United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. ULA was formed in December 2006 by combining the teams at these companies which provide spacecraft launch services to the government of the United States. ULA launches from both coasts of the US. They launch their Atlas V vehicle from LC-41 in Cape Canaveral and LC-3E at Vandeberg. Their Delta IV launches from LC-37 at Cape Canaveral and LC-6 at Vandenberg.

United Launch Alliance

An Atlas V with a 4 meter diameter fairing, no boosters and a single centaur upper stage engine.

NPO Energomash "V.P. Glushko" is a major Russian rocket engine manufacturer, The company primarily develops and produces liquid propellant rocket engines.

NPO Energomash

RD-180

An American Propulsion and Rocket manufacturer founded in 1942 that worked on major projects for NASA such as the Apollo CM main engine, the Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System, and engines for the Titan Rockets the launched the likes of Voyager. They merged with Rocketdyne in 2013.

Aerojet

RL10A-1

Atlas V 401

JPSS is a collaborative program between NOAA and NASA. JPSS-2 is one of five satellites that will comprise the JPSS constellation. These spacecraft gather global measurements of atmospheric, terrestrial and oceanic conditions, including sea and land surface temperatures, vegetation, clouds, rainfall, snow and ice cover, fire locations and smoke plumes, atmospheric temperature, water vapor and ozone.

LOFTID is a tech demo for the inflatable heatshield technology. It will attempt to survive a reentry from orbit after JPSS 2 is separated. This test will validate the technology for various applications, such as landing large payloads on Mars and engine reuse on ULA’s Vulcan rocket.

JPSS 2 (Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft No. 2) & LOFTID

Sun-Synchronous Orbit

Atlas V 401 | JPSS 2 (Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft No. 2) & LOFTID

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 3E

The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).

Launch Successful

Atlas V with 5m Fairing, 3 SRB, 1 Centaur upper stage engine.

AJ-60A

Atlas V 531

SES-20 & SES-21 are a pair of C-band communication satellites built by Boeing, using the highly efficient all-electric propulsion BSS-702SP satellite bus.

These satellites will enable SES to clear 280MHz of mid-band spectrum for 5G use while seamlessly migrating SES’s existing C-band customers and ensuring the continued delivery of digital television to nearly 120 million American TV homes and other critical data services.

SES-20 & SES-21

Geostationary Orbit

Atlas V 531 | SES-20 & SES-21

Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

Space Launch Complex 41

The Delta IV Heavy (Delta 9250H) is an expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle, the largest type of the Delta IV family, and is the world's second highest-capacity rocket in operation. It is manufactured by United Launch Alliance and was first launched in 2004.

RS-68A

RL10B-2

Delta IV Heavy

Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

NROL-91

Unknown

Delta IV Heavy | NROL-91

Space Launch Complex 6

Atlas V is an expendable launch system in the Atlas rocket family. It was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin and is now operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture with Boeing. Each Atlas V rocket uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen to power its first stage and an American-built RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its Centaur upper stage. The RD-180 engines are provided by RD Amross, while Aerojet Rocketdyne provides both the RL10 engines and the strap-on boosters used in some configurations. The 421 version uses a 4m wide fairing, 2 solid rocket boosters and one engine on the Centaur stage.

Atlas V 421

Sixth geosynchronous satellite of the Space Based Infrared System program (SBIRS), providing capabilities for early missile warning and missile defense. SBIRS GEO-6 is the second satellite using Lockheed Martin's LM2100 combat bus.

SBIRS GEO-6

Geostationary Transfer Orbit

Atlas V 421 | SBIRS GEO-6

Atlas V with 5m Fairing, 4 SRB, 1 Centaur upper stage engine.

Atlas V 541

Two US national security payloads. The first is the Space Force's Wide Field of View (WFOV) Testbed satellite, the second is a multi-manifest satellite for the Department of Defense (DoD).

USSF-12

Geosynchronous Orbit

Atlas V 541 | USSF-12

The Atlas V N22 is a crew rated variant of the Atlas V 422 - it sports two solid motor strap on boosters with two liquid fueled stages. It will be primarly used to support NASA's Commercial Crew program by taking the CST-100 to orbit.

Atlas V N22

This was the second uncrewed test flight for the Starliner spacecraft. Reflight of the OFT mission allowed Boeing to demonstrate readiness of the spacecraft and implement corrections to the problems which were found during the first OFT flight.

