Vandenberg LF-09		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	25 February	Successful[37]
	–
22 March 09:00	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	CIBER	Caltech	Suborbital	Astronomy	22 March	Successful[38]
	–
23 March 04:34:05	Ariane 5ES		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Edoardo Amaldi ATV	ESA	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	3 October 01:23	Successful[39]
	–
25 March 12:10:32	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
	Intelsat 22	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[40]
	–
27 March 08:58	Terrier-Oriole		Wallops Island		NASA
	ATREX	Clemson	Suborbital	Geospace	27 March	Successful[41]
	–
27 March 08:59	Terrier-Improved Malemute		Wallops Island		NASA
	ATREX	Clemson	Suborbital	Geospace	27 March	Successful[41]
	–
27 March 09:00	Terrier-Orion		Wallops Island		NASA
	ATREX	Clemson	Suborbital	Geospace	27 March	Successful[41]
	–
27 March 09:02	Terrier-Improved Malemute		Wallops Island		NASA
	ATREX	Clemson	Suborbital	Geospace	27 March	Successful[41]
	–
27 March 09:03	Terrier-Orion		Wallops Island		NASA
	ATREX	Clemson	Suborbital	Geospace	27 March	Successful[41]
	–
30 March 05:49:32	Proton-K/DM-2		Baikonur Site 81/24		RVSN RF
	Kosmos 2479 (US-KMO)	VKO	Geosynchronous	Missile defence	In orbit	Operational[42]
	Final flight of Proton-K, final US-KMO satellite
31 March 10:27:04	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CALT
	Apstar-7	APT Satellite Holdings	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[43]
	–
3 April 23:12:57	Delta IV-M+(5,2)		Vandenberg SLC-6		United Launch Alliance
	USA-234 (FIA-R)	NRO	Low Earth	Radar imaging	In orbit	Operational[44]
	NRO Launch 25
5 April 14:18	SpaceLoft XL		Spaceport America		UP Aerospace
		ORS	Suborbital	Technology	5 April	Successful[45]
	Apogee: 117 kilometres (73 mi), successfully recovered
12 April 22:38:55	Unha-3		Sohae		KCST
	Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3[46]	KCST	Intended: Low Earth	Technology	12 April	Launch failure[3]
	Probable first stage failure, disintegrated over the Yellow Sea[3]
14 April	UGM-133 Trident II D5		USS Maryland, ETR		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	14 April	Successful[47]
	Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 45
14 April	UGM-133 Trident II D5		USS Maryland, ETR		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	14 April	Successful[47]
	Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 45
16 April	UGM-133 Trident II D5		USS Maryland, ETR		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	16 April	Successful[47]
	Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 46
16 April	UGM-133 Trident II D5		USS Maryland, ETR		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Test flight	16 April	Successful[47]
	Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 46
19 April 02:37	Agni-V		Integrated Test Range		DRDO
		DRDO	Suborbital	Test flight	19 April	Successful[48]
	Apogee: 800 kilometres (500 mi), maiden flight of Agni-V
20 April 12:50:24	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 31/6		Roskosmos
	Progress M-15M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	20 August 2012	Successful[49]
	–
23 April 22:18:13	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
	Yahsat 1B	Yahsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[50]
	–
23 April	VS-30/Orion		Andøya		DSTO
	HiFire-5	DSTO	Suborbital	Technology	23 April	Launch failure
	Hypersonic research experiment, second stage of launch vehicle failed to ignite
25 April	Shaheen-IA		Sonmiani		ASFC
		ASFC	Suborbital	Test flight	25 April	Successful[51]
	–
26 April 00:17	PSLV-XL		Satish Dhawan Space Centre FLP		ISRO
	RISAT-1	ISRO	Low Earth	Radar imaging[52]	In orbit	Operational[53]
	–
29 April 20:50:03[54]	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CALT
	Compass-M3	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[54]
	Compass-M4	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[54]
	–
4 May 18:42:00	Atlas V 531		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
	USA-235 (AEHF-2)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational[55]
	–
6 May 07:10:04[56]	Long March 2D		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		SAST
	Tianhui 1B	CNSA	Low Earth	Cartography	In orbit	Operational[56]
	–
10 May 06:18	Terrier Orion (ARAV-A)		Kauai		MDA
		MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	10 May	Successful[57]
	SM-3 Block 1B target
