2016 Chronology

2016 January 15

• EVA ISS US EVA-35 - . Crew: Kopra, Peake. EVA Duration: 0.20 days. Nation: USA. Program: ISS.

  Astronauts Kopra and Peake made a spacewalk from the Quest airlock in EMU suits 3011 and 3008. They replaced the Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU) electronics box at the base of the 1B solar array on the S6 truss segment. The replacement SSU was launched on STS-96 in 1999 and had been stored since then inside Unity and then PMA-3 until being unpacked in December for the spacewalk. The old SSU failed on Nov 13, shutting down power to the 1B solar array (one of eight on ISS). Full power was now restored. The astronauts also continued cabling work for the IDA docking adapter and relocated a vent on the Tranquility module. The spacewalk was cut short when Kopra's suit developed a small water leak which accumulated in his helmet; this was the same suit that had a more serious leak during Luca Parmitano's spacewalk in Jul 2013. Kopra and Peake depressurized Quest at about 1243 UTC and ventured outside at 1300 UTC, returning with hatch closure at 1727 UTC and repressurization at 1731 UTC. Peake, who was a European Space Agency astronaut sponsored by the UK, made the first UK-flagged spacewalk, and the first spacewalk by a British citizen who was not also a dual-nationality US citizen.

2016 January 15

03:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Kagoshima. Launch Vehicle: S-310.

• S-310-44 - . Nation: Japan. Apogee: 161 km (100 mi). Ionosphere mission. Impacted in Pacific Ocean..

• S-310-44 - . Nation: Japan. Apogee: 161 km (100 mi). Ionosphere mission. Impacted in Pacific Ocean..

2016 January 15

16:57 GMT - . Launch Site: Xichang. Launch Complex: Xichang LC3. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 3B.

• Belintersat-1 - . Nation: China. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41238 . COSPAR: 2016-001A. Apogee: 41,730 km (25,920 mi). Perigee: 193 km (119 mi). Inclination: 26.40 deg.

  first Belarussian communications satellite. The satellite was a Chinese-built DFH-4 with a mass of 5200 kg, and it rode a Chinese CZ-3B to geotransfer orbit. Belintersat was a state-sponsored private company and will provide services to Belarus and central Europe.

2016 January 17

18:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg SLC4E. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.1.

• Jason-3 - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Climate satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41240 . COSPAR: 2016-002A. Apogee: 1,320 km (820 mi). Perigee: 1,295 km (804 mi). Inclination: 66.00 deg.

  Falcon 9 F9-019 was the last version 1.1 core. It took off soutbound from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg AFB at 1842 UTC, entered a 175 x 1321 km x 66 deg transfer orbit at 1851 UTC, and circularized the orbit at apogee with spacecraft separation at 1938 UTC. The second stage was then deorbited with a burn at around 1945 UTC lowering perigee into the atmosphere, leading to a reentry around 2030 UTC over the northeastern Pacific. Meanwhile the first stage completed a boostback burn and flew down to the center of the target on the ASDS ship "Just Read The Instructions" in the Pacific at about 1852 UTC. However, on landing one of the deployed legs failed to lock in place and the vehicle toppled and was destroyed. Jason-3 was the fourth in a series of French/US satellites carrying the Poseidon altimeter to measure sea surface height across the world, an important parameter in climate change studies. The satellites also carry microwave radiometers. The first Poseidon satellite was the TOPEX/Poseidon research experiment which operated from 1992 to 2006. This was followed on by the progressively more operational Jason series; Jason-1 in 2001-2013, and the still operational Jason-2 launched in 2008. The 550 kg satellite was built by Thales Alenia (Cannes) using the Proteus bus and owned by the French space agency CNES. Lead agencies for the overall Jason-3 program are the US weather agency NOAA and the European weather satellite group EUMETSAT, taking over from CNES and JPL who led the earlier missions.

2016 January 20

04:01 GMT - . Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Complex: Sriharikota SLP. LV Family: PSLV. Launch Vehicle: PSLV-XL.

• IRNSS-1E - . Mass: 1,425 kg (3,141 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: I-1K. USAF Sat Cat: 41241 . COSPAR: 2016-003A. Apogee: 20,547 km (12,767 mi). Perigee: 288 km (178 mi). Inclination: 19.20 deg.

  India launched its 5th navigation satellite. The PSLV-XL delivered it to a subsynchronous transfer orbit. By early February it was in an inclined synchronous orbit at 35697 x 35874 km x 28.1 deg. IRNSS-R1C was in an near-equatorial orbit at 83E; the remainder are in the 28 degree inclined orbits, with R1A and R1B over about 55E and R1D and R1E over about 112E.

2016 January 22

Launch Site: Blue Origin. Launch Vehicle: New Shepard.

• New Shepard CC - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 101 km (62 mi). Blue Origin reflew the second NS propulsion module to 101.7 km and successfully landed it. The crew capsule separated near apogee and was recovered by parachute. It's not clear whether this was the same crew capsule as in earlier flights..

2016 January 23

08:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Sonda. Launch Vehicle: VSB-30.

• TEXUS 53 - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 252 km (156 mi). Microgravity mission. Impacted in ESRANGE Zone B..

2016 January 27

23:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA3. LV Family: Ariane 5. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5ECA.

• Intelsat IS-29e - . Nation: Europe. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: HS 702. USAF Sat Cat: 41308 . COSPAR: 2016-004A. Apogee: 35,525 km (22,074 mi). Perigee: 280 km (170 mi). Inclination: 0.60 deg.

  Intelsat communications satellite in a low-inclination geotransfer orbit; carried C, Ku and Ka-band communications payload and was the first of Intelsat's new broadband high-throughput 'Epic-NG' series, built by Boeing using the BSS-702MP bus. Launch mass was 6552 kg.

2016 January 28

21:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Pacific Ocean. Launch Platform: C-17. LV Family: Minuteman. Launch Vehicle: eMRBM.

• MBRV? - . Nation: USA. Type: ABM Target. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi). ABM Target mission. Impacted in E Pacific..

• CE-II CTV-02+ - . Nation: USA. Type: ABM. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). ABM Interceptor mission. Impacted in E Pacific..

2016 January 29

15:50 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• AggieSat-4 - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-03-12 . USAF Sat Cat: 41313 . COSPAR: 1998-067HP. Apogee: 408 km (253 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg.

  The AggieSat-4 satellite was ejected from the ISS on Jan 29 using the Kibo JRMS arm and the SSIKLOPS deployer. The 55 kg AggieSat-4, developed by students at Texas A&M University, will eject the 3U cubesat Bevo-2 (from students at U. Texas-Austin) and perform formation flying experiments with it. University of Texas BEVO-2 cubesat was apparently prematurely ejected from the TAMU AggieSat-4 payload shortly after the latter was deployed from ISS.

2016 January 29

22:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/39. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-M/Briz-M.

• Eutelsat 9B - . Nation: Russia. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: Eurostar 3000. USAF Sat Cat: 41310 . COSPAR: 2016-005A. Apogee: 35,663 km (22,159 mi). Perigee: 4,374 km (2,717 mi). Inclination: 12.10 deg.

  The European communications operator Eutelsat will use the satellite's 66 Ku-band transponders to increase performance at the 9 degrees East location. The satellite also carried a European Space Agency laser communications package, EDRS-A, as part of the European Data Relay System. EDRS will relay data from low-orbiting satellites, converting an optical communications signal from the satellite to a Ka-band radio downlink.

2016 February 1

07:29 GMT - . Launch Site: Xichang. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 3C/YZ1.

• Beidou DW 21 - . Payload: Beidou M3-S. Nation: China. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Beidou 3. USAF Sat Cat: 41315 . COSPAR: 2016-006A. Apogee: 21,981 km (13,658 mi). Perigee: 21,512 km (13,366 mi). Inclination: 55.00 deg.

2016 February 2

21:09 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Sonda. Launch Vehicle: VS-30.

• SPIDER/LEEWAVES - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 138 km (85 mi). Auroral mission. Impacted in ESRANGE Zone B..

2016 February 3

• EVA ISS VKD-42 - . Crew: Malenchenko, Volkov, Sergey. EVA Duration: 0.20 days. Nation: Russia. Program: ISS.

  Astronauts Malenchenko and Volkov carried out spacewalk VKD-42 from the Pirs module. The hatch was opened at 1255 UTC and closed at 1740 UTC. They retrieved the EXPOSE-R2 and SKK 2-M2 materials exposure experiments and installed SKK 3-M2 and two Vinoslivost panels. They also jettisoned a small package consisting of a bag of towels attached to a commemorative flash drive with videos about World War II to celebrate the 70th anniversary of 'Victory Day'. The inert package will reenter in a few days or weeks.

2016 February 3

13:22 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• Fleshka - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Commemorative. Decay Date: 2016-03-10 . USAF Sat Cat: 41326 . COSPAR: 1998-067HR. Apogee: 406 km (252 mi). Perigee: 395 km (245 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

2016 February 5

13:38 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC41. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC41. LV Family: Atlas V. Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 401.

