2011 in spaceflight

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
Manned flights
Orbital	7
Total travellers	28
EVAs	10

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 manned 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.

Overview of orbital spaceflight

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.

Manned launches

Seven manned 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 manned 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 manned missions to Tiangong-1 were conducted in 2011, the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft, which was launched on 31 October, docked twice with the module to test its systems in preparation for a successful 2012 manned 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 unmanned launch failure in August. A week later, Soyuz TMA-02M undocked, beginning Expedition 30, with the Soyuz spacecraft landing on 22 November. The final manned 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.

Unmanned exploration

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]

Launch failures

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.

Launches

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Launch site		LSP
	Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
	Remarks
20 January 12:29:01	Zenit-3F		Baikonur Site 45/1		Roskosmos
	Elektro-L No.1	Roskosmos	Geostationary	Weather	In orbit	Operational[5]
	Maiden flight of Zenit-3F
20 January 21:10[6]	Delta IV-H		Vandenberg SLC-6		United Launch Alliance
	USA-224 (KH-11)	NRO	Low Earth	Optical imaging	In orbit	Operational
	NRO Launch 49, first Delta IV Heavy launch from Vandenberg[7]
22 January 05:37:57[8]	H-IIB 304		Tanegashima LA-Y2		JAXA
	Kounotori 2 (HTV-2)	JAXA	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	30 March	Successful
22 January 06:10[9]	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 01:31:41	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-09M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	26 April 13:22:53	Successful
	Kedr	RKK Energia	Low Earth	Amateur radio	4 January 2012[10]	Successful
28 January 10:46:00[11]	Black Brant IX		Poker Flat		NASA
	FIRE	Colorado	Suborbital	Astronomy	28 January	Spacecraft failure[11]
1 February 14:00	Rokot/Briz-KM		Plesetsk Site 133/3		VKS
	Kosmos 2470 (Geo-IK-2 No.11)	VKS	Low Earth	Geodesy	In orbit	Launch failure
	Upper stage malfunctioned due to problems with the flight software,[12] reached lower orbit than planned
5 February 08:11:11[11]	Black Brant IX		Poker Flat		NASA
	Polar NOx	VPI	Suborbital	Geospace	5 February	Spacecraft failure[11]
6 February 12:26	Minotaur I		Vandenberg SLC-8		Orbital
	USA-225 (RPP)	NRO	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational[13]
	NRO Launch 66
16 February 21:50[14]	Ariane 5ES		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Johannes Kepler ATV	ESA	Low Earth (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)	Logistics	9 March 16:57:17	Successful
	Leonardo (PMM)[15]	ASI/NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS module	In orbit	Operational
	ExPRESS-4	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	In orbit	Operational
	Manned flight, final flight of Discovery.
26 February 03:07	Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat		Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN
	Kosmos 2471 (Glonass-K1)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
February[9]	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
February[9]	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
1 March 21:00[9]	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[9]	Juno		Fort Wingate LC-96		US Army
		US Army	Suborbital	Target	2 March	Successful
	Target for MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 MSE test, successfully intercepted
4 March 10:09:43	Taurus-XL 3110		Vandenberg LC-576E		Orbital Sciences
	Glory	NASA	Intended: Sun-synchronous	Climatology	4 March	Launch failure
	KySat-1	Kentucky Space	Intended: Low Earth	Technology
	Hermes	Colorado	Intended: Low Earth	Technology
	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)	US Air Force	Low Earth	Technology	16 June 2012 12:48[16][17]	Successful
9 March[9]	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)
11 March 23:38	Delta IV-M+ (4,2)		Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
	USA-227 (SDS)	NRO	Geosynchronous		In orbit	Operational
	NRO Launch 27
15 March[9]	Kavoshgar		Semnan		ISA
	Kavoshgar-4	ISA	Suborbital	Biological	15 March	Successful
	Apogee: 120 kilometres (75 mi)
16 March[9]	Terrier-Oriole		Kauai		MDA
	ARAV-B	MDA	Suborbital	Radar target	16 March	Successful
	Tracked by both STSS Demo satellites
23 March 18:50:00[11]	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	EVE	CU Boulder	Suborbital	SDO calibration	23 March	Successful[11]
