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LAST UPDATED Sept. 10. Launch dates are subject to change and will be updated throughout the year as firmer dates arise. Please DO NOT schedule travel based on a date you see here. Launch dates are collected from NASA (opens in new tab), ESA (opens in new tab), Roscosmos (opens in new tab), Spaceflight Now (opens in new tab) and others.
Watch NASA webcasts and other live launch coverage on our webcast page (opens in new tab). Find out what’s up in the night sky this month with our visible planets guide (opens in new tab) and skywatching forecast (opens in new tab).
Wondering what happened today in space history? Check out our “On This Day in Space” video show here (opens in new tab)!
September
Sept. 10: The full moon of September, known as the Harvest Moon, arrives at 5:59 a.m. EDT (0959 GMT).
Sept. 10: SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket on a record 14th fligth to deliver Starlink satellites and AST SpaceMobile’s huge BlueWalker 3 cell phone service test satellite into orbit. Liftoff is at 9:10 p.m. EDT (0110 GMT on Sept. 11) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Watch a live launch webcast (opens in new tab).
Sept 11: A Firefly Alpha rocket will launch on its second test flight from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT (3-7 p.m. PDT/2200-0200 GMT). Live webcast link will be provided Sept. 11.
Sept. 11: SpaceX will launch a fleet of 54 Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:53 p.m. EDT (0253 GMT).
Sept. 12: NASA will hold a teleconference to preview the DART asteroid impact mission, which will hit an asteroid on Sept. 26. The teleconference will begin at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). DART webcast schedule.
Sept. 12: Blue Origin aims to launch an uncrewed New Shepard rocket and capsule carrying the NS-23 mission experiments from Launch Site One near Van Horn, Texas. Liftoff is targeted for 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT). Watch the Blue Origin launch live.
Sept. 12: NASA will mark the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s historic “We choose to go to the moon” speech at Rice University with an event at Rice that will be livestreamed at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) on NASA TV (opens in new tab).
Sept. 19: SpaceX is expected to launch another fleet of Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Sept. 21: Russia will launch a team of cosmonauts and astronauts on a Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft will lift off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
NET Sept. 23: NASA’s no earlier than date to launch the Artemis 1 moon mission on the first Space Launch System megarocket. Liftoff between 6:47 a.m. EDT and 8:47 a.m. EDT (1047-1247 GMT). Live Artemis 1 updates.
Sept. 23: Autumnal equinox. Today marks the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
Sept. 24: The United Launch Alliance will launch a Delta 4 Heavy rocket to orbit the classified NROL-91 satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.
Sept 29: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 14 Tranche 0 demonstration satellites from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Sept. 25: The new moon arrives at 5:54 p.m. EDT (2154 GMT).
Sept. 30: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch SES 20 and SES 21 communications satellites. It will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
Also scheduled to launch in September (from Spaceflight Now):
- SpaceX’s first Starship Orbital Test Flight could launch from Starbase, Boca Chica Beach, Texas to orbit the Earth and splashdown off the coast of Hawaii.
October
Oct. 3: NASA and SpaceX will launch the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon will be carrying NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina. The Falcon 9 rocket will lift off at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Oct. 8: The Draconid meteor shower, which is active Oct. 6-10, will peak overnight.
Oct. 9: The full moon of October, known as the Hunter’s Moon, arrives at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 GMT).
Oct. 15: A Cygnus cargo freighter will launch to the International Space Station from Pad 0A, Wallops Island, Virginia, aboard a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket.
Oct. 20-21: The annual Orionid meteor shower, which is active all month long, peaks overnight.
Oct. 25: The new moon arrives at 6:48 a.m. EDT (1048 GMT).
Oct. 25: A partial solar eclipse will be visible from Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and western parts of Asia.
Oct. 26: A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the Progress 82P cargo ship to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
Oct. 31: Boo! It’s Halloween, even in space.
Also scheduled to launch in October (from Spaceflight Now):
- A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a rideshare mission called Transporter 6. It will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
- A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the USSF 52 mission for the U.S. Space Force. It will lift off from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon 2 spacecraft on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
- A Chinese Long March 5B rocket will launch the third major element of China’s space station, the Mengtian laboratory module.
November
Nov. 1: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch the Joint Polar Satellite System 2 (JPSS 2) for NASA and NOAA as well as the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) on a test flight. LOFTID is a joint project between NASA and ULA.
Nov. 4-5: The annual South Taurid meteor shower peaks overnight.
Nov. 7-8: A total lunar eclipse will be visible from Asia, Australia, North America, parts of northern and eastern Europe and South America.
Nov. 8: The full moon of November, known as the Beaver Moon, arrives at 6:02 a.m. EST (1102 GMT).
Nov. 11-12: The annual North Taurid meteor shower peaks overnight.
Nov. 15: The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, jointly developed by NASA and the French space agency CNES, will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Nov. 17-18: One of the most anticipated meteor showers of the year, the Leonid meteor shower peaks overnight.
Nov. 23: The new moon arrives at 5:57 p.m. EST (2257 GMT).
Also scheduled to launch in November:
- A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Polaris Dawn mission commanded by Jared Isaacman and will be his second trip to space. Isaacman will be joined by pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet, and SpaceX employees Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
- A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a U.S. Space Force mission, USSF 67, from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
- The Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 Earth observation satellites will launch aboard an Arianespace Vega-C rocket for Airbus from Kourou, French Guiana.
December
Dec. 7: The full moon of December, known as the Cold Moon, arrives at 11:08 p.m. EST (0408 Dec. 8 GMT).
Dec. 13-14: The annual Geminid meteor shower, one of the best meteor showers of the year, peaks overnight.
Dec. 21: Solstice. Today marks the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
Dec. 21-22: The annual Ursid meteor shower peaks overnight.
Dec. 22: NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) mission will launch to the moon’s south pole on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission will use the Nova-C lunar landing platform developed by Intuitive Machines.
Dec. 23: The new moon arrives at 5:16 a.m. EDT (0916 GMT).
More coming in 2022…
4th Quarter: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch a new-generation Boeing-build broadband satellite ViaSat 3 Americas.
4th Quarter: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first two WorldView Legion Earth observation satellites for Maxar Technologies. It will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Late 2022: A United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch on its inaugural flight with the Peregrine commercial lunar lander for Astrobotic. It will lift off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Late 2022: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on its first crewed flight. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Mike Fincke, along with an unidentified third crew member, will fly on the mission. The Crew Test Flight to the International Space Station will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
TBD: India’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) will launch its first commercial mission with four Earth observation satellites for BlackSky Global. It will lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India.
TBD: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the USSF 44 mission for the U.S. Space Force. It will lift off from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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