• USA 266 - . Payload: Navstar 76 / GPS SVN 70. Nation: USA. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Navstar. Spacecraft: GPS Block 2F. USAF Sat Cat: 41328 . COSPAR: 2016-007A. Apogee: 20,442 km (12,702 mi). Perigee: 20,438 km (12,699 mi). Inclination: 55.00 deg.

2016 February 7

00:21 GMT - . Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: Plesetsk LC43/4. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-2-1B.

• Cosmos 2514 - . Payload: Glonass-M No. 51. Nation: Russia. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Glonass. USAF Sat Cat: 41330 . COSPAR: 2016-008A. Apogee: 19,158 km (11,904 mi). Perigee: 19,132 km (11,888 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Glonass-M No. 51 (Uragan-M 751, Kosmos-2514) was launched to supplement the Russian navigation constellation..

2016 February 7

00:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Sohae. LV Family: Unha. Launch Vehicle: Unha-3.

• Kwangmyongsong-4 - . Nation: Korea North. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Kwangmyongsong. USAF Sat Cat: 41332 . COSPAR: 2016-009A. Apogee: 501 km (311 mi). Perigee: 465 km (288 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg.

  North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA, Kukga uju gaebalkuk) carried out its second successful satellite launch . The satellite, Kwangmyongsong-4, entered a 500 km polar orbit like the KMS-3-2 satellite launched in 2012. It appears both satellite and launch vehicle are very similar to the 2012 mission. The launch vehicle this time carried the name 'Kwangmyongsong' but appeared to be essentially identical to the Unha-3 launched in 2012. As of Feb 17, hobbyist observers had not picked up any radio signals from it. 0840LT SSO.

2016 February 10

11:40 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg SLC6. LV Family: Delta IV. Launch Vehicle: Delta 4M+(5,2).

• USA 267 - . Payload: TOPAZ 4?. Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military Radarsat. Spacecraft: Topaz. USAF Sat Cat: 41334 . COSPAR: 2016-010A. Apogee: 1,085 km (674 mi). Perigee: 1,078 km (669 mi). Inclination: 123.00 deg. Satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office. The launch was designated NRO L-45. The USA 267 payload was observed in a 1078 x 1085 km orbit with a retrograde 123 degree inclination, characteristic of the TOPAZ radar imaging satellites..

2016 February 16

17:57 GMT - . Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: Plesetsk LC133/3. LV Family: UR-100N. Launch Vehicle: Rokot.

• Sentinel-3A - . Mass: 1,200 kg (2,600 lb). Nation: Russia. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Prima. USAF Sat Cat: 41335 . COSPAR: 2016-011A. Apogee: 806 km (500 mi). Perigee: 802 km (498 mi). Inclination: 98.60 deg.

  Eurockot/Krunichev Rokot's Briz-KM upper stage entered a 153 x 785 km transfer orbit followed by an 802 x 806 km target orbit, deploying the Sentinel-3A satellite. It then lowered perigee to 411 x 744 km to reduce orbital lifetime. ESA's Sentinel-3A was part of the European Union's Copernicus remote sensing program, and carried an ocean color imaging payload and an ocean-topography radar altimeter payload.

2016 February 17

08:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Tanegashima. LV Family: H-2. Launch Vehicle: H-IIA 202.

• Hitomi - . Payload: ASTRO-H. Nation: Japan. Class: Astronomy. Type: X-ray astronomy satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41337 . COSPAR: 2016-012A. Apogee: 580 km (360 mi). Perigee: 565 km (351 mi). Inclination: 31.00 deg.

  ASTRO-H X-ray astronomy observatory rode H2A No. 30 to a low Earth orbit. It carried an array of five X-ray telescopes. Hitomi suffered a major anomaly on Mar 25 while observing the quasar Markarian 205. At 1910 UTC the satellite started tumbling and then at 0140 UTC Mar 26 the spacecraft partly disintegrated. US tracking found eleven debris objects in orbit. During the next scheduled pass at 0740 UTC, JAXA received only a short burst from the radio beacon and nothing more; three more such beacon detections were obtained up to Mar 28, when the spacecraft fell silent. Ground-based optical observations showed that at least two of the debris objects, 2016-012A and 012L, were bright and tumbling several times a minute. 2016-012A was probably the main spacecraft bus. It's possible that 2016-012L was the extensible optical bench with the HXI cameras, or part of the solar panels.

• Kinshachi-2 - . Nation: Japan. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: ChubuSat. USAF Sat Cat: 41338 . COSPAR: 2016-012B. Apogee: 579 km (359 mi). Perigee: 559 km (347 mi). Inclination: 31.00 deg.

• Kinshachi-3 - . Nation: Japan. Class: Science. Type: Science satellite. Spacecraft: ChubuSat. USAF Sat Cat: 41339 . COSPAR: 2016-012C. Apogee: 578 km (359 mi). Perigee: 558 km (346 mi). Inclination: 31.00 deg.

• Horyu-4 - . Nation: Japan. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41340 . COSPAR: 2016-012D. Apogee: 578 km (359 mi). Perigee: 557 km (346 mi). Inclination: 31.00 deg.

2016 February 21

07:34 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LF09. LV Family: Minuteman. Launch Vehicle: Minuteman 3.

• GT217GM - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 1,300 km (800 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Kwajalein..

2016 February 22

04:15 GMT - . Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Vehicle: Black Brant 9.

• CHESS-2 - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 309 km (192 mi). Ultraviolet astronomy mission. Impacted in White Sands..

2016 February 26

07:01 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg LF10. LV Family: Minuteman. Launch Vehicle: Minuteman 3.

• GT218GM - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 1,300 km (800 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Kwajalein..

2016 March 1

14:50 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Malemute. Launch Vehicle: Terrier Improved Malemute.

• MUSIC - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 185 km (114 mi). Technology mission. Impacted in Atlantic Ocean..

2016 March 4

23:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC40. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2.

• SES-9 - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: Eurostar 3000. USAF Sat Cat: 41380 . COSPAR: 2016-013A. Apogee: 41,649 km (25,879 mi). Perigee: 28,569 km (17,751 mi). Inclination: 0.50 deg.

  Falcon 9 rocket F9-022 first stage flew to an apogee of around 160 km and descended 660 km downrange to crash on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" at about 73.8W 28.3N, in a technology test to develop experience for future landing attempts. The second stage accelerated to reach a 160 x 531 km x 28.5 deg parking orbit at 2344 UTC and then reignited at 0002 UTC Mar 5 to reach a 334 x 40648 km x 28.0 deg transfer orbit. The SES-9 payload separated at 0006 UTC. It was a Boeing 702HP satellite with a mass of about 5270 kg and a Ku-band communications payload for delivery of services to Asia and the Indian Ocean from 108.2E. By Mar 14, SES-9 was in a 28569 x 41649 km x 0.5 deg orbit.

2016 March 7

12:05 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Terrier Improved Orion.

• NASA 41.114NP - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 160 km (90 mi). Technology mission. Impacted in Atlantic Ocean..

2016 March 8

Launch Site: Qom. LV Family: R-11. Launch Vehicle: Shahab 1.

• Shahab RV - . Nation: Iran. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Qom Desert, Iran..

• Shahab RV - . Nation: Iran. Apogee: 120 km (70 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Qom Desert, Iran..

• Qiam RV - . Nation: Iran. Apogee: 125 km (77 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Qom Desert, Iran..

2016 March 9

Launch Site: Semnan. LV Family: Nodong 1. Launch Vehicle: Ghadr 1.

• Ghadr RV - . Nation: Iran. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Makran, S Iran..

• Ghadr RV - . Nation: Iran. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Makran, S Iran..

2016 March 9

05:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA3. LV Family: Ariane 5. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5ECA.

• Eutelsat 65 West A - . Nation: Europe. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41382 . COSPAR: 2016-014A. Apogee: 35,759 km (22,219 mi). Perigee: 35,729 km (22,200 mi). Inclination: 0.00 deg.

  Ariane 5 vehicle L582, mission VA229 to a low inclination geotransfer with Eutelsat do Brasil's 65 West A payload, a Loral 1300 satellite. By Mar 14, 65 West A was in a 35729 x 35759 km x 0.0 deg near-GEO over the Atlantic. Placed in geosynchronous orbit at 44 deg W.

2016 March 9

20:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Chiha-ri. LV Family: R-11. Launch Vehicle: Hwasong 6.

• Hwasong RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

• Hwasong RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

2016 March 10

10:31 GMT - . Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Complex: Sriharikota SLP. LV Family: PSLV. Launch Vehicle: PSLV-XL.

• IRNSS-1F - . Mass: 1,425 kg (3,141 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: I-1K. USAF Sat Cat: 41384 . COSPAR: 2016-015A. Apogee: 35,750 km (22,210 mi). Perigee: 33,349 km (20,722 mi). Inclination: 5.30 deg.

  Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System was augmented by launch of the 1F satellite. The initial insertion orbit was 270 x 20649 km x 17.9 deg; an initial perigee burn to raise apogee was followed by several apogee burns towards circular inclined synchronous orbit.

2016 March 13

18:56 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC31. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-2-1B.