29 March 04:01[18]	VSB-30		Esrange		EuroLaunch
	TEXUS-49	DLR/ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity	29 March	Successful
	Apogee: 268 kilometres (167 mi)
4 April 22:18:20[19][20]	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-21	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS Expedition 27/28	16 September 03:59:39	Successful
9 April 20:47:04	Long March 3A		Xichang LA-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		In orbit	Operational
	USA-229 (NOSS)	NRO	Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	NRO Launch 34
15 April 06:52[9]	UGM-96 Trident I C4 (LV-2)[22]		Meck		MDA
		MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	15 April	Successful
15 April 07:03[9]	RIM-161 Standard Missile 3		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)
20 April 04:42[23][24][25]	PSLV		Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
	Resourcesat-2	ISRO	Low Earth	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
	YouthSat	ISRO/MGU	Low Earth	Scientific	In orbit	Operational
	X-Sat	CREST	Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
22 April 21:37[26][27][28]	Ariane 5ECA[29]		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Yahsat 1A	Yahsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	New Dawn[30]	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
	New Dawn's C-Band antenna failed to deploy
26 April[9]	R-29RMU Sineva		K-84 Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
		VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	26 April	Successful
27 April 08:00:00[11]	Black Brant IX		Poker Flat		NASA
		WFF	Suborbital	Test flight	27 April	Successful[11]
27 April 13:05:21	Soyuz-U		Baikonur 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-10M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	29 October 13:00:31	Successful
4 May 17:41:33[31]	Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat		Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN
	Meridian 4	VKS	Medium Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
6 May[32] 23:02[33]	Tianying 3C		Hainan		CNSA
	Kunpeng-1	CSSAR	Suborbital	Environment monitoring	23:09	Successful
	Apogee: 196.6 kilometres (122.2 mi).
7 May 18:10	Atlas V 401		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
	USA-230 (SBIRS-GEO 1)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Missile defence	In orbit	Operational
11 May 18:00[9]	Improved Orion		Barreira do Inferno		AEB
		INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	11 May	Successful
16 May 12:56	Space Shuttle Endeavour		Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
	STS-134	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	1 June 06:35	Successful
	AMS-02[15]	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS component	In orbit	Operational
	ExPRESS-3	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics	In orbit	Operational
	Manned flight, final flight of Endeavour.
20 May 13:21[34]	SpaceLoft XL		Spaceport America		UP Aerospace
			Suborbital	Technology	20 May	Successful
	Goddard	Celestis	Suborbital	Space burial		Successful
	Apogee: 118.3 kilometres (73.5 mi), successfully recovered.
20 May 14:50[9]	R-29RMU2.1 Layner		K-84 Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
		VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	20 May	Successful
	Maiden flight of Layner missile
20 May 19:15[35]	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur 200/39		International Launch Services
	Telstar 14R	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Partial spacecraft failure
	Second solar panel failed to deploy due to tangled cable[36]
20 May 20:38[37]	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	ST-2	SingTel/Chunghwa	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	INSAT-4G/GSAT-8[38]	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
7 June 02:12:45	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-02M	Roskosmos	Low Earth orbit (ISS)	ISS Expedition 28/29	22 November 02:26	Successful
10 June 11:11:16[11]	Terrier-Orion		Wallops Island		NASA
	SubTec IV[9]	GSFC	Suborbital	Technology	10 June	Successful[11]
10 June 14:20	Delta II 7320		Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
	SAC-D	CONAE/NASA	Low Earth	Oceanography	In orbit	Operational
	Final scheduled flight of Delta II 7300 series, spacecraft carrying NASA Aquarius instrument
15 June 09:14[39]	Safir		Semnan		ISA
	Rasad 1	ISA	Low Earth	Optical imaging	6 July 2011	Successful
20 June 16:13[40]	Long March 3B		Xichang LA-2		CNSA
	Chinasat-10	China Satcom	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
21 June 14:38	Soyuz-U		Baikonur 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-11M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	1 September 10:21:41	Successful
