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2028 in spaceflight
The rotorcraft Dragonfly probe to Titan is planned to be launched in 2028.
2028 in spaceflight
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This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2028.

NASA plans to launch Dragonfly, a robotic rotorcraft probe which will explore Saturn's moon Titan.[1]

NASA plans to launch Artemis 4. The first to use SLS Block 1B.

Russia expects to launch the Luna 27 lunar lander in 2028.

Chang'e 8, the last mission before China’s moon base begins construction, is planned to launch.

The first uncrewed flight of Orel, Russia's replacement for the crewed Soyuz spacecraft, is scheduled for 2028.

India plans to launch the first module for the Bharatiya Antariksha Station in 2028.[2] India also plans to launch the Chandrayaan-4 and LUPEX lunar missions.

The Rosalind Franklin (rover) aims to launch to Mars.[3]

Orbital launches

[edit]
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat) 		Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks


March

[edit]
29 March [4] India LVM3 India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Venus Orbiter Mission (Shukrayaan) ISRO Cytherocentric Venus orbiter  
Q1 (TBD)[5][6] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan MHI
United Arab Emirates MBR Explorer UAESA Heliocentric Asteroid flyby and landing  
Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA).

April

[edit]
April (TBD)[7] TBA TBA TBA
Europe Ramses ESA Heliocentric Asteroid flyby  
Flyby of 99942 Apophis.


June

[edit]
Q2 (TBD)[8] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
TBA TBA Low Earth TBA  
Small Satellites Mission Service (SSMS) #18 rideshare mission.

July

[edit]
July (TBD)[1] United States Commercial launch vehicle United States TBA United States TBA
United States Dragonfly NASA Heliocentric (to Saturn) Exploration of Titan  
Rotorcraft probe to fly in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.
July (TBD)[11] Japan Epsilon S Japan Uchinoura Japan JAXA
Japan Solar-C EUVST JAXA Low Earth (SSO) Heliophysics  
Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission.[9][10]

August

[edit]
August (TBD)[12] TBA TBA TBA
Argentina SAOCOM-2A CONAE Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  

September

[edit]
September (TBD)[15] United States SLS Block 1B United States Kennedy LC-39B United States NASA
United States Artemis 4 NASA Selenocentric (NRHO) Crewed Gateway expedition
Crewed lunar landing		  
Europe International Habitation Module (I-HAB) ESA Selenocentric (NRHO) Lunar Gateway component  
Third crewed Orion flight, second Artemis lunar landing, and first lunar landing with 4 crew members.[13] First launch of the SLS Block 1B variant with the Exploration Upper Stage. Delivery of I-HAB to the Lunar Gateway.[14]
Q3 (TBD)[8] Europe Ariane 64 France Kourou ELA-4 France Arianespace
TBA TBA Geosynchronous TBA  
Multi-Launch Service (MLS) #3 rideshare mission.

October

[edit]
October (TBD)[17] United States TBA United States Kennedy United States TBA
Europe TBA ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars lander  
Europe Rosalind Franklin ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars rover  
ExoMars mission. Delayed and retooled due to the suspension of ESA–Russia cooperation on ExoMars.[16]

December

[edit]
December (TBD) [18][19] Russia Amur / Fregat-M Russia Vostochny Site 2A Russia Roscosmos
Russia GVM-M Roscosmos Low Earth Mass simulator  
Russia Sfera × ?[20] Roscosmos Low Earth Communications  
Maiden flight of Amur (Soyuz-7), a partially reusable methane-powered launch vehicle.
Q4 (TBD)[21][22] United States Falcon 9 Block 5 United States TBA United States SpaceX
United States Germany GRACE-C1 NASA / DLR Low Earth (Polar) Gravimetry  
United States Germany GRACE-C2 NASA / DLR Low Earth (Polar) Gravimetry  
Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment-Continuity (GRACE-C).
Q4 (TBD)[23][24] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
Europe CRISTAL (Sentinel-9) ESA Low Earth (Polar) Earth observation  
Part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme.
Q4 (TBD)[8] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
TBA TBA Low Earth TBA  
SSMS #19 rideshare mission.