• Resurs-P No. 3 - . Mass: 6,600 kg (14,500 lb). Nation: Russia. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Yantar. Spacecraft: Resurs-Spektr. USAF Sat Cat: 41386 . COSPAR: 2016-016A. Apogee: 452 km (280 mi). Perigee: 279 km (173 mi). Inclination: 97.30 deg. Third Resurs-P civil remote sensing satellite. The first two satellites in the series were still operating; Resurs-P No. 1 made an orbit adjust burn on Feb 22. The Resurs-P No. 3 spacecraft, however, failed to deploy one of its solar panels..

2016 March 14

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral ETR. Launch Platform: SSBN. LV Family: Trident. Launch Vehicle: Trident D-5.

• Trident RVs x ? - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in S Atlantic..

2016 March 14

09:31 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/39. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-M/Briz-M.

• ExoMars TGO - . Nation: Russia. Class: Mars. Type: Mars probe. Spacecraft: ExoMars. USAF Sat Cat: 41388 . COSPAR: 2016-017A. Apogee: -71,368 km (-71,368 mi). Perigee: 750 km (460 mi). Inclination: 51.50 deg.

  first ESA ExoMars mission. The main spacecraft on this mission was the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which entered Mars orbit to study its atmosphere. Attached to it was the Schiaparelli EDM lander. The TGO carried a color and stereo camera, IR and UV spectrometers, a neutron detector, and a communications relay package to support future surface missions. The combined spacecraft had a mass of 4332 kg. TGO was built by Thales/Cannes (formerly GTC/Sud Aviation) and EDM by Thales/Torino (formerly Fiat). Proton-M No. 93560 put the stack into a suborbital trajectory. The Briz-M upper stage, S/N 99560, separated at 0941 UTC and fired for 6 minutes to enter a 185 x 185 km x 51.5 deg parking orbit at 0947 UTC. After completing one orbit, a second burn at 1110 UTC raised the orbit to 250 x 5800 km. At the next perigee, at 1324 UTC, the orbit was raised to 696 x 21086 km and the Briz-M additional propellant tank was jettisoned. On completing this orbit, the fourth burn began at 1948 UTC to propel the vehicle to escape velocity. ExoMars TGO/EDM separated from the Briz-M at 2013 UTC in a hyperbolic Earth escape orbit (C3 = 13.78 km**2/s**2). The ExoMars spacecraft entered the Martian gravitational Hill sphere at 0110 UTC Oct 16, and at 1442 UTC Oct 16 split into the separate TGO (Trace Gas Orbiter) and EDM (Entry-Descent-Landing Demonstrator Module) vehicles. TGO made an insertion burn on Oct 19 from 1304 to 1523 UTC, entering a 4-day-period, 346 x 95228 km x 9.7 orbit deg around Mars.

  ExoMars-2016 mass breakdown as follows:

    Schiaparelli
      EDM Surface Platform        280 kg
      SP hydrazine                 46 kg
      Front Shield                200 kg?
      Back Cover                   54 kg?
      Parachute system             20 kg?
    -------------------------------------
    EDM total                     600 kg
    TGO spacecraft               1365 kg  (including 41 kg separation assembly)
    TGO propellant               2367 kg
    -------------------------------------
    ExoMars-2016 launch total    4332 kg

• Schiaparelli - . Nation: Russia. Class: Mars. Type: Mars probe. Spacecraft: Schiaparelli. COSPAR: 2016-017. Apogee: -71,368 km (-71,368 mi). Perigee: 750 km (460 mi). Inclination: 51.50 deg.

  The Schiaparelli EDM was the EDL Demonstrator Module, where EDL was "Entry, Descent and Landing". EDM consisted of an aeroshell containing the EDM Surface Platform (ESP, a triply-nested three-letter-acronym proving that ESA can compete with NASA in the TLA race). EDM attempted o land on the surface as a technology demonstration, and carried a small meteorology payload. The EDM separated from TGO three days before Mars arrival and entered the Martian atmosphere on a hyperbolic trajectory towards a landing site at 6.1W 1.9S in Meridiani Planum. After entry a parachute slowed the vehicle, the back cover and forward shield were jettisoned, and thrusters slowed the ESP further. The ESP underside consisted of a crushable structure to absorb impact with the surface. In the event, Schiaparelli approached on a 62 x -13982 km x 8.2 deg hyperbola and entered the Martian atmosphere at 1442 UTC at a speed of 5.86 km/s and an angle of -11.9 degrees. During descent, data was relayed to Mars orbiting spacecraft for later retransmission as well as sent on a live link picked up by the GMRT radio telescope near Pune, India.Schiaparelli survived the entry and deployed its parachute 4 minutes later at an altitude of 11 km. The heatshield was jettisoned 30 seconds later, and at 1447 UTC the parachute and attached backshell were separated at an altitude of 1.3 km over the Meridiani Planum landing site at 6.11W 2.07S. It appeared that the parachute / backshell separated 15 seconds earlier than expected. The thrusters fired for only 3 seconds, and the lander transitioned to landing mode while still well above the surface. A free fall of 19 seconds ensued, followed by a high speed (hundreds of km/hr) impact. At this point communications from the lander ceased. MRO imaged the EDM lander's impact scar at 6.11W 2.07S. The parachute was 0.16 km E 0.91km S of the lander.

2016 March 15

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral ETR. Launch Platform: SSBN. LV Family: Trident. Launch Vehicle: Trident D-5.

• Trident RVs x ? - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in S Atlantic..

2016 March 16

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral ETR. Launch Platform: SSBN. LV Family: Trident. Launch Vehicle: Trident D-5.

• Trident RVs x ? - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in S Atlantic..

2016 March 17

20:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Sukchon. Launch Vehicle: Nodong 1.

• Nodong RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 150 km (90 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

2016 March 18

21:26 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-FG.

• Soyuz TMA-20M - . Call Sign: Kazbek. Crew: Ovchinin, Skripochka, Williams, Jeffrey. Backup Crew: Ryzhikov, Borisenko, Kimbrough. Return Crew: Ovchinin, Skripochka, Williams, Jeffrey. Nation: Russia. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz TMA-20M. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz TMA. Duration: 172.16 days. Decay Date: 2016-09-07 01:13:00 . USAF Sat Cat: 41391 . COSPAR: 2016-018A. Apogee: 230 km (140 mi). Perigee: 193 km (119 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  Soyuz TMA-20M was launched carrying Alexey Ovchinin, Oleg Skripochka and Jeff Williams. This was the last of the 11F732A47 Soyuz TMA-M series, which were replaced by the improved Soyuz-MS variant. On Sep 6 at 2151 UTC Soyuz TMA-20M undocked from the Poisk module with Ovchinin, Skripochka and Williams. The spacecraft laded in Kazakhstan at 0113 UTC on Sep 7.

2016 March 23

03:05 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC41. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC41. LV Family: Atlas V. Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 401.

• SS Rick Husband - . Payload: Cygnus OA-5. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Decay Date: 2016-06-22 . USAF Sat Cat: 41393 . COSPAR: 2016-019A. Apogee: 250 km (150 mi). Perigee: 240 km (140 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  Cygnus cargo ship OA-6, "SS Rick Husband", was launched aboard Atlas V flight AV-064. A mixture ratio problem on the Atlas caused an 5-seconds-early first stage cutoff, which required a full extra minute's burn on the Centaur upper stage to make the correct orbit. After deploying Cygnus, the Centaur's second burn was intended to deorbit the stage south of Australia, but because of insufficient remaining propellant the engine cutoff early, and reentry occurred downrange south of New Zealand. SS Rick Husband arrived at the ISS on schedule, and was grappled by the Canadarm-2 at 1051 UTC Mar 26. On Jun 14 the Canadarm-2 unberthed Cygnus OA-6 from the Unity module at 1143 UTC and released it into orbit at 1330 UTC. Cygnus then performed the SAFIRE-1 experiment igniting a significant fire inside an experiment chamber in the Cygnus pressurized PCM module. Mounted on the Cygnus service module was the first NRCSD-E external cubesat deployer carrying 5 Lemur-2 satellites. On Jun 21 two pairs of Lemur-2 cubesats were ejected. A third deployer silo with a single Lemur-2 failed to open, and the cubesat remained inside when then following day Cygnus made its deorbit burn and reentered over the South Pacific at 1329 UTC Jun 22.

2016 March 24

09:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Plesetsk. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-2-1A.

• Cosmos 2515 - . Payload: Bars-M No. 2. Nation: Russia. Class: Surveillance. Type: Cartographic satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Yantar. Spacecraft: Bars. USAF Sat Cat: 41394 . COSPAR: 2016-020A. Apogee: 540 km (330 mi). Perigee: 332 km (206 mi). Inclination: 97.60 deg. Bars-M cartography satellite; joined the No. 1 satellite (Kosmos-2503) launched in 2015. 1325LT SSO..

2016 March 29

20:11 GMT - . Launch Site: Xichang. Launch Complex: Xichang LC2. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 3A.

• Beidou DW 22 - . Payload: Beidou IGSO 6. Nation: China. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Beidou-IGSO. USAF Sat Cat: 41434 . COSPAR: 2016-021A. Apogee: 35,796 km (22,242 mi). Perigee: 195 km (121 mi). Inclination: 55.00 deg.