22 June 13:35	LGM-30G Minuteman III		Vandenberg LF-10		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	22 June	Successful
23 June 10:18:00[11]	Terrier-Orion		Wallops Island		NASA
	RockOn	Colorado	Suborbital	Student experiments	23 June	Successful[11]
27 June 16:00[41]	Soyuz-U		Plesetsk 16/2		VKS
	Kosmos 2472 (Kobalt-M No.7)	VKS	Low Earth	Optical surveillance	24 October	Successful
28 June 11:55[9]	RSM-56 Bulava		K-535 Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
		VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
28 June[9]	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[9]	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[9]	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[9]	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[9]	Ghadr-1[9]		Iran		IRGC
		IRGC	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
	Part of an exercise with 14 missile launches, apogee: 500 kilometres (310 mi)
30 June 03:09	Minotaur I		MARS LP-0B		Orbital Sciences
	USA-231 (ORS-1)	ORSO	Low Earth	Optical imaging	In orbit	Operational
6 July 04:28[42]	Long March 2C		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CNSA
	Shijian XI-03	CNSA	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
8 July 15:29	Space Shuttle Atlantis		Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
	STS-135	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	21 July 2011 09:57	Successful
	Raffaelo MPLM	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS logistics		Successful
	PSSC-2	US Air Force	Low Earth	Technology	8 December	Successful
	Manned flight, final flight of Atlantis and of Space Shuttle programme.
9 July 02:04[9]	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[11]	Black Brant VB		Wallops LA-2[9]		NASA
	Daytime Dynamo	NASA	Suborbital	Geospace	9 July	Successful[11]
9 July 09:00:15[11]	Terrier-Orion		Wallops LA-2[9]		NASA
	Daytime Dynamo	NASA	Suborbital	Geospace	9 July	Successful[11]
11 July 15:35[9]	Gradicom II		Chamical		CITEFA
		CITEFA	Suborbital	Test flight	11 July	Successful
	Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
11 July 15:41[43][44]	Long March 3C		Xichang LA-2		CNSA
	Tianlian 1B	CNSA	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
13 July 02:27[45][46]	Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat		Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
	Globalstar M081	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M083	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M085	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M088	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M089	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M091	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
15 July 11:18	PSLV-XL		Satish Dhawan FLP		ISRO
	GSAT-12	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
15 July 23:16	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur 200/39		International Launch Services
	SES-3	SES World Skies (July–September) SES (September—)	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	KazSat-2		Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
16 July 06:41	Delta IV-M+ (4,2)		Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		United Launch Alliance
	USA-232 (GPS-IIF-2)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
18 July 02:31[47]	Zenit-3F		Baikonur Site 45/1		Roskosmos
	Spektr-R (RadioAstron)	Roskosmos	High Earth	Radio astronomy	In orbit	Operational
21 July 07:00[48]	Nike-Improved Orion		Esrange		EuroLaunch
	PHOCUS	Stockholm/SSC	Suborbital	Atmospheric	21 July	Successful
21 July 11:58:00[11]	Terrier-Orion		Wallops Island		NASA
	RockSat-X	Wallops Flight Facility	Suborbital	Student experiments	21 July	Successful[11]
26 July 21:44[49]	Long March 3A		Xichang LA-3		CNSA
	Compass-IGSO4	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
27 July 10:01[9]	LGM-30G Minuteman III		Vandenberg LF-04		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Test flight	27 July	Launch failure
	An anomaly was detected five minutes after launch and the flight was terminated
27 July[9]	R-29RMU Sineva		K-84 Ekaterinburg, Barents Sea		VMF
		VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	27 July	Successful
29 July 07:42[50]	Long March 2C		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CNSA
	Shijian XI-02	CNSA	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
5 August 16:25[51]	Atlas V 551		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
	Juno	NASA	Current: Heliocentric Planned: Zenocentric	Jupiter orbiter	In orbit	Operational
6 August 22:52[52]	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Astra 1N	SES Astra (August–September) SES (September—)	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R	BSAT/JSAT	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
11 August 14:45[9]	Minotaur IV Lite		Vandenberg SLC-8		Orbital
