2028 in spaceflight

Summary

This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2028.

2028 in spaceflight
The rotorcraft Dragonfly probe to Titan is planned to be launched in 2028.

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

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

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]

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

March (TBD)[4] TBA TBA TBA
  MBR Explorer UAESA Heliocentric Asteroid flyby and landing  
Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA).


June edit

Q2 (TBD)[5]   Vega-C   Kourou ELV   Arianespace
TBA TBA Low Earth TBA  
Small Satellites Mission Service (SSMS) #18 rideshare mission.
H1 2028 (TBD)[7]   TBA   TBA   TBA
  NEO Surveyor NASA Sun–Earth L1 Infrared astronomy
Near-Earth object detection
 
Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission (NEOSM).[6] Launch scheduled for no later than June 2028.

July edit

July (TBD)[1]   Commercial launch vehicle   TBA   TBA
  Dragonfly NASA Heliocentric (to Saturn) Exploration of Titan  
Rotorcraft probe to fly in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.
July (TBD)[10]   Epsilon S   Uchinoura   JAXA
  Solar-C EUVST JAXA Low Earth (SSO) Heliophysics  
Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission.[8][9]

August edit

August (TBD)[11] TBA TBA TBA
  SAOCOM-2A CONAE Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  

September edit

September (TBD)[14]   SLS Block 1B   Kennedy LC-39B   NASA
  Artemis 4 NASA Selenocentric (NRHO) Crewed Gateway expedition
Crewed lunar landing
 
  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.[12] First launch of the SLS Block 1B variant with the Exploration Upper Stage. Delivery of I-HAB to the Lunar Gateway.[13]
Q3 (TBD)[5]   Ariane 64   Kourou ELA-4   Arianespace
TBA TBA Geosynchronous TBA  
Multi-Launch Service (MLS) #3 rideshare mission.


December edit

Q4 (TBD)[15][16]   Vega-C   Kourou ELV   Arianespace
  CRISTAL (Sentinel-9) ESA Low Earth (Polar) Earth observation  
Part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme.
Q4 (TBD)[5]   Vega-C   Kourou ELV   Arianespace
TBA TBA Low Earth TBA  
SSMS #19 rideshare mission.

To be determined edit

2028 (TBD)[17]   Amur (Soyuz-7)   Vostochny   Roscosmos
  Sfera × ?[18] Roscosmos Low Earth Communications  
Maiden flight of Amur, a partially reusable methane-powered launch vehicle.
2028 (TBD)[19]   LVM3   Satish Dhawan SLP   ISRO
  Venus Orbiter Mission (Shukrayaan) ISRO Cytherocentric Venus orbiter  
2028 (TBD)[20]   Angara A5   Vostochny Site 1A   Roscosmos
  Luna 27 Roscosmos TLI to lunar surface Lunar lander  
Third mission of Luna-Glob Programme.
2028 (TBD)[21][22]   Angara A5   Vostochny Site 1A   Roscosmos
  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)[21][24]   Angara A5P   Vostochny Site 1A   Roscosmos
  Orel Roscosmos Low Earth (ISS) Flight test  
First flight of the Angara A5P, a crew-rated variant of the Angara A5.[23] An uncrewed Orel capsule will be sent to the International Space Station to test docking procedures.
2028 (TBD)[21][25][23]   Angara A5P   Vostochny Site 1A   Roscosmos
  Orel Roscosmos Low Earth (ISS) Crewed flight test  
Crewed flight test of the Orel capsule to the International Space Station.
2028 (TBD)[26][27]   Ariane 62 or Vega-C[28]   Kourou ELA-4 or ELV   Arianespace
  ROSE-L (Sentinel-12) ESA Low Earth (Polar) Earth observation  
Part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus Programme.
2028 (TBD)[29][30]   Epsilon S   Uchinoura   JAXA
  JASMINE JAXA / NAOJ Low Earth (SSO) Astrometric observatory  
2028 (TBD)[14][31]   Falcon Heavy   Kennedy LC-39A   SpaceX
  SpaceX GLS-1 SpaceX / NASA Selenocentric (NRHO) Gateway logistics  
First Lunar Gateway resupply mission, using the Dragon XL logistics module.
2028 (TBD)[32]   H3   Tanegashima LA-Y2   MHI
  Himawari 10 JMA Geosynchronous Meteorology  
2028 (TBD)[33]   Long March 5   Wenchang LC-1   CASC
  Chang'e 8 CNSA Selenocentric to lunar surface Lunar lander
ISRU demonstration
 
2028 (TBD)[2]   LVM 3   Satish Dhawan SLP   ISRO
  Bharatiya Antariksha Station Core Module ISRO Low Earth Space station module  
First module for ISRO's Bharatiya Antariksha space station.
2028 (TBD)[34]   Starship   TBA   SpaceX
    Starlab Starlab Space Low Earth Space station  
Starlab Space is a joint venture between Voyager Space (Nanoracks) and Airbus.
2028 (TBD)[35] TBA TBA TBA
  Al Yah 5 Yahsat Geosynchronous Communications  
Replacement for Yahsat 1B (Al Yah 2).
2028 (TBD)[36][37]   TBA   Baikonur or   Vostochny   Roscosmos
  Ekspress-40 RSCC Geosynchronous Communications  
Replacement for Ekspress-AM7 at 40° East.
2028 (TBD)[15]   Vega-C[38]   Kourou ELV   Arianespace
  Sentinel-3D[39] ESA Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  
Fourth Sentinel-3 satellite.
2028 (TBD)[40]   TBA   TBA   TBA
  WSF-M 2 U.S. Space Force Low Earth (SSO) Space weather  
2028 (TBD)[42]   TBA   TBA   TBA
  TBA ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars lander  
  Rosalind Franklin ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars rover  
ExoMars mission. Delayed and retooled due to the suspension of ESA–Russia cooperation on ExoMars.[41]
2028 (TBD)[43]   Commercial launch vehicle   Cape Canaveral or Kennedy[44]   TBA
    Sample Retrieval Lander NASA / ESA TMI to Martian surface Mars sample-return  
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.
2028 (TBD)[45]   Long March 4B   Taiyuan LC-9   CASC
    CBERS 6 CASC / INPE Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation  