2016 March 31

Launch Site: Visakhapatnam. Launch Platform: INS Ariran. LV Family: Agni. Launch Vehicle: K-4.

• K-4 RV - . Nation: India. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Bay of Bengal?..

2016 March 31

16:23 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC31. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-2-1A.

• Progress MS-02 - . Nation: Russia. Agency: RKA. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Progress MS. Decay Date: 2016-10-14 . USAF Sat Cat: 41436 . COSPAR: 2016-022A. Apogee: 267 km (165 mi). Perigee: 261 km (162 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Docked with Zvezda on Apr 2 at 1758 UTC..

2016 April 2

15:18 GMT - . Launch Site: Blue Origin. Launch Vehicle: New Shepard.

• New Shepard M4 - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 103 km (64 mi). Test mission. Impacted in West Texas..

2016 April 5

17:38 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 2D.

• Shi Jian 10 - . Nation: China. Class: Materials. Type: Materials science satellite. Spacecraft: FSW. Decay Date: 2016-04-18 . USAF Sat Cat: 41448 . COSPAR: 2016-023A. Apogee: 267 km (165 mi). Perigee: 233 km (144 mi). Inclination: 42.90 deg.

  SJ-10 microgravity experiment satellite launched into low orbit. SJ-10 was based on the old FSW recoverable film-based spy satellites. The main experiment section separated and returned to Earth at the end of the mission. Shi Jian-10 microgravity satellite's reentry vehicle separated from the service module on Apr 18 at 0815 UTC and landed in China at 0830 UTC. The service module remains in a 253 x 269 km orbit, recataloged as a new object. It adjusted its orbit on Apr 22 but as of May 18 had not made further maneuvers.

2016 April 8

20:43 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC40. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2.

• Dragon CRS-8 - . Nation: USA. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Dragon. Decay Date: 2016-05-11 . USAF Sat Cat: 41452 . COSPAR: 2016-024A. Apogee: 353 km (219 mi). Perigee: 209 km (129 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg.

  Falcon 9 F9-023 launched a Dragon with the Bigelow BEAM inflatable module experiment in its trunk. CRS-8 was scheduled to arrive at ISS on Apr 10. The F9-023 first stage performed boostback and reentry burns to successfully land on the ship "Of Course I Still Love You" at 78.50W 30.50N in the Atlantic. This was the second succesful reentry and landing of a Falcon 9 first stage, following the Dec 2015 landing of F9-021 at Cape Canaveral. Dragon CRS-8 arrived at the capture point 10m from the Harmony module at 1115 UTC Apr 10. The Canadarm-2 grappled it at 1123 UTC and berthed it on Harmony's nadir CBM port at 1357 UTC. At about 0600 UTC on Apr 16 the BEAM module was extracted from Dragon's trunk; BEAM was installed on the Tranquility module's aft port at 0937 UTC Apr 16. CRS-8 was unberthed at 1102 UTC May 11 and released into space at 1319 UTC. After a deorbit burn at 1801 UTC it splashed down around 120.1W 31.4N, off the coast of California, at 1851 UTC. The CRS-8 Dragon brought back to Earth the EMU 3011 spacesuit implicated in the Parmitano and Kopra water leaks. EMU 3011 was launched into space on mission STS-132 in 2010. Also brought back aboard CRS-8 were the Flock-2b 11 and 12 cubesats which failed to deploy from the ISS last October. Nanoracks deployers NRCSD-5 and NRCSD-6 were also returned to Earth on CRS-8. The Bigelow Expansion Activity Module (BEAM) remains attached to Node 3. On May 28 the module expansion was successfuly carried out; the process of expanding and pressurizing the module took from 1305 to 2044 UTC. The diameter of the module was 3.2metres; its length was increased by 1.8m to about 3.7m.

2016 April 12

Launch Site: Taiyuan. LV Family: DF-31. Launch Vehicle: DF-41.

• DF-41 RVs? - . Nation: China. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission..

2016 April 19

06:41 GMT - . Launch Site: Dombarovskiy. LV Family: UR-100N. Launch Vehicle: UR-100NU 15A35.

• Yu-71 No. 3 - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Kura?..

• Test payload - . Nation: Iran. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). Test mission. Impacted in S Iran. It was reported that Iran's new Simorgh launch vehicle failed in its initial launch attempt on Apr 19. However, Russian sources suggested that it was a successful suborbital test flight of the rocket..

2016 April 25

21:02 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-ST-A.

• Sentinel-1B - . Mass: 2,157 kg (4,755 lb). Nation: Europe. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military Radarsat. Spacecraft: Prima. USAF Sat Cat: 41456 . COSPAR: 2016-025A. Apogee: 700 km (430 mi). Perigee: 695 km (431 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg.

  Arianespace flight VS14. The Fregat stage first burn reached an initial orbit of 695 x 700 km and deployed the Sentinel-1B radar imaging satellite for ESA. It then made a burn to 442 x 690 km and deployed three 1U cubesats. The ASAP-S adapter was ejected into the same orbit. Next, the Fregat stage made two more burns to reach 711 x 714 km and released the Microscope satellite. Finally, at 0118 UTC, Fregat made a deorbit burn and reentered over the S Atlantic. 1800LT SSO.

• Microscope - . Nation: Europe. Class: Science. Type: Science satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41457 . COSPAR: 2016-025B. Apogee: 714 km (443 mi). Perigee: 711 km (441 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. 1800LT SSO.Operated by the French space agency CNES, Microscope uses the Myriade bus and contains drag-free test masses to test the Equivalence Principle..

• OUFTI-1 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41458 . COSPAR: 2016-025C. Apogee: 686 km (426 mi). Perigee: 442 km (274 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. University of Liege 1U cubesat.

• AAUSAT-4 - . Payload: E-STAR-2. Nation: Europe. Class: Communications. Type: Search and rescue satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41459 . COSPAR: 2016-025D. Apogee: 686 km (426 mi). Perigee: 442 km (274 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. Aalborg University 1U cubesat.

• ESt@r-II - . Nation: Europe. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41460 . COSPAR: 2016-025E. Apogee: 686 km (426 mi). Perigee: 442 km (274 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. Politecnico di Torino 1U cubesat.

2016 April 26

17:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Hainan. LV Family: Tianying-3C. Launch Vehicle: Tianying-3F.

• Kunpeng-1B - . Nation: China. Apogee: 316 km (196 mi).

  Ionosphere mission. Impacted in S China Sea. The Hainan sounding rocket station was a small facility at 109 07E 19 31 N, on the other side of Hainan from the new Wenchang Space Center. The TY-3F sounding rocket had a booster stage added to the earlier single-stage Tianying design, to increase its apogee

2016 April 27

11:45 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• Diwata-1 - . Mass: 50 kg (110 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41463 . COSPAR: 1998-067HT. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. The 50 kg Diwata-1 satellite, launched on Cygnus OA-6, was removed from the Kibo airlock by the JRMS arm and released into orbit. Diwata-1 was an Earth observation satellite developed by the Phillipines..

2016 April 28

02:01 GMT - . Launch Site: Vostochniy. Launch Complex: Vostochniy PU1S. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-2-1A.

• Lomonosov - . Payload: MVL 300. Nation: Russia. Class: Astronomy. Type: Astronomy satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41464 . COSPAR: 2016-026A. Apogee: 486 km (301 mi). Perigee: 471 km (292 mi). Inclination: 97.30 deg.

  Lomonosov (Mikhailo-Lomonosov-300) science satellite was orbited from the new Vostochniy spaceport. The old GIK-2 (2nd State Test Cosmodrome) at Svobodniy was shut down in 2007; its reopening as Vostochniy marks a planned shift away from the Kazakhstan launch site of Baikonur. Lomonosov's main experiment, TUS, was an ultraviolet camera to observe the flashes from cosmic rays hitting the Earth's upper atmosphere. 2314LT SSO.

• AIST-2D - . Nation: Russia. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41465 . COSPAR: 2016-026B. Apogee: 485 km (301 mi). Perigee: 471 km (292 mi). Inclination: 97.30 deg. Samara State Aerospace University's AIST-2D imaging satellite;, the student-built Samsat-218/D failed to transmit properly..

• Kontakt-NS - . Payload: SAMSAT 218D. Nation: Russia. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41466 . COSPAR: 2016-026C. Apogee: 485 km (301 mi). Perigee: 471 km (292 mi). Inclination: 97.30 deg. Samara State Aerospace University Kontakt-Nanosputnik (Samsat-218/D) cubesat. 2314LT SSO.

2016 April 28

07:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Complex: Sriharikota PSLV. LV Family: PSLV. Launch Vehicle: PSLV-XL.

• IRNSS-1G - . Mass: 1,425 kg (3,141 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: I-1K. USAF Sat Cat: 41469 . COSPAR: 2016-027A. Apogee: 35,821 km (22,258 mi). Perigee: 35,741 km (22,208 mi). Inclination: 5.10 deg. Launch of the IRNSS-1G completed India's 7-satellite navigation constellation. Placed in geosynchronous orbit at 129 deg E..