	HTV-2b	US Air Force	Suborbital	Technology	11 August	Spacecraft failure
	Second flight of the HTV-2, loss of contact approximately 20 minutes after launch at Mach 20.
11 August 16:15[53]	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CNSA
	Paksat-1R	SUPARCO	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
15 August 22:57[54]	Long March 4B		Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
	Hai Yang 2A	CAST	Low Earth	Oceanography	In orbit	Operational
17 August 07:12[55]	Dnepr-1		Dombarovsky Site 13		ISC Kosmotras
	Sich-2	NKAU	Low Earth	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
	NigeriaSat-2	NASRDA	Low Earth	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
	NigeriaSat-X	NASRDA	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	Rasat	TÜBİTAK	Low Earth	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
	EduSat	GAUSS	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	AprizeSat-5	exactEarth	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	AprizeSat-6	exactEarth	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	BPA-2	Hartron-Arkos	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Successful
17 August 21:25[56]	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur 200/39		Khrunichev
	Ekspress AM-4	RSCC	Intended: Geosynchronous Achieved: Transfer	Communication	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.[57]
18 August 09:28[58]	Long March 2C		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CNSA
	Shijian XI-04	CNSA	Intended: Low Earth	Technology	18 August	Launch failure
	Failed to reach orbit. Second stage's vernier engine support structure failed in flight, led to loss of attitude control.[59]
24 August 13:00[60]	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-12M	Roskosmos	Intended: Low Earth (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.[61]
27 August 03:20[9]	RSM-56 Bulava		K-535 Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
		VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	27 August	Successful
1 September 13:53[9]	Terrier-Oriole		Kauai		MDA
		MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	1 September	Successful
	SM-3 Block 1B target
1 September 13:54[9]	RIM-161C Standard Missile 3 Block 1B		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[9]	RS-12M Topol		Plesetsk		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	3 September	Successful
10 September 13:08:52[62]	Delta II 7920H		Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		United Launch Alliance
	GRAIL-A (Ebb)	NASA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	17 December 2012 22:28:51[63]	Successful
	GRAIL-B (Flow)	NASA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	17 December 2012 22:29:21[63]	Successful
	Final launch of Delta II Heavy, final Delta II launch from Cape Canaveral, and last launch from SLC-17
15 September[64]	Kavoshgar		Semnan		ISA
	Kavoshgar-5	ISA	Suborbital	Biological	15 September	Launch failure
	First Iranian attempt to launch a monkey into space; failed to reach orbit
18 September 16:33[65]	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CNSA
	Chinasat-1A	China Satcom	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
20 September 22:47	Proton-M/Briz-M		Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
	Kosmos 2473 (Garpun #1)	VKS	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
21 September 21:38	Ariane 5ECA		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Arabsat 5C	Arabsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	SES-2	SES	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
23 September 04:36:50	H-IIA		Tanegashima LA-Y1		Mitsubishi
	IGS Optical 4	CSICE	Low Earth	Imaging	In orbit	Operational
24 September 20:18	Zenit-3SL		Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
	Atlantic Bird 7	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
26 September[66] 03:20[9]	Prithvi II		Integrated Test Range IC-3[9]		DRDO
		DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	27 September	Successful
27 September 07:08[64]	RS-26 Rubezh		Plesetsk		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	27 September	Launch failure
27 September 15:49	Minotaur IV+		Kodiak LP-1		Orbital Sciences
	TacSat-4	US Air Force	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
29 September 13:16:03[67]	Long March 2F/G		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1		CNSA
	Tiangong-1	CNSA	Low Earth	Space station	In orbit	Operational
	Maiden flight of Long March 2F/G, first Chinese space station
29 September 18:32[68]	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur 200/39		International Launch Services
	QuetzSat 1	SES Satellite Leasing	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Intended for lease to QuetzSat