CST-100 Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2)

Low Earth Orbit

Boeing

CST-100 Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 Patch

Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2

Atlas V N22 | CST-100 Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2)

Rosie the Astronaut

Active

Non-Human

CST-100 Starliner

Starliner Spacecraft 2

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite T (GOES-T) is the third satellite in NOAA’s advanced GOES-R series. It is meant to operate as GOES West and work in tandem with GOES-16, which operates in the GOES East position

GOES-T

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

GOES-T Mission Patch

Atlas V 541 | GOES-T

Atlas V is an expendable launch system in the Atlas rocket family. It was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin and is now operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture with Boeing. Each Atlas V rocket uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen to power its first stage and an American-built RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its Centaur upper stage. The RD-180 engines are provided by RD Amross, while Aerojet Rocketdyne provides both the RL10 engines and the strap-on boosters used in some configurations. The 511 version uses a 5m wide fairing, 1 solid rocket booster and one engine on the Centaur stage.

Atlas V 511

USSF-8 will launch two identical Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6 directly to a near-geosynchronous orbit approximately 36,000 km above the equator.

Data from the GSSAP will uniquely contribute to timely and accurate orbital predictions, further enabling space flight safety including satellite collision avoidance. 

Unique to this mission is the first and only planned flight of the Atlas V 511 configuration.

USSF-8

USSF-8 Patch

Atlas V 511 | USSF-8

Atlas V is an expendable launch system in the Atlas rocket family. It was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin and is now operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture with Boeing. Each Atlas V rocket uses a Russian-built RD-180 engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen to power its first stage and an American-built RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its Centaur upper stage. The RD-180 engines are provided by RD Amross, while Aerojet Rocketdyne provides both the RL10 engines and the strap-on boosters used in some configurations. The standard payload fairing sizes are 4 or 5 meters in diameter and of various lengths. Fairings sizes as large as 7.2 m in diameter and up to 32.3 m in length have been considered. The rocket is assembled in Decatur, Alabama and Harlingen, Texas.

Northrup Grumman Space Systems designs, builds and delivers space, defence and aviation-related systems to customers around the world. They aquired Orbital ATK in 2018 along with its launchers and ongoing missions.

Northrop Grumman Space Systems

GEM 60

Atlas V 551

Rideshare mission with the STPSat-6 satellite and six secondary payloads for the US Air Force. STPSat-6 carries the NNSA's Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System-3 (SABRS-3) payload and NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) experiment.

STP-3

Atlas V 551 | STP-3

Lucy is the first mission to explore and study Trojan asteroids. The Trojans are a type of asteroids that orbit the Sun in two groups, in front of and behind Jupiter in its orbit around our star. Since these asteroids have been in such stable orbits for billions of years, they are of great interest as remnants of early Solar System.
Lucy is a NASA mission led by NASA Goddard and Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Over the course of 12 years, Lucy will fly by seven different Trojan asteroids and also one main belt asteroid. The complex trajectory to visit all targets will include several Earth gravity assists.

Lucy

Heliocentric N/A

Lucy NASA Mission Patch

Atlas V 401 | Lucy

Landsat 9 is a partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to continue the Landsat program's critical role in monitoring, understanding and managing the land resources needed to sustain human life. Landsat 9, like Landsat 8, has a higher imaging capacity than past Landsats, allowing more valuable data to be added to the Landsat global land archive. Its operational orbit is a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 705 km for a mission lifetime of at least 5 years.

Landsat 9

LandSat 9 NASA Mission Patch

Atlas V 401 | Landsat 9

Fifth geosynchronous satellite of the Space Based Infrared System program (SBIRS), providing capabilities for early missile warning and missile defense. SBIRS GEO-5 is the first satellite using Lockheed Martin's LM2100 combat bus.

SBIRS GEO-5

ULA SBIRS GEO-5 Mission Patch

Atlas V 421 | SBIRS GEO-5

Classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

NROL-82

National Reconnaissance Office

NROL-82 Patch

Delta IV Heavy | NROL-82

NROL-44

NROL-44 Patch

Delta IV Heavy | NROL-44

Space Launch Complex 37B

NROL-101

Medium Earth Orbit

NROL-101 Patch

Atlas V 531 | NROL-101

Atop this ULA Atlas V rocket will be Perseverance, a car-sized rover which will explore an ancient river delta on Mars. Armed with a suite of six scientific instruments, Perseverance will primarily hunt for clues to the planet's distant past, and hopefully uncover signs of ancient life and habitability. The rover also carries an experiment that'll convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, a box-sized helicopter named Ingenuity that'll demonstrate powered flight on Mars, and a system that enables the rover to leave behind samples for later retrieval and return to Earth during NASA and ESA's ambitious sample return mission later this decade.

Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter)

Atlas V 541 | Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter)

Atlas V with 5m Fairing, 0 SRB, 1 Centaur upper stage engine.

Atlas V 501

It is the sixth flight of the X-37B program. United States Air Force Orbital Test Vehicle is built by Boeing. It's an unmanned 5000 kg, 8.8 m-long reusable mini-spaceplane capable of autonomous re-entry and landing.

OTV-6 (X-37B) (USSF-7)

Atlas V 501 | OTV-6 (X-37B) (USSF-7)

This is the sixth and final satellite in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system, which is a series of communications satellites operated by the United States Air Force Space Command. It provides global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms.

AEHF-6

Atlas V 551 | AEHF-6

Atlas V with 4m fairing, 1 SRB, 1 Centaur upper stage engine.

Atlas V 411

Solar Orbiter is a joint ESA/NASA mission dedicated to solar and heliospheric physics. It will be used to examine how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, the vast bubble of charged particles blown by the solar wind into the interstellar medium. The spacecraft will combine in situ and remote sensing observations to gain new information about the solar wind, the heliospheric magnetic field, solar energetic particles, transient interplanetary disturbances and the Sun's magnetic field.

Instruments include:
* Solar Wind Analyser (SWA)
* Energetic Particle Detector (EPD)
* Magnetometer (MAG)
* Radio and Plasma Wave analyser (RPW)
* Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI)
* Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI)
* Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE)
* Spectrometer Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX)
* Coronagraph (Metis)

While mission is not intended to get as close to the Sun as Parker Solar Probe, it's designed to coordinate observations and has different set of instruments. Main mission starts after one and only Earth flyby in November 2021, and lasts until Dec 2026 when it enters extended phase. During the mission, Solar Orbiter will get through numerous Venus gravity assists, and its trajectory will be highly inclined allowing direct observations of Sun's poles.

Solar Orbiter

Atlas V 411 | Solar Orbiter

This is the first test flight of Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. Although Atlas V and Centaur upper stage successfully put Starliner into planned trajectory, the spacecraft was unable to perform a nominal orbital insertion. Preliminary analysis indicate that Mission Elapsed Time (MET) system error led to Starliner burning more fuel than expected. Spacecraft is healthy and in stable orbit, but won't be able to reach and dock with ISS. Landing at White Sands Facility is planned on Dec 22.

CST-100 Starliner Orbital Flight Test

CST-100 Starliner Orbital Flight Test Patch

Atlas V N22 | CST-100 Starliner Orbital Flight Test

Starliner Spacecraft 3 (Calypso)

Delta IV M+(4,2)

GPS-IIIA (Global Positioning System) is the first evolution stage of the third generation of the GPS satellites. It consists of the first ten (known as "tranche") of GPS III satellites.

GPS III SV02 "Magellan"

United States Air Force

GPS III USAF Mission Patch

SpaceX

GPS-III SV01 SpaceX Mission Patch

Delta IV M+(4,2) | GPS III SV02

This is the fifth satellite in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system, which is a series of communications satellites operated by the United States Air Force Space Command. It provides global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms.

AEHF-5

Atlas V 551 | AEHF-5 (USA 292)

Delta IV M+(5,4)

WGS-10 is the tenth and final satellite in Wideband Global Satcom constellation.  These are high-capacity military communications satellites providing vital service for tactical forces who rely on WGS for connectivity to the Defence Information Systems Network (DISN).

WGS-10

Delta IV M+(5,4) | WGS-10

NROL-71

NROL-71 Patch

Delta IV Heavy | NROL-71

This is the fourth satellite in the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system, which is a series of communications satellites operated by the United States Air Force Space Command. It provides global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms.

AEHF-4

Atlas V 551 | AEHF-4 (USA 288)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Scout family of rockets were were American launch vehicles designed to place small satellites into orbit around the Earth. The Scout multistage rocket was the first orbital launch vehicle to be entirely composed of solid fuel stages.