10 May 06:21	RIM-161C Standard Missile 3 Block 1B		USS Lake Erie, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	10 May	Successful[57]
	FTM-16 E2A, successful intercept
10 May 07:06:04[58]	Long March 4B		Taiyuan LA-9		SAST
	Yaogan 14	CNSA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational[58]
	Tiantuo 1	NUDT	Low Earth	Technology	3 November 2014
	–
15 May 03:01:23	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-04M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 31/32	17 September 02:53	Successful[59]
	Manned flight
15 May 22:13:07	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	JCSAT-13	SKY Perfect JSAT Group	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[60]
	Vinasat-2	VNPT	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[61]
	–
17 May 14:05	Soyuz-U		Plesetsk Site 16/2		VKO
	Kosmos 2480 (Kobalt-M No.8)	VKO	Low Earth	Optical surveillance	24 September	Successful[62]
	Final Soyuz-U launch from Plesetsk
17 May 16:39	H-IIA		Tanegashima LA-Y1		MHI
	GCOM-W1	JAXA/NASA	Sun-synchronous	Earth science	In orbit	Operational[63]
	Arirang-3	KARI	Sun-synchronous	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational[63]
	SDS-4	JAXA	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Operational[63]
	Horyu-2	KIT	Sun-synchronous	Technology Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational[63]
	–
17 May 19:12:14	Proton-M/Briz-M		Baikonur Site 81/24		International Launch Services
	Nimiq 6	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[64]
	–
22 May 07:44:38[11]	Falcon 9 v1.0		Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
	Dragon C2+	SpaceX / NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	Test spacecraft Logistics	31 May 16:42	Successful[65]
	New Frontier	Celestis	Low Earth	Space burial	27 June	Successful
	COTS Demo 2+,[66] orbital test manoeuvres and ISS rendezvous, berthing and cargo delivery. First commercial spacecraft to visit the ISS.[67] Celestis payload, containing cremated remains of 308 people including Gordon Cooper and James Doohan, remained intentionally attached to the upper stage.[68]
23 May[2]	Safir 1B		Semnan		ISA
	Fajr	ISA	Planned: Low Earth[2]	Imaging	23 May	Launch failure
	Probable launch failure;[2] identity of launch attempt, rocket, satellite and launch time not confirmed
23 May 06:15	RS-26 Rubezh		Plesetsk		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	23 May	Successful[69]
	–
26 May 15:56:04	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CALT
	Chinasat-2A	China Satcom	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[70]
	–
29 May 07:31:05	Long March 4C		Taiyuan LA-9		SAST
	Yaogan 15	CNSA	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational[71]
	–
1 June 05:22:59	Zenit-3SL		Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
	Intelsat 19	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
	Second solar panel initially failed to deploy after launch,[72] eventually deployed but damaged
7 June 17:39	RS-12M Topol		Kapustin Yar		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	7 June	Successful[73]
	–
13 June 16:00:37	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Kwajalein Atoll		Orbital Sciences
	NuSTAR	NASA	Low Earth	X-ray astronomy	In orbit	Operational[74]
	–
16 June 10:37:24[75]	Long March 2F		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1		CALT
	Shenzhou 9	CASC	Low Earth (Tiangong-1)	Technology	29 June 02:01[76]	Successful[4]
	Shenzhou-9-GC	CNSA	Low Earth (Tiangong-1)		2 December	Successful
	Manned flight, first Chinese woman in space,[77][78] first manned mission to Tiangong-1
20 June 12:28	Atlas V 401		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
	USA-236 (SDS)	NRO	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Operational[79]
	NRO Launch 38
21 June 10:40	Terrier Improved Orion		Wallops Island		NASA
	RockOn	Colorado	Suborbital	Student experiments	21 June	Successful[80]
	–
22 June 19:18	VS-40		Andøya		Andøya
	SHEFEX II	DLR	Suborbital	Technology	22 June	Successful[81]
	–
23 June 19:30	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	EVE	CU Boulder	Suborbital	SDO calibration	23 June	Successful[82]
	–
27 June 09:15	Castor 4B		Kauai		MDA
		MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	27 June	Successful[83]
	SM-3 Block 1B target
27 June 09:18	RIM-161C Standard Missile 3 Block 1B		USS Lake Erie, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	27 June	Successful[83]
	FTM-18, successful intercept
29 June 13:15	Delta IV-H		Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
	USA-237 (Mentor)	NRO	Geosynchronous	ELINT	In orbit	Operational[84]