29 September[69]	R-29RMU2.1 Layner		K-114 Tula, Barents Sea		VMF
		VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	30 September	Successful
30 September 04:02[70]	Agni-II		ITR IC-4[9]		Indian Army
		Indian Army	Suborbital	Missile test	30 September	Successful
	Travelled 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) downrange
2 October 20:15	Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat		Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN
	Kosmos 2474 (Glonass-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
5 October 05:56[9]	SRALT		C-17, Pacific Ocean		MDA
		US Army/MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	5 October	Successful
	Intercepted by THAAD missile
5 October 05:56[9]	R-17 Elbrus		MLP, Barking Sands		US Army
		US Army/MDA	Suborbital	ABM target	5 October	Successful
	Intercepted by THAAD missile
5 October 06:00[9]	THAAD		Barking Sands		US Army
	FTT-12	US Army/MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	5 October	Successful
	Intercepted target missile
5 October 06:00[9]	THAAD		Barking Sands		US Army
	FTT-12	US Army/MDA	Suborbital	ABM test	5 October	Successful
	Intercepted target missile
5 October 21:00	Zenit-3SLB		Baikonur Site 45/1		Land Launch
	Intelsat 18	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
7 October 08:21	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CNSA
	Eutelsat W3C	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
8 October 10:25:01[11]	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	PICTURE	Boston	Suborbital	Astronomy	8 October	Spacecraft failure[11]
11 October 21:15:00[11]	Terrier-Orion		Andøya		NASA
	CHAMPS	Colorado	Suborbital	Geospace	11 October	Successful[11]
12 October 05:31	PSLV-CA		Satish Dhawan		ISRO
	Megha-Tropiques[71]	ISRO/CNES	Low Earth	Climatology	In orbit	Operational
	SRMSAT	SRM	Low Earth	Climatology	In orbit	Operational
	Jugnu	IITK	Low Earth	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
	VesselSat1	Luxspace	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
13 October 13:50:00[11]	Terrier-Orion		Andøya		NASA
	CHAMPS	Colorado	Suborbital	Geospace	13 October[11]	Successful
19 October 18:48	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur 200/39		International Launch Services
	ViaSat-1	ViaSat-IOM/ManSat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
21 October[72][73] 10:30	Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT		Kourou ELS		Arianespace
	Galileo-IOV 1	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation/Technology	In orbit	Operational
	Galileo-IOV 2	ESA	Medium Earth	Navigation/Technology	In orbit	Operational
	First Soyuz launch from Kourou
28 October 03:40[9]	RSM-56 Bulava		K-535 Yuri Dolgorukiy, White Sea		VMF
		VMF	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful
28 October 09:48:01	Delta II 7920-10		Vandenberg SLC-2W		United Launch Alliance
	NPP	NASA/NOAA	Low Earth	Weather Technology	In orbit	Operational
	E1P-U2	Montana State	Low Earth	Radiation	In orbit	Operational
	RAX-2	University of Michigan	Low Earth	Auroral	In orbit	Operational
	M-Cubed	University of Michigan	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	DICE-1	Space Dynamics Laboratory	Low Earth	Magnetosphere research	In orbit	Operational
	DICE-2	Space Dynamics Laboratory	Low Earth	Magnetosphere research	In orbit	Operational
	AubieSat 1	Auburn University	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
30 October 10:11	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-13M	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	25 January 2012	Successful
	Chibis-M (RS-39)	IKI	Low Earth	Ionospheric	15 October 2014
31 October 21:58:10	Long March 2F		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-1		CNSA
	Shenzhou 8	CNSA	Low Earth (Tiangong-1)	Technology	17 November 11:36	Successful
	Shenzhou-8-GC	CNSA	Low Earth (Tiangong-1)	Technology	2 April 2012	Successful
	Unmanned flight, first Chinese orbital docking
2 November 07:50[9]	Jericho III		Palmachim		Israeli Air Force
		Israeli Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	2 November	Successful
3 November 06:45[9]	RS-12M Topol		Plesetsk		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	3 November	Successful
4 November 12:51:41[74]	Proton-M/Briz-M		Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
	Kosmos 2475 (Glonass-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2476 (Glonass-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2477 (Glonass-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
6 November 07:00[11]	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
	XQC F5	Wisconsin	Suborbital	Astronomy	6 November	Successful[11]
8 November 20:16	Zenit-2M		Baikonur Site 45/1		Roskosmos
	Fobos-Grunt	Roskosmos	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[75] 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[76]