2016 May 6

05:21 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC40. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2.

• JCSAT 14 - . Payload: JCSAT 2B. Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41471 . COSPAR: 2016-028A. Apogee: 35,864 km (22,284 mi). Perigee: 35,758 km (22,218 mi). Inclination: 0.00 deg.

  Placed in geosynchronous orbit at 176 deg E. SSL-1300 comms platform built by SSL-MDA, launched by into geotransfer orbit. The Falcon 9 first stage landed downrange on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You. Each of the JCSAT series satellites has two names - essentially, a name that identifies the physical satellite and a name that marks the service it was providing at a specific orbital slot.

2016 May 16

10:05 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• CADRE - . Payload: MINXSS. Nation: USA. Class: Science. Type: Science satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-05-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 41474 . COSPAR: 1998-067HU. Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Perigee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. U Michigan cubesat.

• MinXSS - . Nation: USA. Class: Astronomy. Type: Astronomy satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-01-03 . USAF Sat Cat: 41475 . COSPAR: 1998-067HV. Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Perigee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. U of Colorado cubesat; carried a miniature X-ray solar spectrometer to study the hard X-ray spectra of solar flares..

• STMSat-1 - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-04-21 . USAF Sat Cat: 41476 . COSPAR: 1998-067HW. Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. St. Thomas More School cubesat.

• Nodes 1 - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-09-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 41477 . COSPAR: 1998-067HX. Apogee: 403 km (250 mi). Perigee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. NASA-Ames cubesat.

• Nodes 2 - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-09-23 . USAF Sat Cat: 41478 . COSPAR: 1998-067HY. Apogee: 401 km (249 mi). Perigee: 400 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. NASA-Ames cubesat.

• Flock 2e'-1/0D05 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-04-15 . USAF Sat Cat: 41479 . COSPAR: 1998-067HZ. Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-2/0C1B - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-12-01 . USAF Sat Cat: 41481 . COSPAR: 1998-067JB. Apogee: 401 km (249 mi). Perigee: 400 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-3/0D06 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-04-18 . USAF Sat Cat: 41480 . COSPAR: 1998-067JA. Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Perigee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-4/0C22 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-11-08 . USAF Sat Cat: 41482 . COSPAR: 1998-067JC. Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-1/0C37 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-06-16 . USAF Sat Cat: 41483 . COSPAR: 1998-067JD. Apogee: 403 km (250 mi). Perigee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-2/0C78 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-01-23 . USAF Sat Cat: 41484 . COSPAR: 1998-067JE. Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Perigee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

2016 May 18

00:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Woomera. LV Family: Sonda. Launch Vehicle: VS-30/Orion.

• HiFire-5B - . Nation: Australia. Apogee: 278 km (172 mi). Hypersonic vehicle test mission. Impacted in Woomera Range. Joint US/Australian hypersonic-research flight..

2016 May 18

02:15 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• Flock 2e-3/0C60 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-04-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 41486 . COSPAR: 1998-067JG. Apogee: 402 km (249 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-4/0C41 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-03-11 . USAF Sat Cat: 41487 . COSPAR: 1998-067JH. Apogee: 403 km (250 mi). Perigee: 398 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

2016 May 18

07:02 GMT - . Launch Site: Barking Sands. Launch Vehicle: MRBM-T3.

• FTX-21 Target - . Nation: USA. Type: ABM Target. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi). ABM Target mission. Impacted in Pacific. Medium-range target using an SR-19 solid motor first stage..

2016 May 18

07:05 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• Lemur-2 Theresacondor - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-03-30 . USAF Sat Cat: 41485 . COSPAR: 1998-067JF. Apogee: 401 km (249 mi). Perigee: 400 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  The Nanoracks NRCSD-7 cubesat deploys were completed on May 18 with the release of four Lemur-2 satellites from Spire Global. The Lemur system carried AIS and GPS radio occultation meteorology payloads. The distortion of the radio signal from a GPS satellite as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere and out again to the STRATOS detector on Lemur-2 depends on the temperature, pressure and humidity of the region of the atmosphere the signal was passing through - so STRATOS can infer the weather. Lemur's SENSE payload contributes to the network of automatic identification of shipping (AIS), relaying position and identification data from ships at sea. The four satellites, built in Glasgow, are named Theresacondor, Kane, Nick-Allain and Jeff after Spire employees. (Theresa Condor was VP Corp.Development for Spire. Nick Allain was their director of brand. Kane was probably named after Megan Kane, a Spire manager, and Jeff was possibly Spire satellite engineer Jeff Kuehne.) The two Nanoracks Cubesat Dispensers launched on OA-4 (Dec 2015, NRCSD-7) and OA-6 (Mar 2016, NRCSD-8) were stored on ISS until May and repacked to allow the high priority Dove 0D-class and Spire Global Lemur satellites to be deployed sooner

• Lemur-2 Kane - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-04-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 41488 . COSPAR: 1998-067JJ. Apogee: 401 km (249 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

• Lemur-2 Nick-Allain - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-04-07 . USAF Sat Cat: 41489 . COSPAR: 1998-067JK. Apogee: 401 km (249 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

• Lemur-2 Jeff - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-03-24 . USAF Sat Cat: 41490 . COSPAR: 1998-067JL. Apogee: 401 km (249 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

2016 May 24

08:48 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELS. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-ST-B.

• GalileoSat-13 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Galileo Navsat. USAF Sat Cat: 41550 . COSPAR: 2016-030B. Apogee: 23,566 km (14,643 mi). Perigee: 23,551 km (14,633 mi). Inclination: 57.40 deg. Daniele.

• GalileoSat-14 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Galileo Navsat. USAF Sat Cat: 41549 . COSPAR: 2016-030A. Apogee: 23,616 km (14,674 mi). Perigee: 23,553 km (14,635 mi). Inclination: 57.40 deg. Alizee.

2016 May 25

Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Vehicle: Nudol.

• Nudol' - . Nation: Russia. Type: ASAT. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test launch of Russia's Nudol' antiballistic missile interceptor.

• CTV-01a - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Pacific..

2016 May 26

Launch Site: Barking Sands. Launch Complex: Barking Sands POA. Launch Platform: DDG-70. LV Family: Standard. Launch Vehicle: SM-3-IB.

• CTV-02 - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Pacific..

2016 May 27

21:39 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC40. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2.

• Thaicom 8 - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: GEOStar-2. USAF Sat Cat: 41552 . COSPAR: 2016-031A. Apogee: 90,190 km (56,040 mi). Perigee: 347 km (215 mi). Inclination: 21.20 deg. SpaceX launched the Thaicom-8 satellite to a high apogee supersynchronous transfer orbit. The Falcon 9 first stage landed safely on the 'Of Course I Still Love You' in the Atlantic. Orbital Star-2.3 bus..

2016 May 29

08:44 GMT - . Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: Plesetsk LC43/4. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-2-1B.

• Cosmos 2516 - . Nation: Russia. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Glonass. USAF Sat Cat: 41554 . COSPAR: 2016-032A. Apogee: 19,152 km (11,900 mi). Perigee: 19,124 km (11,883 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Glonass-M No. 53 to replenish the Russian navigation satellite system.

2016 May 30

03:17 GMT - . Launch Site: Taiyuan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 4B.

• Ziyuan-3 02 - . Payload: ZY 3 2. Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41556 . COSPAR: 2016-033A. Apogee: 499 km (310 mi). Perigee: 484 km (300 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. 1024LT sun synchronous orbit satellitefor China's Satellite Surveying and Mapping Applications Center. It carried a 2-meter-resolution Earth imaging cameras..

• Fresco - . Payload: NUSAT 1. Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41557 . COSPAR: 2016-033B. Apogee: 499 km (310 mi). Perigee: 481 km (298 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg.

  Small 37 kg imaging satellites for Satellogic of Argentina; ÑUSAT-1 and -2 (not to be confused with the 1985 Nusat satellite from Weber State Univ.); also called Fresco and Batata (cheese and sweet potato, a popular Argentine dessert pairing). 1024LT SSO.

• Batata - . Payload: NUSAT 2. Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41558 . COSPAR: 2016-033C. Apogee: 499 km (310 mi). Perigee: 481 km (298 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. 1024LT SSO.

2016 May 30

11:40 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• Flock 2e-6/0C75 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-02-12 . USAF Sat Cat: 41563 . COSPAR: 1998-067JM. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-5/0C43 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-08-14 . USAF Sat Cat: 41564 . COSPAR: 1998-067JN. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-7/0C24 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-04-06 . USAF Sat Cat: 41565 . COSPAR: 1998-067JP. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-8/0C2B - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-07-25 . USAF Sat Cat: 41566 . COSPAR: 1998-067JQ. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-5/0C59 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-06-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 41567 . COSPAR: 1998-067JR. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-6/0C46 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-04-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 41568 . COSPAR: 1998-067JS. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-7/0C42 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-04-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 41569 . COSPAR: 1998-067JT. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-8/0C76 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-10-03 . USAF Sat Cat: 41570 . COSPAR: 1998-067JU. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-9/0C14 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-12-25 . USAF Sat Cat: 41571 . COSPAR: 1998-067JV. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-10/0C82 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-02-28 . USAF Sat Cat: 41572 . COSPAR: 1998-067JW. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-12/0C79 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-03-04 . USAF Sat Cat: 41573 . COSPAR: 1998-067JX. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e-11/0C13 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-03-04 . USAF Sat Cat: 41574 . COSPAR: 1998-067JY. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-9/0C19 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-03-12 . USAF Sat Cat: 41575 . COSPAR: 1998-067JZ. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-10/0C65 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-02-17 . USAF Sat Cat: 41576 . COSPAR: 1998-067KA. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

2016 June 1

19:00 GMT - . Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Vehicle: Black Brant 9.