To be determined

[edit]
December (TBD)
[25] 		United States Falcon 9 Block 5 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-40 United States SpaceX
United States TBA TBA Geosynchronous TBA  
Dedicated SmallSat Rideshare mission to a GTO orbit by SEOPS.
2028 (TBD)[26] Russia Angara A5 Russia Vostochny Site 1A Russia Roscosmos
Russia Luna 27 Roscosmos TLI to lunar surface Lunar lander  
Third mission of Luna-Glob Programme.
2028 (TBD)[27][28] Russia Angara A5 Russia Vostochny Site 1A Russia Roscosmos
Russia Orel Roscosmos Low Earth Flight test  
First uncrewed test flight of Russia's new crewed spacecraft, Orel. First launch of Angara A5 from Vostochny.
2028 (TBD)[27][30] Russia Angara A5P Russia Vostochny Site 1A Russia Roscosmos
Russia Orel Roscosmos Low Earth (ISS) Flight test  
First flight of the Angara A5P, a crew-rated variant of the Angara A5.[29] An uncrewed Orel capsule will be sent to the International Space Station to test docking procedures.
2028 (TBD)[27][31][29] Russia Angara A5P Russia Vostochny Site 1A Russia Roscosmos
Russia Orel Roscosmos Low Earth (ISS) Crewed flight test  
Crewed flight test of the Orel capsule to the International Space Station.
2028 (TBD)[32][33] Europe Ariane 62 or Vega-C[34] France Kourou ELA-4 or ELV France Arianespace
Europe ROSE-L (Sentinel-12) ESA Low Earth (Polar) Earth observation  
Part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme.
2028 (TBD)[35][36] Japan Epsilon S Japan Uchinoura Japan JAXA
Japan JASMINE JAXA / NAOJ Low Earth (SSO) Astrometric observatory  
2028 (TBD)[38] United States Falcon 9 Block 5 United States Cape Canaveral SLC-40 United States SpaceX
United Arab Emirates Al Yah 5 Yahsat Geosynchronous Communications  
Replacement for Yahsat 1B (Al Yah 2).[37]
2028 (TBD)[15][39] United States Falcon Heavy United States Kennedy LC-39A United States SpaceX
United States SpaceX GLS-1 SpaceX / NASA Selenocentric (NRHO) Gateway logistics  
First Lunar Gateway resupply mission, using the Dragon XL logistics module.
JFY 2028 (TBD)[40] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan JAXA
Japan DESTINY+ JAXA Heliocentric Asteroid flyby  
Aims to conduct a flyby of 3200 Phaethon in 2030.
2028 (TBD)[41] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan MHI
Japan Himawari 10 JMA Geosynchronous Meteorology  
2028 (TBD)[42] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan MHI
Japan India LUPEX JAXA / ISRO TLI to lunar surface Lunar lander  
Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission. Known as Chandrayaan-5 in India.
2028 (TBD)[43] China Long March 5 China Wenchang LC-1 China CASC
China Chang'e 8 CNSA Selenocentric to lunar surface Lunar lander
ISRU demonstration		  
2028 (TBD)[2] India LVM3 India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Bharatiya Antariksha Station-B1 ISRO Low Earth Space station module  
First module for ISRO's Bharatiya Antariksha space station.
2028 (TBD)[44] India HLVM 3 India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Gaganyaan-7 / G5 ISRO Low Earth (BAS) Resupply Spacecraft  
India's first resupply mission to BAS.
2028 (TBD)[45] China Long March 4B China Taiyuan LC-9 China CASC
China Brazil CBERS 6 CASC / INPE Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  
2028 (TBD)[46] India LVM3 SC India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Chandrayaan-4 ascent module ISRO TLI to lunar surface Space rendezvous  
India Chandrayaan-4 descend module ISRO TLI to lunar surface Lunar lander  
Chandrayaan-4 ascender and lander.
2028 (TBD)[46] India LVM3 SC India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Chandrayaan-4 propulsion module ISRO Selenocentric Lunar sample-return  
India Chandrayaan-4 transfer module ISRO Selenocentric Space rendezvous  
India Chandrayaan-4 reentry module ISRO Selenocentric Lunar sample-return  
Chandrayaan-4 reentry and transfer modules.
2028 (TBD)[47] Russia Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat Russia Vostochny Site 1S Russia Roscosmos
Russia Belarus RBKA №1 Roscosmos / Belarus Low Earth Earth observation  
RBKA will follow in the footsteps of BKA (Belarusian Satellite) launched along with Kanopus-V 1 and several other satellites in July 2012.
2028 (TBD)[48] United States Starship United States TBA United States SpaceX
United States Europe Starlab Starlab Space Low Earth Space station  
Starlab Space is a joint venture between Voyager Space (Nanoracks) and Airbus.
2028 (TBD)[49] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
France Germany MERLIN CNES / DLR Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation of atmospheric methane  
2028 (TBD)[23] Europe Vega-C[50] France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
Europe Sentinel-3D[51] ESA Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  
Fourth Sentinel-3 satellite.
2028 (TBD)[52][53] Russia TBA Kazakhstan Baikonur or Russia Vostochny Russia Roscosmos
Russia Ekspress-40 RSCC Geosynchronous Communications  
Replacement for Ekspress-AM7 at 40° East.
2028 (TBD)
[54] 		United States TBA United States Cape Canaveral United States TBA
United States HelioSwarm Hub NASA Low Earth Research  
United States HelioSwarm Node × 8 NASA Low Earth Research  
2028 (TBD)[55] TBA TBA TBA
Europe Genesis ESA Low Earth Satellite geodesy  
Aims to greatly improve the International Terrestrial Reference Frame.
2028 (TBD)[56] United States Commercial launch vehicle United States Cape Canaveral or Kennedy[57] United States TBA
United States Europe Sample Retrieval Lander NASA / ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars sample-return  
United States Mars Ascent Vehicle NASA Martian surface to TMI Mars sample-return  
United States TBA NASA TMI to Martian surface Mars aircraft
United States TBA NASA TMI to Martian surface Mars aircraft
First lander component of the NASA–ESA Mars sample-return mission. It will carry NASA's Mars Ascent Vehicle and two sample recovery Ingenuity class helicopters.