	NRO Launch 15, first flight of Delta IV with RS-68A engines
3 July	Shahab-1		Iran		IRGC
		IGRC	Suborbital	Missile test	3 July	Successful[85]
	Apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi)
3 July	Shahab-2		Iran		IGRC
		IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	3 July	Successful[85]
	Apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi)
3 July	Shahab-3		Iran		IRGC
		IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	3 July	Successful[85]
	Apogee: ~150 kilometres (93 mi)
5 July 18:50	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	SUMI	NASA/MSFC	Suborbital	Solar research	5 July	Successful[86]
	–
5 July 21:36:07[87]	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Echostar XVII	Hughes Network Systems	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	MSG 3	EUMETSAT	Geosynchronous	Weather	In orbit	Operational
	–
9 July 18:38:30	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 81/24		International Launch Services
	SES-5	SES	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[88]
	–
11 July 18:50	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	Hi-C	NASA/MSFC	Suborbital	Solar research	11 July	Successful[89]
	–
13 July 04:36	Agni-I		Integrated Test Range		IDRDL
		IDRDL	Suborbital	Missile test	13 July	Successful[90]
	Apogee: ~200 kilometres (120 mi)
15 July 02:40:03	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-05M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 32/33	19 November 01:56	Successful[91]
	Manned flight
21 July 02:06:18[92]	H-IIB 304		Tanegashima LA-Y2		JAXA[93][94]
	Kounotori 3	JAXA	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	14 September	Successful[95]
	Raiko	Wakayama/Tohuku	Low Earth	Technology	6 August 2013[96]	Successful
	FITSAT-1 (Niwaka)	FIT	Low Earth	Technology	4 July 2013[97]	Successful
	We-Wish	Meisei Electric	Low Earth	Technology	11 March 2013[98]	Successful
	F-1	FPT	Low Earth	Technology	May 2013[99]	Successful
	TechEdSat	San Jose	Low Earth	Technology	5 May 2013[100]	Successful
	All payloads CubeSats other than Kounotori 3. CubeSats carried aboard Kounotori and deployed from the ISS
22 July 06:41:39	Soyuz-FG/Fregat		Baikonur Site 31/6		Roskosmos
	Kanopus V-1	Roskosmos	Low Earth	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational[101]
	BelKA-2	NASRB	Low Earth	Imaging	In orbit	Operational[101]
	Zond-PP		Low Earth	Technology Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational[101]
	TET-1	DLR	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational[101]
	exactView 1	exactEarth	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational[101]
	First Belarusian satellite
23 July 11:01	Black Brant XI		Wallops Island		NASA
	IRVE-3	NASA/Langley	Suborbital	Atmospheric entry test	23 July	Successful[102]
	Apogee: ~285 miles (459 km); part of the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator programme
24 July 19:17	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	DFS	USC	Suborbital	Solar research	24 July	Successful[103]
	–
25 July 15:43:04	Long March 3C		Xichang LA-2		CALT
	Tianlian I-03	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational[104]
	–
28 July 01:35:34[105]	Rokot/Briz-KM		Plesetsk Site 133/3		VKS
	Gonets M-3	Gonets	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Gonets M-4	Gonets	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2481 (Strela-3M)	VKS	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	MiR (Yubileyniy 2)	NPO PM	Low Earth	Amateur radio Technology	In orbit	Operational
	–
1 August 19:35:13	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-16M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	9 February 2013	Successful[106]
	Sfera-53	Roskosmos	Low Earth	Air density	In orbit	Operational[107]
	Fast rendezvous test;[108] Sfera-53 deployed from ISS at 18:29 UTC on 20 August during a spacewalk
2 August 20:54	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Intelsat 20	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[109]
	HYLAS-2	Avanti	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[109]
	–
6 August 19:31:00	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
	Telkom-3	PT Telkom	Planned: Geosynchronous Achieved: Medium Earth	Communication	In orbit	Launch failure[110]
	Ekspress MD2	RSCC	Planned: Geosynchronous Achieved: Medium Earth	Communication	In orbit
	Briz-M stage failure 7 seconds into its third burn.[111] Stage exploded on 16 October, generating over 500 pieces of orbital debris
7 August 07:30:00[112]	S-310		Uchinoura		JAXA
