A schedule of planned launches for the period more than six months hence, plus planned on-orbit and re-entry or landing events of satellites and spacecraft. Earlier periods can be found from the left hand menu.
Entries may be a little sparse because they are so far ahead and firm information has not yet become available.
| Date |
Time (UTC) |
Event |
2012 Aug 15 | | Bion-M Launch Soyuz 2-1b, Plesetsk SC |
 Recoverable biological research satellite based on Yantar/Zenit hybrid - payload will include mice, lizards, snails and microorganisms. The mission is planned to last 30 days before recovery.
Date is very approximate - Russian sources say 2012 q3.
|
2012 Aug 15 | | NROL 36 Launch Atlas V, Vandenberg AFB LC-3E |
Payload for US National Reconnaissance Office.
Approximate date, slipped from 2008 June.
|
2012 Aug 30 | | Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) Launch Atlas V 401, CCAFS LC-41 |
NASA satellite - Radiation Belt Storm Probes, twin spacecraft with leader and trailer. Part of NASA's "Living with a Star" programme.
Objective of the mission is to characterize and understand the acceleration, global distribution, and variability of the radiation belt electrons and ions that produce harsh environments for spacecraft and humans.
Orbit highly elliptical and near equatorial - 500 x 30,000 km. May be carried as a secondary payload on a geosynchronous mission and released into the transfer orbit.
Approximate date.
|
2012 Sep 12 | | Soyuz TMA-04M Undocking ISS |
Followed by re-entry and landing.
|
2012 Oct 1 | | Cygnus COTS OSC Risk Reduction Launch Antares (Taurus II), Wallops Flight Facility LC-0A |
Test flight of launch vehicle prior to operations using the Cygnus resupply craft for use with the ISS under the COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) and CRS (Commercial Resupply Services) contracts with NASA.
Delayed from 2011 December and 2012 February 28.
Approximate date - to be confirmed and subject to further delay.
|
2012 Oct 1 | | Shenzhou 10 Launch CZ-2FT1, Jiuquan SC |
Piloted mission aimed at docking with Tiangong 1 module. China has made a point of mentioning female crew members.
Date is very muuch an estimate, based on Chinese comments of two Shenzhou missions during 2012.
Frequency: 2224.065 MHz
|
2012 Oct 1 | | Soyuz TMA-06M Launch Soyuz-FG, Baikonur SC |
Crew to ISS - Ford, Novitskiy, Tarelkin.
Date subject to confirmation.
|
2012 Oct 3 | | Soyuz TMA-06M Docking ISS |
Date may slip.
|
2012 Nov 12 | | Soyuz TMA-05M Undocking ISS |
Followed by re-entry and landing.
|
2012 Nov 15 | | Soyuz TMA-07M Launch Soyuz-FG, Baikonur SC |
Crew to ISS - Hadfield, Mashburn, Romanenko
Date subject to confirmation.
|
2012 Nov 17 | | Soyuz TMA-07M Docking ISS |
Date may slip.
|
2012 Dec 1 | | Interface Region Imaging Spectrometer (IRIS) Launch L-1011/Pegasus, Vandenberg AFB |
IRIS is equipped with an ultraviolet telescope and spectrograph to make detailed measurements of the flow of energy and plasma through the sun’s corona and the heliosphere.
The date may change.
|
2012 Dec 1 | | TDRS-K Launch Atlas V, CCAFS, LC-41 |
Part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data relay from satellites and spacecraft in orbit.
Approximate date - slipped from 2011 June and 2012 October.
|
2012 Dec 15 | | AEHF F-3 Launch Atlas V (AV-019), CCAFS LC-41 |
|
2012 Dec 15 | | DMSP and DSX Launch Atlas V, Vandenberg AFB |
Twin payload launch of Defense Meteorologial Satellite Program and Joint NASA/USAF Demonstration and Science Experiments satellite.
DSX caries three experiments. Two Air Force payloads - the Wave Particle Interaction Experiment and Space Weather Experiment, will collect data on the electron and proton populations in the regions of the van Allen radiation. NASA's contribution is the Space Environment Testbeds (SET) payload designed to study space weather effects on spacecraft electronics.
DMSP will be deposited in the usual circular orbit sun-snchronous orbit. Further firings of the Atlas final stage will deposit DSX in an orbit 6,000 x 12,000 km.
The date is approximate.
|
2012 Dec 20 | | Cygnus CRS Mission 2 Launch Antares (Taurus II), Wallops Flight Facility |
Flight of Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft to delivery cargo to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) contract..
The pressurized cargo vessel is based the on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) carried as Shuttle cargo and the avionics have been developed for other satellites.
Approximate launch date, subject to slippage while the mission is being planned and while clearance is awaited for operations near the ISS.
|
2013 Jan 15 | | Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Launch Atlas V-401, Vandenberg AFB |
Remote sensing data and imagery collection to be used in agriculture, education, business, science, and government.
Sun-synchronous orbit.
|
2013 Feb 1 | | Chandrayaan-II Launch Sriharikota SC |
Lunar landing mission
|
2014 Jul 15 | | BepiColombo Mercury Launch Ariane 5ECA, CSG ELA-3 |
European mission with two scientific spacecraft. ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) will be injected into differing orbits around the planet Mercury.
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