• NASA 36.318UE - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 290 km (180 mi). Solar ultraviolet mission. Impacted in White Sands..

2016 June 2

02:15 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• Flock 2e'-11/0C27 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-03-11 . USAF Sat Cat: 41577 . COSPAR: 1998-067KB. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-12/0C81 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-02-28 . USAF Sat Cat: 41578 . COSPAR: 1998-067KC. Apogee: 404 km (251 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

2016 June 4

14:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: Plesetsk LC133/3. LV Family: UR-100N. Launch Vehicle: Rokot.

• Cosmos 2517 - . Nation: Russia. Class: Earth. Type: Geodetic satellite. Spacecraft Bus: KAUR-1. Spacecraft: Geo-IK. USAF Sat Cat: 41579 . COSPAR: 2016-034A. Apogee: 961 km (597 mi). Perigee: 936 km (581 mi). Inclination: 99.30 deg. 0600LT SSO. Russian earth geodetic satellite..

2016 June 9

07:10 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC81/24. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-M/Briz-M.

• Intelsat IS-31 - . Nation: Russia. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41581 . COSPAR: 2016-035A. Apogee: 65,039 km (40,413 mi). Perigee: 3,362 km (2,089 mi). Inclination: 29.50 deg.

  Satellite with the DirecTV Latin America 2 (DLA-2) Ku-band payload was launched into a supersynchronous transfer orbit. The Proton second stage suffered an early shutdown of one of its 4 engines, leaving the vehicle 28m/s slow at stage 3 separation. Fortunately the Briz-M stage was able to correct the problem by adjusting its burn times and delivered the satellite to the correct orbit.

2016 June 11

17:51 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC37B. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC37. LV Family: Delta IV. Launch Vehicle: Delta 4H.

• USA 268 - . Payload: SIGINT. Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: SIGINT. Spacecraft: Advanced Orion. USAF Sat Cat: 41584 . COSPAR: 2016-036A. Apogee: 36,000 km (22,000 mi). Perigee: 35,612 km (22,128 mi). Inclination: 7.50 deg.

  The NROL-37 mission was a large signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellite, placed in geosynchronous orbit at 103 deg E over the Indian Ocean. Possibly the second Orion/Sharp model. There were two main lineages of GEO SIGINT satellites operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office: MERCURY (originally CANYON); and RHYOLITE (later AQUACADE), which was replaced in the 1980s by ORION (whose other rumoured codenames include MAGNUM and MENTOR). Launches of the MERCURY series ended in 1998, at which time it was rumoured that its capabilites would be merged into the ORION series. A number of observers suggested that the 2014 GEO SIGINT launch of USA 250 on an Atlas V was a one-off mission not part of the ORION series, and that with an increase in mass ORION had moved to using the RS-68A-powered Delta 4 Heavy rockets. It was further been suggested that the 2014 launch might be the NEMESIS 2 satellite mentioned in leaked FY2013 budget documents; however a close reading of those documents showed that funding for the latter project was cut off after FY2011, which implies that it was either launched by then or cancelled (more likely given the sudden drop from half-billion-dollar-level funding to zero). The documents also mention SHARP, the SIGINT High Altitude Replenishment Program, funded at a high level in FY2011-2013 and reportedly also since. It's possible the 2012 and 2016 launches may represent a new ORION/SHARP series, or that they are beefed up ORION and the 2014 launch was a SHARP prototype. The shorter fairing used for the 2014 launch suggests that it was not in fact an ORION.

2016 June 12

15:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Xichang. Launch Complex: Xichang LC3. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 3C.

• Beidou DW 23 - . Payload: Beidou G7. Nation: China. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Beidou-GEO. USAF Sat Cat: 41586 . COSPAR: 2016-037A. Apogee: 34,574 km (21,483 mi). Perigee: 217 km (134 mi). Inclination: 19.30 deg. 7th geostationary satellite in the Beidou-2 generation..

2016 June 15

14:29 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC40. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2.

• Eutelsat 117 West B - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: HS 702. USAF Sat Cat: 41589 . COSPAR: 2016-038B. Apogee: 62,761 km (38,997 mi). Perigee: 399 km (247 mi). Inclination: 24.70 deg. Eutelsat 117 West B (the former Satmex 9) to provide service for Eutelsat Americas, supplementing Satmex 8 (now renamed Eutelsat 117 West A). Boeing BSS-702SP satellite with all-electric-propulsion, which use ion engines to complete the trip to GEO..

• ABS-2A - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: HS 702. USAF Sat Cat: 41588 . COSPAR: 2016-038A. Apogee: 62,649 km (38,928 mi). Perigee: 395 km (245 mi). Inclination: 24.60 deg.

  The Falcon 9 vehicle 26 second stage made two burns to deliver a pair of Boeing BSS-702SP satellites to supersynchronous transfer orbits. This was the second matched pair of all-electric-propulsion payloads, which use ion engines to complete the trip to GEO. ABS-2A will supplement Asia Broadcast Satellite's ABS-2

2016 June 18

21:38 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA3. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5.

• Echostar 18 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41592 . COSPAR: 2016-039B. Apogee: 35,796 km (22,242 mi). Perigee: 33,289 km (20,684 mi). Inclination: 0.10 deg.

• BRISat - . Nation: Europe. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41591 . COSPAR: 2016-039A. Apogee: 35,702 km (22,184 mi). Perigee: 32,931 km (20,462 mi). Inclination: 0.00 deg. Ariane 5 vehicle L584 put two communications satellites in geotransfer orbit. BRISat was dedicated to banking services for the Indonesian bank PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. of Jakarta..

2016 June 19

14:36 GMT - . Launch Site: Blue Origin. Launch Vehicle: New Shepard.

• New Shepard CC - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 101 km (62 mi). Test mission. Impacted in West Texas..

2016 June 20

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral ETR. Launch Platform: UK S31. LV Family: Trident. Launch Vehicle: Trident D-5.

• British Trident missile test failure - . Nation: UK. Agency: RN. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi).

  In January 2017 it was reported that on this date a Trident missile launched from HMS Vengeance on the Atlantic Missile Range failed. The missile was said to have veered toward Florida before being destroyed by range safety. The government was said to have covered up the failure.

2016 June 21

00:00 GMT - . Launch Site: ISS deployed. Launch Platform: Rick Husba.

• Lemur-2-Cubecheese SS - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Search and rescue satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-02-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 41598 . COSPAR: 2016-019E. Apogee: 394 km (244 mi). Perigee: 388 km (241 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

• Lemur-2-Bridgeman - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Search and rescue satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-06-25 . USAF Sat Cat: 41595 . COSPAR: 2016-019B. Apogee: 393 km (244 mi). Perigee: 389 km (241 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  Mounted on the Cygnus service module, the first NRCSD-E external cubesat deployer carried 5 Lemur-2 satellites. On Jun 21 two pairs of Lemur-2 cubesats were ejected. A third deployer silo with a single Lemur-2 failed to open, and the cubesat remained inside when then following day Cygnus made its deorbit burn

• Lemur-2-Nate - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Search and rescue satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-03-06 . USAF Sat Cat: 41597 . COSPAR: 2016-019D. Apogee: 394 km (244 mi). Perigee: 388 km (241 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

• Lemur-2-DrMuzz - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Search and rescue satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-03-08 . USAF Sat Cat: 41596 . COSPAR: 2016-019C. Apogee: 394 km (244 mi). Perigee: 388 km (241 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

2016 June 21

20:58 GMT - . Launch Site: Gitdaeryung. LV Family: R-27. Launch Vehicle: Hwasong 10.

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 1,414 km (878 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

2016 June 22

03:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Complex: Sriharikota SLP. Launch Vehicle: PSLV.

• Cartosat-2 Series - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41599 . COSPAR: 2016-040A. Apogee: 518 km (321 mi). Perigee: 500 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. 0930LT SSO. Cartosat-2 series imaging satellite.

• Sathyabamasat - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Atmosphere satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41600 . COSPAR: 2016-040B. Apogee: 519 km (322 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. 1.5 kg 2U cubesat for Sathyabama U. of Chennai with a greenhouse-gas IR spectrometer.

• Swayam - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41607 . COSPAR: 2016-040J. Apogee: 518 km (321 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. 1 kg 1U cubesat from COEP (College of Engineering, Pune) with technology and amateur radio payloads..

• LAPAN-A3 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41603 . COSPAR: 2016-040E. Apogee: 517 km (321 mi). Perigee: 500 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. 120 kg imaging satellite for Indonesia's LAPAN space agency.