	[113]	UT/JAXA/AGU/TKD/NU/TU/KIT	Suborbital	Technology	7 August	Successful[114]
	–
9 August 03:16	Agni-II		ITR IC-4		Indian Army
		Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	9 August	Successful[115]
	Apogee: 220 kilometres (140 mi)
19 August 06:54:59	Zenit-3SL		Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
	Intelsat 21	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[116]
	–
30 August 08:05:27	Atlas V 401		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
	RBSP-A	NASA	Highly elliptical	Magnetospheric	In orbit	Operational[117]
	RBSP-B	NASA	Highly elliptical	Magnetospheric	In orbit	Operational[117]
	Radiation Belt Storm Probes
9 September 04:23	PSLV-CA		Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
	SPOT 6	CNES	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational[118]
	PROITERES	Osaka Institute of Technology	Low Earth	Amateur radio Technology	In orbit	Operational[118]
	–
12 September	Terrier-Lynx		Wallops Island		DoD
	Shark	DoD	Suborbital	Radar target	12 September	Successful[119]
	Apogee: ~300 kilometres (190 mi)
13 September 12:30	Juno		Fort Wingate LC-96		US Army
		US Army	Suborbital	Target	13 September	Successful[120]
	Target for MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 MSE test, successfully intercepted
13 September[121] 21:39:00	Atlas V 401		Vandenberg SLC-3E		United Launch Alliance
	USA-238 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
	USA-238 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
	CINEMA 1	UCB	Low Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
	CXBN	Morehead	Low Earth	X-ray astronomy	In orbit	Operational
	CP 5	CalPoly	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	CSSWE	CU-Boulder	Low Earth	Magnetospheric research	In orbit	Operational
	Aeneas	USC/NRO	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	STARE A	Lawrence Livermore	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	SMDC-ONE 2.1	US Army	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	SMDC-ONE 2.2	US Army	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	AeroCube 4	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	AeroCube 4A	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	AeroCube 4B	The Aerospace Corporation	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	NRO Launch 36
13 September	VS-30/Orion		Andøya		DSTO
	HiFire-3	DSTO	Suborbital	Technology	13 September	Successful[122]
	Hypersonic research experiment, Apogee: 349 kilometres (217 mi)
17 September 16:28:40	Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat		Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
	MetOp-B	EUMETSAT	Sun-synchronous	Weather	In orbit	Operational[123]
	–
18 September 19:10:04	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CALT
	Compass-M5	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[124]
	Compass-M6	CNSA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[124]
	–
19 September 11:45[125]	Agni-IV		ITR IC-4		Indian Army
		Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	19 September	Successful
	Apogee: 800 kilometres (500 mi)
21 September 13:15[126]	Agni-III		ITR IC-4		Indian Army
		Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	21 September	Successful
	Apogee: 450 kilometres (280 mi)
21 September 11:16	Terrier Improved Malemute		Wallops Island		NASA
	RockSat-X	NASA	Suborbital	Student experiments	21 September	Successful[127]
	Apogee: ~153 kilometres (95 mi)
22 September 11:00	Talos Terrier Oriole		Wallops Island		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Rocket test	22 September	Successful[128]
	Apogee: ~269 kilometres (167 mi)
28 September 21:18:07	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Astra 2F	SES	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[129]
	GSAT-10	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[130]
	–
29 September[131] 04:12:04	Long March 2D		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		SAST
	VRSS-1	MPPCTII	Low Earth	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational[132]
	–
4 October 03:37	Prithvi II		Integrated Test Range Launch Complex 3		DRDO
		DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	4 October	Successful[133]
	Apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi)
4 October 12:10:00	Delta IV M+(4,2)		Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
	USA-239 (GPS IIF-3)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[134]
	–
5 October 05:55	Dhanush		Ship, Indian Ocean		DRDO
		DRDO	Suborbital	Target	5 October	Successful[135]
	Apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi)
8 October 00:35:07[136]	Falcon 9 v1.0		Cape Canaveral SLC-40		SpaceX
	SpaceX CRS-1	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	28 October 19:22[12]	Successful[12]
	Orbcomm-2 F1	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communication	10 October	Launch failure[137][138]
	First flight of Commercial Resupply Services programme.[139] First stage engine failure resulted in unusably low orbit for Orbcomm payload; CRS-1 nonetheless placed into correct orbit
12 October 18:15:01	Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT		Kourou ELS		Arianespace
	Galileo IOV 3	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[140]
	Galileo IOV 4	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[140]
	–
14 October 03:25:05	Long March 2C/SMA		Taiyuan LA-9		CALT
	Shijian 9A	CNSA	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational[141]
	Shijian 9B	CNSA	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational[141]
	–
14 October 08:37:00	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 81/24		International Launch Services
	Intelsat 23	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[142]
	–
19 October 09:12	Topol M2		Plesetsk		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	19 October	Successful[143]
	–
19 October	R-29R Volna		K-433 Svyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets, Sea of Okhotsk		VMF
		VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	19 October	Successful[143]
	–
23 October 10:51:11[144]	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 31/6		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-06M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)[145]	Expedition 33/34	16 March 2013 03:06	Successful[146]
	Manned flight
23 October	UGM-133 Trident II D5		HMS Vigilant		Royal Navy
		Royal Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	23 October	Successful[147]
	–
24 October 18:29	RS-26 Rubezh		Kapustin Yar		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	24 October	Successful[148]
	–
25 October 15:33:04	Long March 3C		Xichang LA-2		CALT
	Compass-G6	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational[149]
	Compass navigation system became commercially operational in Asia-Pacific region in December 2012[150]
25 October	Long Range Air Launch Target		C-17 Globemaster III, Pacific Ocean		MDA
		MDA/IMDO	Suborbital	ABM target	25 October	Successful[151]
	Target for THAAD, successful intercept
25 October	THAAD		Meck Island		US Army
	FTI-01	US Army/MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	25 October	Successful[151]
	Intercepted target missile
25 October	(ARAV-B)		Wake Island		MDA
		MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	25 October	Successful[151]
	FTI-01, SM-3 Block 1A target
25 October	Standard Missile 3 Block 1A		USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), Pacific Ocean		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	ABM test	25 October	Spacecraft failure[151]
	FTI-01, intercept failed
25 October	SRBM		Kwajalein		MDA
		MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	25 October	Successful[151]
	FTI-01, Patriot PAC-3 target, successfully intercepted
31 October 07:41:18	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-17M[152]	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	21 April 2013	Successful[153]
	–
2 November 17:55	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	FOXSI	UC Berkeley	Suborbital	Solar research	2 November	Successful[154]
	–
2 November 21:04:00	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
	Luch 5B	Roskosmos	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[155]
	Yamal-300K	Gazprom	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[155]
	–
10 November 21:05:07	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Eutelsat 21B	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[156]
	Star One C3	Star One	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[156]
	–
14 November 11:07	LGM-30G Minuteman III		Vandenberg LF-10		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	14 November	Successful[157]
	–
14 November 11:42:46	Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat		Plesetsk Site 43/4		VKO
	Meridian 6	VKO	Molniya	Communication	In orbit	Operational[158]
	–
18 November 22:53:04	Long March 2C		Taiyuan LA-9		CALT
	Huanjing 1C	CNSA	Sun-synchronous	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational[159]