Suborbital flights edit

Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat)
Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
March (TBD)[46]   Improved Orion   Esrange   MORABA /   SNSA
    REXUS-39 DLR / SNSA Suborbital Education  
March (TBD)[46]   Improved Orion   Esrange   MORABA /   SNSA
    REXUS-40 DLR / SNSA Suborbital Education  
October (TBD)[46]   Red Kite/Red Kite   Esrange   MORABA
  MAPHEUS-19 DLR Suborbital Microgravity research  
November (TBD)[46]   VSB-30   Esrange   MORABA
    TEXUS-65 DLR / ESA Suborbital Microgravity research  
November (TBD)[46]   VSB-30   Esrange   MORABA
    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. ^ Foust, Jeff (3 June 2023). "UAE outlines plans for asteroid mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "All flights opportunities". Arianespace. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  6. ^ Smith, Marcia (19 January 2020). "NASA's New NEO Mission Will Substantially Reduce Time to Find Hazardous Asteroids". Space Policy Online. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  7. ^ Foust, Jeff (7 December 2022). "NASA confirms NEO Surveyor for 2028 launch". SpaceNews. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  8. ^ "NASA Approves Heliophysics Missions to Explore Sun, Earth's Aurora". NASA (Press release). 29 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Instruments | Next-generation solar-observing satellite Solar-C_EUVST". NAOJ. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  10. ^ Shimizu, Toshifumi (15 December 2023). SH54A-03 The SOLAR-C EUVST mission: Coronal physics advanced by novel EUV spectroscopy. AGU23. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  11. ^ "CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MISSION SUMMARY - SAOCOM-2A". CEOS. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  12. ^ Foust, Jeff (30 October 2022). "Lunar landing restored for Artemis 4 mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  13. ^ Foust, Jeff (20 January 2022). "NASA foresees gap in lunar landings after Artemis 3". SpaceNews. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ a b "Planned launches". EUMETSAT. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  16. ^ Parsonson, Andrew (23 September 2020). "Airbus signs $350 million contract to build CRISTAL ice-monitoring satellite for EU". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ "Russia's new Amur rocket to carry Sfera next-generation satellites as first payload". TASS. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  19. ^ Mehta, Jatan (19 November 2020). "India's Shukrayaan orbiter to study Venus for over four years, launches in 2024". SpaceNews. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  20. ^ "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.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ a b "Russia to create Angara-A5P rocket for manned space launches by 2024". TASS. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  24. ^ "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.
  25. ^ "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.
  26. ^ "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.
  27. ^ "Contract signed for new Copernicus ROSE-L mission". ESA. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  28. ^ "Thales Alenia Space signs contract from ESA to build Copernicus ROSE-L satellite". Thales Group (Press release). 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  29. ^ "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.
  30. ^ ""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.
  31. ^ Foust, Jeff (24 February 2023). "NASA plans to start work this year on first Gateway logistics mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  32. ^ 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.
  33. ^ Jones, Andrew (28 November 2022). "China outlines pathway for lunar and deep space exploration". SpaceNews. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ Forrester, Chris (11 August 2023). "Yahsat buying 2 Airbus satellites". Advanced Television. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  36. ^ Shulgin, Dmitry (21 January 2021). "Российский "Экспресс" набирает обороты" [Russian "Ekspress" gaining momentum]. RSCC (in Russian). p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  37. ^ Holmes, Mark (15 October 2020). "Russian Space Leaders Split on GEO vs LEO at SatComRus". Via Satellite. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  38. ^ Henry, Caleb (10 February 2016). "ESA Awards Sentinel 3C and D Satellite Contracts to Thales Alenia Space". Via Satellite. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  39. ^ Krebs, Gunter (7 July 2020). "Sentinel 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  40. ^ Erwin, Sandra (11 November 2022). "Space Force orders new weather satellite from Ball Aerospace". SpaceNews. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  41. ^ Foust, Jeff (17 March 2022). "ESA suspends work with Russia on ExoMars mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  42. ^ Foust, Jeff (29 November 2022). "ESA's ExoMars plans depend on NASA contributions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  43. ^ Foust, Jeff (27 March 2022). "NASA to delay Mars Sample Return, switch to dual-lander approach". SpaceNews. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  44. ^ "NASA Selects Developer for Rocket to Retrieve First Samples From Mars". NASA. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  45. ^ "Cbers-6: Novo satélite de parceria entre Brasil e China deve custar mais de 100 milhões de dólares e entrar em órbita em 2028". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 14 April 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  46. ^ a b c d e "Esrange Space Center - EASP Launching Programme" (PDF). Swedish Space Corporation. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.

External links edit

  • Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
  • Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
  • Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.[dead link]
  • Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
  • Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  • McDowell, Jonathan. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
  • Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
  • Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
  • Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
  • Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
  • "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
  • "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
  • "Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.[dead link]
  • "Space Information Center". JAXA.[dead link]
  • "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
Generic references:
  Spaceflight portal