• BIROS - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41604 . COSPAR: 2016-040F. Apogee: 516 km (320 mi). Perigee: 500 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. 130 kg infrared satellite to study fires, for Germany's DLR; also carried the BEESAT-4 cubesat to be ejected later..

• SkySat 2G-1 - . Payload: SkySat C1. Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Skysat. USAF Sat Cat: 41601 . COSPAR: 2016-040C. Apogee: 515 km (320 mi). Perigee: 501 km (311 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. A 110 kg imaging satellite for TerraBella's constellation.

• M3MSat - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Search and rescue satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41605 . COSPAR: 2016-040G. Apogee: 515 km (320 mi). Perigee: 500 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. M3MSat/earthView-7, an 85 kg AIS satellite for Canada's Dept of National Defense.

• Claire - . Payload: GHGSAT-D. Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Atmosphere satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41602 . COSPAR: 2016-040D. Apogee: 511 km (317 mi). Perigee: 500 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. A 25 kg University of Toronto satellite to study greenhouse gases; built by the Toronto UTIAS-SFL team, but was owned by the Montreal-based company GHGSat Inc..

• Flock 2P-1 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41617 . COSPAR: 2016-040U. Apogee: 513 km (318 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-2 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41609 . COSPAR: 2016-040L. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-3 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41618 . COSPAR: 2016-040V. Apogee: 513 km (318 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-4 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41611 . COSPAR: 2016-040N. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-5 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41616 . COSPAR: 2016-040T. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-6 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41606 . COSPAR: 2016-040H. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 500 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. 3U imaging cubesats for Planet (formerly PlanetLabs).

• Flock 2P-7 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41615 . COSPAR: 2016-040S. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-8 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41613 . COSPAR: 2016-040Q. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-9 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41610 . COSPAR: 2016-040M. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-10 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41612 . COSPAR: 2016-040P. Apogee: 514 km (319 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-11 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41608 . COSPAR: 2016-040K. Apogee: 513 km (318 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2P-12 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41614 . COSPAR: 2016-040R. Apogee: 513 km (318 mi). Perigee: 499 km (310 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

2016 June 24

10:06 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Terrier Improved Orion.

• RockOn/Rocksat-C - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 119 km (73 mi). Education mission. Impacted in Atlantic Ocean..

2016 June 24

14:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC41. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC41. LV Family: Atlas V. Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 551.

• MUOS 5 - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: AS 2100. USAF Sat Cat: 41622 . COSPAR: 2016-041A. Apogee: 35,670 km (22,160 mi). Perigee: 3,880 km (2,410 mi). Inclination: 19.10 deg.

  US Navy Multiple User Object System's Space Vehicle 3 was launched as MUOS 5. The Atlas 5 rocket made three burns to 167 x 659 km x 28 deg, 191 x 32930 x 26 deg and then 3802 x 35786 km x 19 deg, and deployed MUOS which will use its Japanese BT-4 thruster to reach GEO over the Indian Ocean as an in-orbit spare for the system, whose 4 operational satellites were over the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Americas. MUOS 5 had problems with its propulsion system and was parked in a 15242 x 35703 km x 9.8 deg intermediate geotransfer orbit.

2016 June 25

12:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Wenchang. Launch Complex: Wenchang LC201. LV Family: CZ-NGLV. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 7.

• DFFC - . Nation: China. Class: Technology. Type: Reentry test. Spacecraft: DFFC. COSPAR: 2016-042. Apogee: 382 km (237 mi). Perigee: 288 km (178 mi). Inclination: 40.80 deg.

  China inaugurated the Wenchang spaceport on Hainan Island on Jun 25 with the launch of the first Chang Zheng 7 rocket. The CZ-7 entered orbit with a YZ-1A upper stage, which made several burns to deploy small satellites and then was deorbited along with a subscale spacecraft reentry cabin to qualify systems for the next generation of Chinese human spaceflight missions. Four small satellites were ejected from the YZ-1A. Attached to the YZ-1A as a non-separable payload was the 'zai guijia zhu shiyan zhuangzhi', the In-Orbit Refeulling Experimental Device. The YZ-1A was deorbited over the Pacific after the experiment was completed; the stage had a design operation life of 48 hours. US tracking indicates the stage was deorbited on Jun 27 as expected. The primary payload was the DFFC (Duoyongtu Feichuan Fanhui Cang, multipurpose subscale spacecraft return capsule) flight test mission, which was to be recovered in China. There was also a ballast frame (pei zhong zhijia) which may be a dummy service module for the capsule. The capsule was deorbited on Jun 26 and landed in China at 0741 UTC. It was possible that the YZ-1A stage performed the deorbit and then separated to fire again immediately, regain orbit and continue operations for another day, but the details of what actually happened are not clear.

• Aoxiang zhixing - . Nation: China. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2016-09-29 . USAF Sat Cat: 41625 . COSPAR: 2016-042B. Apogee: 376 km (233 mi). Perigee: 289 km (179 mi). Inclination: 40.80 deg. Aoxiang Zhixing was the first 12U cubesat, with a mass of 18 kg (33 kg including payload adapter)..

• Aolong 1 - . Nation: China. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Decay Date: 2016-08-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 41629 . COSPAR: 2016-042F. Apogee: 367 km (228 mi). Perigee: 198 km (123 mi). Inclination: 40.80 deg. Ao Long 1 was an active space debris removal experiment.

• Tiange feixingqi 1 - . Nation: China. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Decay Date: 2016-08-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 41636 . COSPAR: 2016-042L. Apogee: 289 km (179 mi). Perigee: 277 km (172 mi). Inclination: 40.80 deg. Part of a pair of satellites testing data relay to each other.

• Tiange feixingqi 2 - . Nation: China. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Decay Date: 2016-08-24 . USAF Sat Cat: 41637 . COSPAR: 2016-042M. Apogee: 287 km (178 mi). Perigee: 277 km (172 mi). Inclination: 40.80 deg.

• ZGZ shiyan zhuangzhi - . Nation: China. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Decay Date: 2016-06-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 41624 . COSPAR: 2016-042A. Apogee: 381 km (236 mi). Perigee: 287 km (178 mi). Inclination: 40.80 deg.

2016 June 29

03:21 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 4B.

• Shi Jian 16-02 - . Payload: SJ 16-02. Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: ELINT. Spacecraft: DFH-4. USAF Sat Cat: 41634 . COSPAR: 2016-043A. Apogee: 616 km (382 mi). Perigee: 596 km (370 mi). Inclination: 75.00 deg. Chinese technology satellite..

2016 June 30

09:43 GMT - . Launch Site: Andoya. LV Family: Malemute. Launch Vehicle: Imp. Malemute.

• MaxiDusty - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 115 km (71 mi). Atmospheric science mission. Impacted in ARR..

2016 July 1

07:18 GMT - . Launch Site: Bay of Biscay Launch Area. Launch Platform: S616. Launch Vehicle: MSBS M51.

• RV x 6? - . Nation: France. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in North Atlantic..

2016 July 7

01:36 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-FG.

• Soyuz MS-01 - . Call Sign: Irkut. Crew: Ivanishin, Onishi, Rubins. Backup Crew: Novitskiy, Pesquet, Whitson. Return Crew: Ivanishin, Onishi, Rubins. Nation: Russia. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz MS-01. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz MS. Duration: 115.10 days. Decay Date: 2016-10-30 03:58:00 . USAF Sat Cat: 41639 . COSPAR: 2016-044A. Apogee: 239 km (148 mi). Perigee: 181 km (112 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg.

  Launched on into a 181 x 239 km orbit; docked with the ISS Rassvet module at 0406 UTC Jul 9. The Soyuz MS was a new variant of the ferry ship with upgraded onboard systems. Crew was Anatoliy Ivanishin (Roscosmos), Takuya Onishi (JAXA) and Kate Rubins (NASA). On Oct 30 at 0035 UTC Ivanishin, Onishi and Rubins undocked from Rassvet in Soyuz MS-01; they landed in Kazakhstan at 0358 UTC.

2016 July 16

04:05 GMT - . Launch Site: Kiruna. LV Family: Hawk. Launch Vehicle: Terrier Improved Orion.

• ROTEX-T - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 182 km (113 mi). Hypersonic vehicle test mission. Impacted in ESRANGE..

2016 July 16

21:41 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC31. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-U.

• Progress MS-03 - . Nation: Russia. Agency: RKA. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Progress MS. Decay Date: 2017-01-31 . USAF Sat Cat: 41670 . COSPAR: 2016-045A. Apogee: 225 km (139 mi). Perigee: 182 km (113 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  Progress MS-03 cargo ship docked with the Pirs module at 0020 UTC Jul 19. It carried 2405 kg of cargo (including 705 kg of ISS propellant) as well as 880 kg of its own onboard propellant. Undocked at 1425 UTC and was deorbited at 1734 UTC with impact in the South Pacific at 1824 UTC.

2016 July 18

04:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC40. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2.