	Xinyan 1	CASC	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Operational[159]
	Fengniao 1	SAST	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Operational[159]
	Fengniao 1A	SAST	Sun-synchronous	Technology	In orbit	Operational[159]
	–
20 November 18:31:00	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
	EchoStar XVI	EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[160]
	–
21 November 10:55	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	IMAGER	University of Massachusetts	Suborbital	Astronomy	21 November	Successful[161]
	–
23 November	Prithvi		ITR IC-4		DRDO
		DRDO	Suborbital	Target	23 November	Successful[162]
	Target for ABM test, successfully intercepted
25 November 04:06:04	Long March 4C		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		SAST
	Yaogan 16A	CNSA	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational[163]
	Yaogan 16B	CNSA	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational[163]
	Yaogan 16C	CNSA	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational[163]
	–
25 November 11:20	Nike-Orion		Esrange		EuroLaunch
	MAPHEUS-3	DLR	Suborbital	Technology	25 November	Successful[164]
	Apogee: 140 kilometres (87 mi)
27 November 10:13:03[165]	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CALT
	Zhongxing 12/SupremeSAT-I	China Satcom/SupremeSAT	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[165]
	Part of satellite's communications payload was leased to SupremeSAT, a Sri Lankan satellite operator, as SupremeSAT-I
28 November	Ghauri		Tilla		Army of Pakistan
	Haft-5	Army of Pakistan	Suborbital	Missile test	28 November	Successful[166]
	Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
2 December 02:02:51	Soyuz-STA/Fregat		Kourou ELS		Arianespace
	Pléiades-HR 1B	CNES	Low Earth	Optical imaging	In orbit	Operational[167]
	–
3 December 20:43:59	Zenit-3SL		Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
	Eutelsat 70B	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[168]
	–
8 December 13:13:43	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
	Yamal-402	Gazprom	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational; partial launch failure[169]
	Briz-M stage failure 4 minutes before scheduled shut down on its fourth burn[170]
8 December 21:00	VS-30/Orion		Alcântara		AEB
	Iguaiba	INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	8 December	Successful[171]
	Apogee: 428 kilometres (266 mi)
11 December 18:03	Atlas V 501		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
	USA-240 (X-37B OTV-3)	US Air Force	Low Earth	Technology	17 October 2014	Successful[172][173]
	270-day X-37B endurance mission ultimately extended to over 680 days[173]
12 December 00:49:46[174][175]	Unha-3		Sohae		KCST
	Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2	KCST	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Spacecraft failure[176]
	First successful North Korean orbital launch, first North Korean satellite;[177] satellite reached orbit but malfunctioned thereafter[176]
13 December 05:20	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	DXL	U of M	Suborbital	Astronomy	13 December	Successful[178]
	–
17 December 07:00[179]	S-520		Uchinoura		JAXA
		Tohoku/JAXA/Tokai	Suborbital	Microgravity	17 December	Successful[180]
	Apogee: 312 kilometres (194 mi)
18 December 16:13:04[181]	Long March 2D		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		SAST
	Göktürk-2	MSB	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational[182]
	–
19 December 12:12:35	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-07M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Expedition 34/35	14 May 2013 02:31	Successful[183]
	Manned flight
19 December 21:49:07	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Skynet 5D	Astrium	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[184]
	Mexsat-3	SCT	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational[184]
	Skynet 5D military communications satellite operated by Astrium Services on behalf of the British Ministry of Defence
20 December 03:51	Prithvi II		ITR IC-3		DRDO
		Strategic Force Command	Suborbital	Missile test	20 December	Successful[185]
	Apogee: ~100 kilometres (62 mi)

Deep space rendezvous

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
16 February 14:31[5]	6 hours 15 minutes	20:46	Expedition 29/30 ISS Pirs	Oleg Kononenko Anton Shkaplerov	Moved Strela 1 crane from ISS Pirs module to Poisk module, installed four materials experiments on the exterior of the ISS, and installed supporting struts on the EVA ladder on Pirs.