9 November 03:21[77]	Long March 4B		Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
	Yaogan 12	CNSA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
	Tian Xun 1	Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
14 November 04:14[78]	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-22	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS Expedition 29/30	27 April 2012	Successful
15 November 03:30[79]	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		US Air Force
	AHW Flight 1A	US Army	Suborbital	Technology	17 November	Successful
20 November 00:15[80]	Long March 2D		Jiuquan LA-4/SLS-2		CNSA
	Shiyan Weixing 4	CNSA	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
	Chuang Xin 1C	CNSA	Low Earth	Technology	In orbit	Operational
25 November 19:10:34	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
	AsiaSat 7	AsiaSat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
25 November 23:00[9]	Improved Orion		Barreira do Inferno		AEB
		INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	25 November	Successful
26 November 15:02	Atlas V 541		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		United Launch Alliance
	MSL (Curiosity)	NASA	Heliocentric	Mars rover	6 August 2012 05:18	Successful[2]
	Maiden flight of Atlas V 541, largest Mars rover yet launched
27 November 09:10[81]	VSB-30		Esrange		EuroLaunch
	TEXUS-48	DLR/ESA	Suborbital	Microgravity	27 November	Successful
28 November 08:25:57	Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat		Plesetsk Site 43/4		RVSN
	Kosmos 2478 (Glonass-M)	VKS	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
29 November 18:50[82]	Long March 2C		Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
	Yaogan 13	CNSA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
1 December 21:07[83]	Long March 3A		Xichang LA-3		CNSA
	Compass-IGSO5	CNSA	IGSO	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
2 December 22:00[9]	VS-30		Barreira do Inferno		AEB
	Brasil-Alemanha	INPE	Suborbital	Microgravity	2 December	Successful
3 December 07:21:31[9]	VS-30/Improved Orion		Ny-Aalesund		Andøya
	ICI-3 (CanoRock 4)	Oslo/Andøya	Suborbital	Atmospheric	3 December	Successful[84]
10 December 10:30:00[85]	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
		Colorado	Suborbital	Astronomy	10 December	Successful
11 December 11:17	Proton-M/Briz-M Enhanced		Baikonur Site 81/24		Khrunichev
	Luch 5A	Roskosmos	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Amos-5	SCL	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
12 December 01:21	H-IIA		Tanegashima LA-Y1		Mitsubishi
	IGS Radar 3	CSICE	Low Earth	Reconnaissance (radar)	In orbit	Operational
17 December 02:03:08	Soyuz-STA/Fregat		Kourou ELS		Arianespace
	Pléiades-HR 1A	CNES	Low Earth	Optical imaging	In orbit	Operational
	FASat-Charlie (SSOT)	MDN	Low Earth	Optical imaging	In orbit	Operational
	ELISA 1	CNES/DGA	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
	ELISA 2	CNES/DGA	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
	ELISA 3	CNES/DGA	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
	ELISA 4	CNES/DGA	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
19 December 14:48[86]	S-310		Uchinoura		JAXA
		JAXA/TPU/TU	Suborbital	Ionospheric	19 December	Successful
19 December	MN-300		Kapustin Yar		Rosgidromet
	MR-30	Rosgidromet	Suborbital	Meteorology Test flight	19 December	Successful
	Maiden flight of MN-300
19 December 16:41[87]	Long March 3B/E		Xichang LA-2		CNSA
	NigComSat-1R	NIGCOMSAT/NSRDA	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Operational
21 December 13:16	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-03M	Roskosmos	Low Earth orbit (ISS)	ISS Expedition 30/31	1 July 2012 08:14[88]	Successful
22 December 03:26	Long March 4B		Taiyuan LC-2		CNSA
	Zi Yuan 1-02C	CNSA	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
23 December 12:08	Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat		Plesetsk Site 43/4		VKO
	Meridian 5	VKO	Intended: Molniya	Communication	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
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
28 December 17:09	Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat		Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
	Globalstar M080	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M082	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M084	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M086	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M090	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
	Globalstar M092	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Operational
?	UGM-133 Trident II D5		USS ?, Pacific Ocean		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	?	Successful
	Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Test 44

