2018 in spaceflight

2018 in spaceflight

The James Webb Space Telescope is set to launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in 2018

2018 is expected to bring a number of milestones in spaceflight. NASA's Space Launch System is expected to launch on its first mission, EM-1, carrying an uncrewed Orion spacecraft and a number of piggybacking CubeSats on a test flight around the moon. The long-delayed James Webb Space Telescope, the largest space telescope ever built, will also be launching to the Earth-Sun L2 point.

In planetary exploration, the Juno mission is expected to complete its exploration of Jupiter's interior with a destructive re-entry into the gas giant. Two robotic Mars missions, the NASA InSight seismology lander and the first SpaceX Red Dragon are expected to launch and land on Mars within 2018. Additionally, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo double Mercury orbiter mission is planned. Two asteroid sampling missions Hayabusa 2 and OSIRIS-REx will reach their respective targets Ryugu and Bennu during summer.

Orbital launches

Date and time (UTC) Rocket Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
Early 2018 (TBD) United States Falcon 9 Full Thrust United States Vandenberg SLC-4E United States SpaceX
United States Iridium NEXT 61-70 Iridium Planned: Low Earth Communications  
2 February 2018 Japan H-IIB Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan MHI
Japan HTV-7 JAXA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
22 February 2018 Russia Soyuz-2.1a Kazakhstan Baikonur Russia Roscosmos
Russia Progress MS-08 Roscosmos Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
February 2018 (TBD) United States Atlas V 422 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-41 United States United Launch Alliance
United States Boe-CFT Boeing / NASA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) Flight test  
Boeing Crewed Flight Test of CST-100 Starliner as part of Commercial Crew Development program. 14-day manned mission.
February 2018 United States Falcon 9 Full Thrust United States Kennedy LC-39A United States SpaceX
United States SpaceX CRS-14 NASA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
March 2018 Russia Soyuz-FG Kazakhstan Baikonur Site 1/5 Russia Roscosmos
Russia Soyuz MS-08 Roscosmos Planned: Low Earth (ISS) Expedition 55/56  
Manned flight with three cosmonauts
March 2018 United States Atlas V 541 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-41 United States United Launch Alliance
United States GOES-S NESDIS Planned: Geosynchronous Meteorology  
16 April 2018 Russia Soyuz-2.1a Kazakhstan Baikonur Russia Roscosmos
Russia Progress MS-09 Roscosmos Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
April 2018 European Union Ariane 5 ECA France Kourou ELA-3 France Arianespace
European Union Japan BepiColombo ESA / JAXA Planned: Mercurian orbit Mercury probes  
Joint ESA / JAXA Mercury mission consisting of two orbiters
April 2018 United States Falcon 9 Full Thrust United States Kennedy LC-39A United States SpaceX
United States SpaceX CRS-15 NASA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
5 May 2018 United States Atlas V 401 United States Vandenberg SLC-3E United States United Launch Alliance
United States InSight NASA / JPL Planned: Heliocentric Mars lander  
May 2018 Russia Soyuz-FG Kazakhstan Baikonur Site 1/5 Russia Roscosmos
Russia Soyuz MS-09 Roscosmos Planned: Low Earth (ISS) Expedition 56/57  
Manned flight with three cosmonauts
May 2018[1] United States Falcon 9 Full Thrust United States Cape Canaveral SLC-40 United States SpaceX
United States GPS IIIA-2 US Air Force Planned: Medium Earth Navigation  
June 2018 United States Antares 230 United States MARS LP-0A United States Orbital ATK
United States Cygnus CRS OA-10E NASA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
June 2018 United States Atlas V 541 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-41 United States United Launch Alliance
United States AEHF-5 US Air Force Planned: Geosynchronous Communications (military)  
1 July 2018 Russia Soyuz-2.1a Kazakhstan Baikonur Russia Roscosmos
Russia Progress MS-10 Roscosmos Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
31 July 2018[2] United States Delta IV Heavy United States Cape Canaveral SLC-37B United States United Launch Alliance
United States Solar Probe Plus NASA Planned: Heliocentric Heliophysics  
August 2018 United States Falcon 9 Full Thrust United States Kennedy LC-39A United States SpaceX