20 August 16:37[6]	5 hours 51 minutes	22:28	Expedition 31/32 ISS Pirs	Gennady Padalka Yuri Malenchenko	Relocated Strela 2 telescoping boom from Pirs docking compartment to Zarya control module, in preparation for undocking of Pirs, which will pave the way for arrival of the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module in 2013. Also installed micrometeoroid debris shields on Zvezda service module, retrieved two experiments from Pirs' exterior, installed two support struts for hatch ladder and deployed two small tracking satellites.[107]
30 August 12:16	8 hours 17 minutes	20:33	Expedition 31/32 ISS Quest	Sunita Williams Akihiko Hoshide	Connected two power cables between the US and Russian orbital segments; removed and replaced Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) 1. The crew had difficulty in removing connecting bolts of the old MBSU, and were unable to tighten up the bolts for the new unit. The new MBSU was tied down for future trouble-shooting, with all other tasks deferred to a future EVA. Third-longest EVA in history.[7]
5 September 11:06	6 hours 28 minutes	17:34	Expedition 31/32 ISS Quest	Sunita Williams Akihiko Hoshide	Installed the new MBSU unit, working around difficulty with one of the bolts; replaced one of the cameras mounted on the Canadarm2. During this spacewalk, Sunita Williams broke Peggy Whitson's 2007 record for most total time spacewalking by a woman.[8][193]
1 November 12:29	6 hours 38 minutes	19:07	Expedition 32/33 ISS Quest	Sunita Williams Akihiko Hoshide	Reconfigured and isolated a leak in the ammonia cooling system of power channel 2B on the P6 truss by bypassing a leaking cooling loop and re-connecting jumpers to an unused loop of the Early External Thermal Control System (EETCS), and by redeploying the trailing Thermal Control Radiator of the system.[9][194]

Orbital launch summary

By country

Country		Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
	China	19	19	0	0
	Europe	8	8	0	0	All launched from Guiana Space Centre by Arianespace
	India	2	2	0	0
	Iran	2	1	1	0
	Japan	2	2	0	0
	North Korea	2	1	1	0	First successful orbital launch
	Russia /  CIS	29	27	1	1	Includes 2 Soyuz launches from Kourou and 3 Zenit from Sea Launch
	United States	13	12	0	1
World		78	72	4	2

By rocket

By family

Family	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane	Europe	7	7	0	0
Atlas	United States	6	6	0	0
Delta	United States	4	4	0	0
Falcon	United States	2	1	0	1	8 October rocket failure only affected one of two payloads[137]
H-II	Japan	2	2	0	0
Long March	People's Republic of China	19	19	0	0
R-7	Russia	14	14	0	0
Safir	Iran	2	1	1	0
PSLV	India	2	2	0	0
Pegasus	United States	1	1	0	0
Unha	North Korea	2	1	1	0	First successful launch
Universal Rocket	Russia	12	10	1	1
Vega	Europe	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Zenit	Ukraine /  Russia	3	3	0	0

By type

Rocket	Country	Family	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5	Europe	Ariane	7	7	0	0
Atlas V	United States	Atlas	6	6	0	0
Delta IV	United States	Delta	4	4	0	0
Falcon 9	United States	Falcon	2	1	0	1	Failure only affected one of two payloads
H-IIA	Japan	H-II	1	1	0	0
H-IIB	Japan	H-II	1	1	0	0
Long March 2	People's Republic of China	Long March	6	6	0	0
Long March 3	People's Republic of China	Long March	9	9	0	0
Long March 4	People's Republic of China	Long March	4	4	0	0
Pegasus XL	United States	Pegasus	1	1	0	0
PSLV	India	PSLV	2	2	0	0
Proton	Russia	Universal Rocket	11	9	1	1
Safir	Iran	Safir	2	1	1	0
Soyuz	Russia	R-7	10	10	0	0
Soyuz-2	Russia	R-7	4	4	0	0
UR-100	Russia	Universal Rocket	1	1	0	0
Unha	North Korea	Unha	2	1	1	0	First successful launch
Vega	Europe	Vega	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Zenit	Ukraine /  Russia	Zenit	3	3	0	0