Deep space rendezvous

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)[89]
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	Mercurocentric 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).[90]
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.[91]
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.[92] 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[93]	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.

EVAs

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.[94]
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.[95]
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.

Orbital launch summary

By country

		China (PRC)   Europe   India   Iran   Japan   Russia/CIS   United States
Orbital launch attempts by country in 2011

Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Europe	5	5	0	0
India	3	3	0	0
Iran	1	1	0	0
Japan	3	3	0	0
People's Republic of China	19	18	1	0
Russia/ CIS	35	31	4	0	Includes Sea Launch (1), Land Launch (1) and Soyuz from Kourou (2). Fobos-Grunt launched successfully, but failed post-launch[96]
United States	18	17	1	0

By rocket

By family

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
Energia	Ukraine/ Russia	5	5	0	0
H-II	Japan	3	3	0	0
Long March	People's Republic of China	19	18	1	0
Minotaur	United States	3	3	0	0
R-7	Russia	19	17	2	0
R-36	Ukraine	1	1	0	0
Safir	Iran	1	1	0	0
PSLV	India	3	3	0	0
Space Shuttle	United States	3	3	0	0	Retired
Pegasus	United States	1	0	1	0
Universal Rocket	Russia	10	8	2	0

By type

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	People's Republic of China	Long March	7	6	1	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	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	19	17	2	0
Space Shuttle	United States	Space Shuttle	3	3	0	0	Retired
UR-100	Russia	Universal Rocket	1	0	1	0
Taurus	United States	Pegasus	1	0	1	0
Zenit	Ukraine	Energia	5	5	0	0

By configuration

Rocket	Country	Type	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Ariane 5ECA	Europe	Ariane 5	4	4	0	0
Ariane 5ES	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	Retired
Delta IV Medium+ (4,2)	United States	Delta IV	2	2	0	0
Delta IV-H	United States	Delta IV	1	1	0	0
Dnepr-1	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	People's Republic of China	Long March 2	4	3	1	0
Long March 2D	People's Republic of China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0
Long March 2F	People's Republic of China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0
Long March 2F/G	People's Republic of China	Long March 2	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight
Long March 3A	People's Republic of China	Long March 3	3	3	0	0
Long March 3B	People's Republic of China	Long March 3	5	5	0	0
Long March 3C	People's Republic of China	Long March 3	1	1	0	0
Long March 4B	People's Republic of 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	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	Russia	Soyuz	4	4	0	0
Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat	Russia	Soyuz	5	4	1	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	Retired
Taurus-XL	United States	Taurus	1	0	1	0
Zenit-2M	Ukraine/ Russia	Zenit	1	1	0	0
Zenit-3F	Ukraine/ Russia	Zenit	2	2	0	0	Maiden flight
Zenit-3SL	Ukraine/ Russia	Zenit	1	1	0	0
Zenit-3SLB	Ukraine/ Russia	Zenit	1	1	0	0

By launch site

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	People's Republic of China	6	5	1	0
Kennedy Space Center	United States	3	3	0	0
Kodiak Launch Complex	United States	1	1	0	0
MARS	United States	1	1	0	0
Ocean Odyssey	International	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	People's Republic of China	4	4	0	0
Vandenberg	United States	6	5	1	0
Xichang	People's Republic of China	9	9	0	0

By orbit

Orbital regime	Launches	Successes	Failures	Accidentally achieved	Remarks
Low Earth	43	39	4	0	14 to ISS (7 manned) and 1 to Tiangong 1
Medium Earth	7	7	0	0
Geosynchronous/transfer	29	28	1	0
High Earth	2	1	1	0
Heliocentric orbit	3	3	0	0	Including planetary transfer orbits

See also

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

References

Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica". Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches". Gunter's Space Page. "Space Information Center". JAXA. McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report". Jonathan's Space Page. "NASASpaceFlight.com". "Space Calendar". NASA JPL. "Southwest Space Archive". "Launch Forecast". Space.com. "Spaceflight Now". Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive". "U.S. Space Objects Registry". "Хроника освоения космоса ('Chronicle of space exploration')" (in Russian). Cosmoworld.ru.

Generic references:

Footnotes

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