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

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]

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]

Orbital launches

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


March

March (TBD)[3] TBA TBA TBA
United Arab Emirates MBR Explorer UAESA Heliocentric Asteroid flyby and landing 
Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA).


June

Q2 (TBD)[4] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
TBA TBA Low Earth TBA 
Small Satellites Mission Service (SSMS) #18 rideshare mission.
H1 2028 (TBD)[5] United States TBA United States TBA United States TBA
United States 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

July (TBD)[1][7] 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.[8]
July (TBD)[9] Japan Epsilon S Japan Uchinoura Japan JAXA
Japan Solar-C EUVST JAXA Low Earth (SSO) Heliophysics 
Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission.[10][11]

August

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

September

September (TBD)[13] 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.[14] First launch of the SLS Block 1B variant with the Exploration Upper Stage. Delivery of I-HAB to the Lunar Gateway.[15]
Q3 (TBD)[4] Europe Ariane 64 France Kourou ELA-4 France Arianespace
TBA TBA Geosynchronous TBA 
Multi-Launch Service (MLS) #3 rideshare mission.


November

November (TBD)[16][17] China Long March 3B China TBA China CASC
China Tianwen-3 lander CNSA TMI to Martian surface Mars sample-return  
China Tianwen-3 ascent vehicle CNSA TMI to Martian surface Mars sample-return  
Chinese Mars sample-return mission.
November (TBD)[16][17] China Long March 5 China Wenchang LC-1 China CASC
China Tianwen-3 orbiter CNSA Areocentric Mars sample-return  
China Tianwen-3 reentry capsule CNSA Areocentric Mars sample-return  
Chinese Mars sample-return mission.

December

Q4 (TBD)[18][19] 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)[4] Europe Vega-C France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
TBA TBA Low Earth TBA 
SSMS #19 rideshare mission.

To be determined

2028 (TBD)[20] Russia Amur (Soyuz-7) Russia Vostochny Russia Roscosmos
Russia Sfera × ?[22] Roscosmos Low Earth Communications 
Maiden flight of Amur, a partially reusable methane-powered launch vehicle.
2028 (TBD)[23] 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)[24][25] 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)[24][26] 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.[27] An uncrewed Orel capsule will be sent to the International Space Station to test docking procedures.
2028 (TBD)[24][28][27] 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)[29][30] Europe Ariane 62 or Vega-C[31] 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)[32][33] Japan Epsilon S Japan Uchinoura Japan JAXA
Japan JASMINE JAXA / NAOJ Low Earth (SSO) Astrometric observatory 
2028 (TBD)[13][34] 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.
2028 (TBD)[35] Japan H3 Japan Tanegashima LA-Y2 Japan MHI
Japan Himawari 10 JMA Geosynchronous Meteorology 
2028 (TBD)[36] 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 LVM 3 India Satish Dhawan SLP India ISRO
India Bharatiya Antariksha Station Core Module ISRO Low Earth Space station module 
First module for ISRO's Bharatiya Antariksha space station.
2028 (TBD)[37] TBA TBA TBA
United Arab Emirates Al Yah 5 Yahsat Geosynchronous Communications 
Replacement for Yahsat 1B (Al Yah 2).
2028 (TBD)[38][39] Russia TBA Kazakhstan Baikonur or Russia Vostochny Russia Roscosmos
Russia Ekspress-40 RSCC Geosynchronous Communications 
Replacement for Ekspress-AM7 at 40° East.
2028 (TBD)[18] Europe Vega-C[40] France Kourou ELV France Arianespace
Europe Sentinel-3D[42] ESA Low Earth (SSO) Earth observation 
Fourth Sentinel-3 satellite.
2028 (TBD)[43] United States TBA United States TBA United States TBA
United States WSF-M 2 U.S. Space Force Low Earth (SSO) Space weather 
2028 (TBD)[44] United States TBA United States TBA 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.[45]
2028 (TBD)[46] United States Commercial launch vehicle United States Cape Canaveral or Kennedy[47] United States TBA
United States Europe 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.

Suborbital flights

Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat)		 Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
March (TBD)[48] United States Improved Orion Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA / Sweden SNSA
Germany Sweden REXUS-39 DLR / SNSA Suborbital Education 
March (TBD)[48] United States Improved Orion Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA / Sweden SNSA
Germany Sweden REXUS-40 DLR / SNSA Suborbital Education 
May (TBD)[48] Brazil VSB-30 S1X-7/M19 Sweden Esrange Sweden SSC
Sweden MASER-19 SSC Suborbital Microgravity research 
SubOrbital Express Microgravity flight opportunity 7.
October (TBD)[48] Brazil VSB-30 Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany MAPHEUS-19 DLR Suborbital Microgravity research 
November (TBD)[48] Brazil VSB-30 Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany Europe TEXUS-67 DLR / ESA Suborbital Microgravity research 
November (TBD)[48] Brazil VSB-30 Sweden Esrange Germany MORABA
Germany Europe TEXUS-68 DLR / ESA Suborbital Microgravity research 

Deep-space rendezvous

Date (UTC) Spacecraft Event Remarks

Extravehicular activities (EVAs)