Algol 1D

Castor-1 (M33-20-4)

Antares 2(vac) (X-259)

Altair 2(X-258)(vac)

Vought

Scout X-2

P-21A

Scout X-2 | P-21A

Wallops Island, Virginia, USA

Launch Area 3

The Soviet space program, was the national space program of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) actived from 1930s until disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Soviet Union's space program was mainly based on the cosmonautic exploration of space and the development of the expandable launch vehicles, which had been split between many design bureaus competing against each other. Over its 60-years of history, the Russian program was responsible for a number of pioneering feats and accomplishments in the human space flight, including the first intercontinental ballistic missile (R-7), first satellite (Sputnik 1), first animal in Earth orbit (the dog Laika on Sputnik 2), first human in space and Earth orbit (cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1), first woman in space and Earth orbit (cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova on Vostok 6), first spacewalk (cosmonaut Alexei Leonov on Voskhod 2), first Moon impact (Luna 2), first image of the far side of the Moon (Luna 3) and unmanned lunar soft landing (Luna 9), first space rover (Lunokhod 1), first sample of lunar soil automatically extracted and brought to Earth (Luna 16), and first space station (Salyut 1). Further notable records included the first interplanetary probes: Venera 1 and Mars 1 to fly by Venus and Mars, respectively, Venera 3 and Mars 2 to impact the respective planet surface, and Venera 7 and Mars 3 to make soft landings on these planets.

Soviet Space Program

Russian Space Forces

Kosmos-3M (11K65M)

Scientific satellite with a number of space physics instruments

Oval

Kosmos-3M | Oval

Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

132/2

The Proton-K was a Russian, previously Soviet, carrier rocket derived from the earlier Proton. It was built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

RD-253

RD-0210(v)

RD-0211(v)

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center is a Moscow-based producer of spacecraft and space-launch systems, including the Proton and Rokot rockets and is currently developing the Angara rocket family. The Proton launch vehicle launches from Baikonur and Rokot launches from Baikonur and Plesetsk. Angara will launch from Plesetsk and Vostochny.

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center

RD-0212

JSC Kuznetsov is one of th leading Russian producers of aircraft engines,liquid-propellant rocket engines as well as aero-derivative gas turbines and modular stations 

JSC Kuznetsov

RD-58

Proton-K/DM

US-KS 2

Proton-K/DM | US-KS 2

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

200/40

Arianespace SA is a multinational company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation, and marketing of the Ariane programme. Their vehicles launch exclusively from French Guiana in South America.

Arianespace

The Ariane 4 was an expendable space launch system, developed by the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Arianespace. Since its first flight on 15 June 1988 until the final flight on 15 February 2003, it attained 113 successful launches out of 116 total launches.

Aérospatiale was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale (SNIAS). Its head office was in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The name was changed to Aérospatiale during 1970.

Aérospatiale

PAL (Propulseur d'Appoint Liquide)

Snecma now known as Safran Aircraft Engines (SAE) is a French aerospace engine manufacturer.

Previous Launches

ON THIS DAY (UTC)

1962

P-21A

NASA

SCOUT X-2

Launch Area 3, Wallops Island, Virginia, USA

1977

OVAL

SOVIET SPACE PROGRAM

KOSMOS-3M

132/2, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

1984

US-KS 2

SOVIET SPACE PROGRAM

PROTON-K/DM

200/40, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

2002

JCSAT 2A

ARIANESPACE

ARIANE 44L

Ariane Launch Area 2, Kourou, French Guiana

2005

EKSPRESS AM-2

KhSC

PROTON-K/DM-2M

200/39 (200L), Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

2016

BEIDOU NO. 22

CASC

LONG MARCH 3A

Launch Complex 3 ( LC-3 ) ( LA-1 ), Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2018

GSAT-6A

ISRO

GSLV MK II

Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad, Sriharikota, Republic of India

2018

VNIIEM EMKA

RUSSIAN SPACE FORCES

SOYUZ 2.1V

43/4 (43R), Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

2018

BEIDOU-3 M9 & M10

CASC

LONG MARCH 3B / YZ-1

Unknown Pad, Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2022

DEMO FLIGHT

CASC

LONG MARCH 6A

Launch Complex 9A, Taiyuan, People's Republic of China

Nov 10

JPSS 2 & LOFTID

ULA

ATLAS V 401

Space Launch Complex 3E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Oct 04

SES-20 & SES-21

ULA

ATLAS V 531

Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

Sep 24

NROL-91

ULA

DELTA IV HEAVY

Space Launch Complex 6, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Aug 04

SBIRS GEO-6

ULA

ATLAS V 421

Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

Jul 01

USSF-12

ULA

ATLAS V 541

Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

May 19

CST-100 STARLINER ORBITAL FLIGHT TEST 2

ULA

Nov
10

Oct
04

Sep
24

Aug
04

Jul
01

May
19

Mar
01

Jan
21

Dec
07

Oct
16

Sep
27

May
18

Apr
26

Dec
11

Nov
13

Jul
30

May
17

Mar
26

Feb
10

Dec
20