United States SpaceX CRS-16 NASA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
September 2018 Russia Soyuz-FG Kazakhstan Baikonur Site 1/5 Russia Roscosmos
Russia Soyuz MS-10 Roscosmos Planned: Low Earth (ISS) Expedition 57/58  
Manned flight with three cosmonauts
Q3, 2018 (TBD) European Union Ariane 5 ES France Kourou ELA-3 France Arianespace
European Union Galileo FOC 19 ESA Planned: Medium Earth Navigation  
European Union Galileo FOC 20 ESA Planned: Medium Earth Navigation  
European Union Galileo FOC 21 ESA Planned: Medium Earth Navigation  
European Union Galileo FOC 22 ESA Planned: Medium Earth Navigation  
16 October 2018 Russia Soyuz-2.1a Russia Roscosmos
Russia Progress MS-11 Roscosmos Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
October 2018 European Union Ariane 5 ECA France Kourou ELA-3 France Arianespace
United States European Union Canada James Webb Space Telescope NASA, ESA, CSA Planned: Sun–Earth L2 Astronomy  
October 2018 United States Atlas V 411 United States Vandenberg SLC-3E United States United Launch Alliance
United States Solar Orbiter ESA Planned: Heliocentric Heliophysics  
October 2018 United States Falcon 9 Full Thrust United States Kennedy LC-39A United States SpaceX
United States SpaceX CRS-17 NASA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
November 2018 Russia Soyuz-FG Kazakhstan Baikonur Site 1/5 Russia Roscosmos
Russia Soyuz MS-11 Roscosmos Planned: Low Earth (ISS) Expedition 58/59  
Manned flight with three cosmonauts
December 2018 United States Antares 230 United States MARS LP-0A United States Orbital ATK
United States Cygnus CRS OA-11E NASA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
December 2018 United States Falcon 9 Full Thrust United States Kennedy LC-39A United States SpaceX
United States SpaceX CRS-18 NASA Planned: Low Earth (ISS) ISS logistics  
2018 (TBD)[3] European Union Ariane 5 ECA France Kourou ELA-3 France Arianespace
Japan Superbird-B3 / DSN-1[lower-alpha 1] JSAT / DSN / JSDF Planned: Geosynchronous Communications  
2018 (TBD) United States Atlas V United States Cape Canaveral SLC-41 United States United Launch Alliance
United States AFSPC-8 US Air Force ? Communications (military)  
February 2019 United States Atlas V 541 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-41 United States United Launch Alliance
United States AEHF-6 US Air Force Planned: Geosynchronous Communications (military)  
2019 (TBD) United States Atlas V 421 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-41 United States United Launch Alliance
United States NROL-101 NRO ?  
July 2020 United States Atlas V 541 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-41 United States United Launch Alliance
United States Mars 2020 NASA / JPL Planned: Heliocentric Mars rover  

Suborbital flights

Deep space rendezvous

Date (GMT) Spacecraft Event Remarks
February 2018 Juno Atmospheric entry into Jupiter
July 2018 Hayabusa 2 Arrival at asteroid Ryugu
August 2018 OSIRIS-REx Arrival at asteroid Bennu

Orbital launch summary

By country

For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. For example, Soyuz launches by Arianespace in Kourou are counted under Russia because Soyuz-2 is a Russian rocket.

Country Launches Successes Failures Partial
failures		 Remarks

By rocket

By family

Family Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By type

Rocket Country Family Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By configuration

Rocket Country Type Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By spaceport

Site Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By orbit

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

References
Generic references:

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Ariane 5 carries two satellites per mission; manifested payloads still need to be paired.
  1. ↑ Gruss, Mike (April 27, 2016). "SpaceX wins $82 million contract for 2018 Falcon 9 launch of GPS 3 satellite". SpaceNews. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  2. ↑ Clark, Stephen (18 March 2015). "Delta 4-Heavy selected for launch of solar probe". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Kubo, Nobuhiro (July 19, 2016). "Tarpaulin delays Japanese military communications satellite by two year". Space News. Retrieved 2016-08-03.

Timeline of spaceflight
1940s 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
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