Start Date/Time Duration End Time Spacecraft Crew Remarks

Orbital launch statistics

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
Transatmospheric0000
Low Earth0000
Geosynchronous / transfer0000
Medium Earth0000
High Earth0000
Heliocentric orbit0000Including planetary transfer orbits

    References

    1. 1 2 Foust, Jeff (28 November 2023). "NASA postpones Dragonfly review, launch date". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
    2. 1 2 "First module of Indian space station to launch by 2028: ISRO chief". The Indian Express. 23 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
    3. ↑ Foust, Jeff (3 June 2023). "UAE outlines plans for asteroid mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
    4. 1 2 3 "All flights opportunities". Arianespace. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
    5. ↑ Foust, Jeff (7 December 2022). "NASA confirms NEO Surveyor for 2028 launch". SpaceNews. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
    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. ↑ "NASA New Frontiers 5: Third Community Announcement". NASA Science Mission Directorate. NASA. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
    8. ↑ Wall, Mike (27 June 2019). "NASA Is Sending a Life-Hunting Drone to Saturn's Huge Moon Titan". Space.com. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
    9. ↑ Shimizu, Toshifumi (15 December 2023). SH54A-03 The SOLAR-C EUVST mission: Coronal physics advanced by novel EUV spectroscopy. AGU23. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
    10. ↑ "NASA Approves Heliophysics Missions to Explore Sun, Earth's Aurora". NASA (Press release). 29 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
    11. ↑ "Instruments | Next-generation solar-observing satellite Solar-C_EUVST". NAOJ. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
    12. ↑ "CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MISSION SUMMARY - SAOCOM-2A". CEOS. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
    13. 1 2 Foust, Jeff (13 March 2023). "NASA planning to spend up to $1 billion on space station deorbit module". SpaceNews. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
    14. ↑ Foust, Jeff (30 October 2022). "Lunar landing restored for Artemis 4 mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
    15. ↑ Foust, Jeff (20 January 2022). "NASA foresees gap in lunar landings after Artemis 3". SpaceNews. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
    16. 1 2 Jones, Andrew (4 November 2021). "China is planning a complex Mars sample return mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
    17. 1 2 @EL2squirrel (13 December 2019). "China's second Mars exploration mission is a Mars Sample Return mission: Earth Return Orbiter will be launched in 2028, another launch for Lander&Ascender, Earth Entry Vehicle will be return in 2031 pbs.twimg.com/media/ELo1S31UYAAcbMf?format=jpg&name=large" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 November 2021 – via Twitter.
    18. 1 2 "Planned launches". EUMETSAT. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
    19. ↑ Parsonson, Andrew (23 September 2020). "Airbus signs $350 million contract to build CRISTAL ice-monitoring satellite for EU". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
    20. ↑ "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.
    21. "Russia's new Amur rocket to carry Sfera next-generation satellites as first payload". TASS. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
    22. ↑ "Russia's new Amur rocket to carry Sfera next-generation satellites as first payload". TASS. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
    23. ↑ "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.
    24. 1 2 3 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.
    25. ↑ "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.
    26. ↑ "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.
    27. 1 2 "Russia to create Angara-A5P rocket for manned space launches by 2024". TASS. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
    28. ↑ "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.
    29. ↑ "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.
    30. ↑ "Contract signed for new Copernicus ROSE-L mission". ESA. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
    31. ↑ "Thales Alenia Space signs contract from ESA to build Copernicus ROSE-L satellite". Thales Group (Press release). 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
    32. ↑ "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.
    33. ↑ ""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.
    34. ↑ Foust, Jeff (24 February 2023). "NASA plans to start work this year on first Gateway logistics mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
    35. ↑ 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.
    36. ↑ Jones, Andrew (28 November 2022). "China outlines pathway for lunar and deep space exploration". SpaceNews. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
    37. ↑ Forrester, Chris (11 August 2023). "Yahsat buying 2 Airbus satellites". Advanced Television. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
    38. ↑ Shulgin, Dmitry (21 January 2021). "Российский "Экспресс" набирает обороты" [Russian "Ekspress" gaining momentum]. RSCC (in Russian). p. 5. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
    39. ↑ Holmes, Mark (15 October 2020). "Russian Space Leaders Split on GEO vs LEO at SatComRus". Via Satellite. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
    40. ↑ Henry, Caleb (10 February 2016). "ESA Awards Sentinel 3C and D Satellite Contracts to Thales Alenia Space". Via Satellite. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
    41. Krebs, Gunter (7 July 2020). "Sentinel 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
    42. ↑ Krebs, Gunter (7 July 2020). "Sentinel 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
    43. ↑ Erwin, Sandra (11 November 2022). "Space Force orders new weather satellite from Ball Aerospace". SpaceNews. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
    44. ↑ Foust, Jeff (29 November 2022). "ESA's ExoMars plans depend on NASA contributions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
    45. ↑ Foust, Jeff (17 March 2022). "ESA suspends work with Russia on ExoMars mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
    46. ↑ Foust, Jeff (27 March 2022). "NASA to delay Mars Sample Return, switch to dual-lander approach". SpaceNews. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
    47. ↑ "NASA Selects Developer for Rocket to Retrieve First Samples From Mars". NASA. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
    48. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Esrange Space Center - EASP Launching Programme" (PDF). Swedish Space Corporation. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
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