Suborbital flights

[edit]
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat) 		Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
March (TBD)[58] United States Improved Orion Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA / Sweden SNSA
Germany Sweden REXUS-39 DLR / SNSA Suborbital Education  
March (TBD)[58] United States Improved Orion Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA / Sweden SNSA
Germany Sweden REXUS-40 DLR / SNSA Suborbital Education  
October (TBD)[58] Germany Red Kite/Red Kite Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany MAPHEUS-19 DLR Suborbital Microgravity research  
November (TBD)[58] Brazil VSB-30 Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany Europe TEXUS-65 DLR / ESA Suborbital Microgravity research  
November (TBD)[58] Brazil VSB-30 Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany Europe TEXUS-66 DLR / ESA Suborbital Microgravity research  

Deep-space rendezvous

[edit]
Date (UTC) Spacecraft Event Remarks

Extravehicular activities (EVAs)

[edit]
Start Date/Time Duration End Time Spacecraft Crew Remarks

Orbital launch statistics

[edit]

By country

[edit]

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

[edit]

By family

[edit]
Family Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By type

[edit]
Rocket Country Family Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By configuration

[edit]
Rocket Country Type Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By spaceport

[edit]
Site Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks

By orbit

[edit]
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

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "NASA's Dragonfly Rotorcraft Mission to Saturn's Moon Titan Confirmed". NASA. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b "First module of Indian space station to launch by 2028: ISRO chief". The Indian Express. 23 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  3. ^ Kuhr, Jack (10 April 2024). "Thales Alenia Space Signs $567M ExoMars 2028 Contract". Payload. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  4. ^ Jones, Andrew (18 September 2024). "India approves moon sample return, Venus orbiter, space station module and reusable launcher". SpaceNews. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  5. ^ Foust, Jeff (3 June 2023). "UAE outlines plans for asteroid mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  6. ^ "Revealed: UAE's MBR Explorer spacecraft to the Asteroid Belt to be launched by Japanese rocket". gulfnews.com. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Introducing Ramses, ESA's mission to asteroid Apophis". ESA. 16 July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "All flights opportunities". Arianespace. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ^ "NASA Approves Heliophysics Missions to Explore Sun, Earth's Aurora". NASA (Press release). 29 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Instruments | Next-generation solar-observing satellite Solar-C_EUVST". NAOJ. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  11. ^ Shimizu, Toshifumi (15 December 2023). SH54A-03 The SOLAR-C EUVST mission: Coronal physics advanced by novel EUV spectroscopy. AGU23. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  12. ^ "CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MISSION SUMMARY - SAOCOM-2A". CEOS. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  13. ^ Foust, Jeff (30 October 2022). "Lunar landing restored for Artemis 4 mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  14. ^ Foust, Jeff (20 January 2022). "NASA foresees gap in lunar landings after Artemis 3". SpaceNews. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  15. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (13 March 2023). "NASA planning to spend up to $1 billion on space station deorbit module". SpaceNews. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  16. ^ Foust, Jeff (17 March 2022). "ESA suspends work with Russia on ExoMars mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  17. ^ "The search for life on Mars goes on with ExoMars 2028". Thales Alenia Space (Press release). 9 April 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  18. ^ Forrester, Chris (6 August 2024). "Amur/Fregat-M - GVM-M(Demo Flight)". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Первый пуск метановой ракеты "Амур" планируется в 2028-2030 годах" [The first launch of the Amur methane rocket is planned for 2028-2030]. TASS (in Russian). 27 July 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Russia's new Amur rocket to carry Sfera next-generation satellites as first payload". TASS. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  21. ^ "NASA JPL awards Airbus a GRACE-C contract for two spacecraft". Satnews. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  22. ^ "GRACE-C – German-US-American environmental mission has been extended". DLR. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Planned launches". EUMETSAT. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  24. ^ Parsonson, Andrew (23 September 2020). "Airbus signs $350 million contract to build CRISTAL ice-monitoring satellite for EU". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  25. ^ "SEOPS is excited to announce we have signed a contract with SpaceX for a dedicated Falcon 9 mission to GTO in late 2028". SEOPS. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  26. ^ "Ученый сообщил об активном ходе работ по импортозамещению комплектующих "Луны-27"" [The scientist reported on the active progress of work on import substitution of Luna-27 components]. TASS (in Russian). 19 July 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  27. ^ a b c Katya Pavlushchenko [@katlinengrey] (15 August 2023). "Both the first uncrewed test flight and the first crewed test flight of the planned #Oryol spacecraft are scheduled for 2028, said the chief designer of ROS (it's not a misprint, now they call it ROS instead of ROSS), deputy director of RSC Energia Vladimir Kozhevnikov" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "Первый старт пилотируемого корабля РФ "Орел" перенесен с 2023 г. на более поздний срок" [The first launch of the Orel manned spacecraft of the Russian Federation has been postponed from 2023 to a later date]. Interfax (in Russian). 17 November 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  29. ^ a b "Russia to create Angara-A5P rocket for manned space launches by 2024". TASS. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  30. ^ "В космическом корабле "Орел" применят лучшие техрешения "Союзов"" [The spacecraft "Orel" will use the best technical solutions from "Soyuz"]. TASS (in Russian). 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  31. ^ "Определен срок полета российского корабля "Орел" с экипажем на МКС" [The scheduled time for the first crewed flight of the Russian spacecraft Orel to the ISS has been determined]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 13 February 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  32. ^ "Oppdraget over for radarsatellitten Sentinel-1B" [Mission over for the Sentinel-1B radar satellite]. Norwegian Space Agency (in Norwegian). 12 August 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  33. ^ "Contract signed for new Copernicus ROSE-L mission". ESA. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  34. ^ "Thales Alenia Space signs contract from ESA to build Copernicus ROSE-L satellite". Thales Group (Press release). 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  35. ^ "JASMINE（赤外線位置天文観測衛星）で拓く天の川中心核と地球型惑星の探査" [JASMINE (Infrared Astrometry Satellite) will pioneer the exploration of the Milky Way's core and terrestrial planets] (PDF). NAOJ News (in Japanese). No. 332. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. 1 March 2021. p. 6. ISSN 0915-8863. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  36. ^ ""Small-JASMINE": Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for INfrared Exploration". National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  37. ^ Forrester, Chris (11 August 2023). "Yahsat buying 2 Airbus satellites". Advanced Television. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  38. ^ Foust, Jeff (1 July 2024). "SpaceX to launch Yahsat satellites". SpaceNews. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  39. ^ Foust, Jeff (24 February 2023). "NASA plans to start work this year on first Gateway logistics mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  40. ^ "宇宙科学・探査ミッションの進捗状況について" [Space Science and Exploration Mission Progress] (PDF). ISAS (in Japanese). CAO. 9 October 2024. p. 11. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  41. ^ Bessho, K. (26 April 2023). Status of Himawari-8/9 and their follow-on satellite Himawari-10. CGMS-51. JMA. p. 5. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  42. ^ Jones, Andrew (23 October 2024). "India to target moon's south pole with sample return mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  43. ^ Jones, Andrew (28 November 2022). "China outlines pathway for lunar and deep space exploration". SpaceNews. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  44. ^ "Moon Monday #183 and Indian Space Progress #17: The one where Chandrayaan and Gaganyaan converge". Jatan’s Space. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
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  46. ^ a b Jones, Andrew (14 May 2024). "India plans Chandrayaan-4 moon sample return, will involve private sector". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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  48. ^ Berger, Eric (1 February 2024). "Starlab—with half the volume of the ISS—will fit inside Starship's payload bay". Ars Technica. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
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  51. ^ Krebs, Gunter (7 July 2020). "Sentinel 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
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  53. ^ Holmes, Mark (15 October 2020). "Russian Space Leaders Split on GEO vs LEO at SatComRus". Via Satellite. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
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  55. ^ "ESA kicks off two new navigation missions". ESA (Press release). 19 March 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  56. ^ Foust, Jeff (27 March 2022). "NASA to delay Mars Sample Return, switch to dual-lander approach". SpaceNews. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  57. ^ "NASA Selects Developer for Rocket to Retrieve First Samples From Mars". NASA. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  58. ^ a b c d e "Esrange Space Center - EASP Launching Programme" (PDF). Swedish Space Corporation. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
[edit]
Generic references:

Spaceflight portal
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