| August 21/22 |
Falcon 9 • USSF-36 |
Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
Launch window opens 11:40 p.m. EDT (0340 UTC on 22nd) |
| A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the eighth mission of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-8), a cargo spaceplane built by Boeing on behalf of the U.S. Space Force in cooperation with the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. The mission, also referred to as USSF-36, will demonstrate space-based communications using laser links between the spaceplane and “proliferated commercial satellite networks in Low Earth Orbit.” Officials haven’t said if this will involve SpaceX’s Starlink constellation or the Starshield satellites developed for government use. It will also demonstrate what USSF calls “the highest performing quantum inertial sensor ever tested in space” in order to show navigation capabilities without the use of the GPS satellite constellation. The day-to-day operations of the X-37B are managed by the Fifth Space Operations Squadron within USSF Delta 9. Updated: August 17 |
| August 24 |
Falcon 9 • CRS-33 |
SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
2:45 a.m. EDT (0645 UTC) |
| A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Cargo Dragon spacecraft with more than 5,000 of pounds of science and supplies to the International Space Station. The Dragon flying this mission will include a new propulsion system within the vehicle’s trunk that will allow it to perform a boost of the space station’s orbit. This is a milestone in SpaceX’s development of the ISS Deorbit Vehicle, which will help slowly lower the orbit of the space station at the end of its functional life around the 2030/2031 timeframe. Delayed from Aug. 21. Updated: August 14 |
| August 27 |
Falcon 9 • Starlink 10-11 |
SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
Window opens 1:49 a.m. EDT (0549 UTC) |
| A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit. Nearly 8.5 minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster, tail number B1095, launching for a second time, will target a landing on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Aug. 13. Delayed from Aug. 15. Delayed from Aug. 16. Delayed from Aug. 25. Updated: August 17 |
| NET September |
Falcon 9 • IMAP |
Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
TBD |
| A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a rideshare mission carrying two spacecraft for NASA and one for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The primary payload is NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), which will use its 10 science instruments to study the boundary of the Sun’s heliosphere. Along for the ride are NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, designed to observe the ultraviolet light from the Earth’s geocorona, and NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1), which will monitor the Sun for key space weather activity. All three spacecraft will be sent toe Lagrange Point 1 (L1), which is about a 1.5 million km from Earth and is positioned in between the Earth and the Sun. Updated: August 18 |
| NET September 29 |
New Glenn • EscaPADE |
Launch Complex 36, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station |
TBD |
| A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket will launch a pair of identical spacecraft on NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission. The two satellites, named Blue and Gold, will make a roughly 11-month journey to Mars where they will then perform about an 11-month science mission while orbiting the Red Planet. Blue and Gold were manufactured by Rocket Lab over about 3.5 years and carry science experiments from the University of California, Berkeley. This launch of the New Glenn rocket will also feature a landing attempt on its landing barge in the Atlantic Ocean. Delayed from Oct. 13, 2024. Delayed from mid-August. Updated: August 15 |
| TBD 2025 |
Vulcan Centaur • Dream Chaser 1 |
SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida |
TBD |
| A United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch on its second demonstration flight with Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser cargo vehicle for the International Space Station. The Dream Chaser is a lifting body resupply spacecraft that will launch on top of a rocket and land on a runway. This will be the Dream Chaser’s first flight to space. The Vulcan Centaur rocket will fly in the VC4L configuration with four GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters, a long-length payload fairing, and two RL10 engines on the Centaur upper stage. Delayed from August 2022, December 2023, January 2024, April 2024 and September 2024. Updated: May 05 |
| NET July 5, 2028 |
Falcon Heavy • Dragonfly |
Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
TBD |
| A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch NASA’s Dragonfly mission, which consists of a rotorcraft designed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) that will explore Saturn’s icy moon, Titan. The mission was originally selected in 2019 and went through multiple plan iterations across fiscal years 2020 through 2022. It passed its Preliminary Design Review in March 2023 and then its Critical Design Review in April 2025. The mission has a total lifecycle cost of $3.35 billion, of which, $256.6 million was awarded to SpaceX to provide launch services and other mission related costs. The 20-day launch window opens on July 5, 2028. Updated: April 25 |