• Dragon CRS-9 - . Nation: USA. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Dragon. Decay Date: 2016-08-26 . USAF Sat Cat: 41672 . COSPAR: 2016-046A. Apogee: 355 km (220 mi). Perigee: 204 km (126 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  SpaceX's Dragon CRS-9 cargo ship carried the IDA-2 docking adapter and spacesuit EMU 3006. The Falcon 9 first stage returned to Cape Canaveral for a landing at Landing Complex 1. The second stage was deorbited south of Australia. CRS-9 arrived at the ISS on Jul 20; it was grappled by the SSRMS at 1056 UTC and berthed at Harmony nadir at 1403 UTC. The IDA-2 docking adapter will be installed on the end of the old PMA-2 Shuttle docking port to conver On Aug 25 at about 2100 UTC the SSRMS (Canadarm-2) unberthed Dragon CRS-9 from the Harmony module. At 1011 UTC the Dragon was released into orbit; at 1456 UTC Dragon fired its Draco thrusters in a deorbit burn which sent it plunging into the atmosphere at about 1520 UTC. The empty trunk was jettisoned at 1513 UTC. Dragon splashed down off the coast of Baja at 1547 UTC. Spacesuit EMU 3005 was returned to Earth aboard CRS-9.

2016 July 18

20:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Eunyul. LV Family: R-11. Launch Vehicle: Hwasong 6.

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

2016 July 27

18:26 GMT - . Launch Site: White Sands. Launch Vehicle: Black Brant 9.

• Hi-C - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 250 km (150 mi). Solar physics mission. Impacted in White Sands..

2016 July 28

12:37 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC41. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC41. LV Family: Atlas V. Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 541.

• USA 269 - . Payload: QUASAR. Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: Quasar. USAF Sat Cat: 41724 . COSPAR: 2016-047A. Apogee: 35,996 km (22,366 mi). Perigee: 35,576 km (22,105 mi). Inclination: 5.00 deg.

  NROL-61 mission was launched on Atlas AV-065 into a geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite was thought to be an NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) data relay communications satellite in the QUASAR series, although there was a chance that it instead had a signals intelligence payload. The payload made orbital maneuvers to raise its perigee, and hobbyists tracked the satellite in geostationary orbit at 92 deg E, over the Indian Ocean.

2016 August 2

22:53 GMT - . Launch Site: Eunyul. LV Family: Scud. Launch Vehicle: Hwasong 7.

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

2016 August 6

16:22 GMT - . Launch Site: Xichang. Launch Complex: Xichang LC3. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 3B.

• Tiantong-1 01 xing - . Nation: China. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: DFH-4. USAF Sat Cat: 41725 . COSPAR: 2016-048A. Apogee: 35,903 km (22,309 mi). Perigee: 35,751 km (22,214 mi). Inclination: 5.00 deg. First Tiantong-1 satellite, was built by CAST and operated by China Satcom; it supported a mobile communications network operated by China Telecom. The satellite reached geostationary orbit and was drifting east over the Indian Ocean..

2016 August 9

22:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Taiyuan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 4C.

• Gaofen 3 - . Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Military Radarsat. USAF Sat Cat: 41727 . COSPAR: 2016-049A. Apogee: 751 km (466 mi). Perigee: 750 km (460 mi). Inclination: 98.40 deg. A 1-meter-resolution C-band radar imaging satellite placed in 750 km 0600LT sun-synchronous orbit. Its primary user was the National Satellite Oceanic Applications Center in Mudanjiang..

2016 August 14

05:26 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC40. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v1.2.

• JCSAT-16 - . Nation: Japan. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41729 . COSPAR: 2016-050A. Apogee: 36,183 km (22,483 mi). Perigee: 151 km (93 mi). Inclination: 20.90 deg.

  JCSAT-16 satellite for Sky Perfect JSAT, a Japanese satellite broadcasting company. The second stage put JCSAT-16 in geostationary transfer orbit, while the first stage completed a ballistic trajectory and landed on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You' in the Atlantic. After its first orbit raising burn, JCSAT-16 was in a 5581 x 35905 km x 10.8 deg orbit. The Falcon 9 second stage was in an 82 x 34111 km geotransfer orbit, ensuring quick orbital decay.

2016 August 15

17:40 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 2D.

• Mozi - . Payload: QSS. Nation: China. Class: Science. Type: Science satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41731 . COSPAR: 2016-051A. Apogee: 584 km (362 mi). Perigee: 488 km (303 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg.

  The QUESS (Quantum Experiment Scientific Satellite, liangzi kexue shiyan weixing) was named 'Mozi hao' after the Chinese philosopher Mo Zi (470-390BC), who was credited with the first mention of a camera obscura. The Mozi satellite performed communications experiments using quantum entanglement; developed by the Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites.

• Lixing-1 - . Nation: China. Class: Earth. Type: Atmosphere satellite. Decay Date: 2016-08-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 41733 . COSPAR: 2016-051C. Apogee: 140 km (80 mi). Perigee: 124 km (77 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg.

  Lixing-1 (Drag Star 1, also referred to as Qibo Daqi Kexue Shiyan Weixing or Upper atmosphere scientific experimental satellite), which was to study atmospheric density after lowering its orbit to 100 to 150 km; developed by the Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites. The Lixing-1 upper atmosphere study satellite lowered its orbit on Aug 16 from 488 x 504 km to only 124 x 140 km, the lowest ever orbit for an active spacecraft. It reentered on Aug 19.

• 3Cat-2 - . Nation: China. Class: Earth. Type: Altimeter. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41732 . COSPAR: 2016-051B. Apogee: 503 km (312 mi). Perigee: 485 km (301 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg. A6U cubesat from the Universita Politecnica de Catalunya in Spain. 3Cat-2 carried the PYCARO altimeter which used GPS signal reflection off the Earth to measure altitude. 0000LT SSO,..

2016 August 17

11:33 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. LV Family: Malemute. Launch Vehicle: Terrier Improved Malemute.

• RockSat-X - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 153 km (95 mi). Education mission. Impacted in Atlantic Ocean..

2016 August 19

• EVA ISS US EVA-36 - . Crew: Williams, Jeffrey, Rubins. EVA Duration: 0.25 days. Nation: USA. Program: ISS.

  EVA to fit the IDA-2 docking unit over the old Shuttle docking port, PMA-2. This would allow PMA-2 to be used for Dragon and other future resupply vehicles. At 1016 UTC SPDM moved IDA-2 inward until it was just touching PMA-2. Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins, in spacesuits EMU 3003 and 3008, entered the Quest airlock for US EVA-36. Quest was depressurized by 1158 UTC and its hatch was open at 1203 UTC. Williams and Rubins attached tethers to IDA-2 and connected it loosely to PMA-2; at 1316 UTC the SPDM released IDA-2, which was firmly mated to PMA-2 by 1440 UTC. After removing a soft cover and carrying out some cabling work, the astronauts were ready for other tasks when at 1731 UTC further work was cancelled due to a communications problem in Williams' suit. The astronauts returned to Quest, closed the hatch at 1757 UTC and repressurized the airlock at 1802 UTC.

2016 August 19

04:52 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC37B. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC37B. LV Family: Delta IV. Launch Vehicle: Delta 4M+(4,2).

• USA 270 - . Payload: GSSAP 3. Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Orbital object tracking satellite. Spacecraft Bus: GeoStar-1. Spacecraft: GSSAP. USAF Sat Cat: 41744 . COSPAR: 2016-052A. Apogee: 35,819 km (22,256 mi). Perigee: 35,749 km (22,213 mi). Inclination: 0.00 deg. Placed in geosynchronous orbit at 111 deg W. The satellites will drift in the geostationary ring making observations of the orbits of other satellites..

• USA 271 - . Payload: GSSAP 4. Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Orbital object tracking satellite. Spacecraft Bus: GeoStar-1. Spacecraft: GSSAP. USAF Sat Cat: 41745 . COSPAR: 2016-052B. Apogee: 35,856 km (22,279 mi). Perigee: 35,814 km (22,253 mi). Inclination: 0.00 deg. Placed in geosynchronous orbit at 118 deg W..

2016 August 23

20:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Sinpo. Launch Platform: Sub. Launch Vehicle: Bukguekseong.

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

2016 August 24

22:16 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA3. LV Family: Ariane 5. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5ECA.

• Intelsat IS-33e - . Nation: Europe. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: HS 702. USAF Sat Cat: 41748 . COSPAR: 2016-053B. Apogee: 35,804 km (22,247 mi). Perigee: 15,756 km (9,790 mi). Inclination: 0.60 deg.

  Second Epic high throughput broadband satellite, a Boeing BSS-702MP model. Suffered suffered a failure of its main Leros apogee thruster in geotransfer orbit. Orbit raising was delayed until late September; by Oct 18 the satellite was in a 31428 x 35927 km x 0.1 deg orbit.

• Intelsat IS-36 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41747 . COSPAR: 2016-053A. Apogee: 35,759 km (22,219 mi). Perigee: 35,721 km (22,195 mi). Inclination: 0.10 deg. Small Ku/C-band satellite for video distribution..

2016 August 31

18:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Taiyuan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 4C.

• GaoFen 10 - . Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. COSPAR: 2016-0F01. High resolution imaging satellite lost in the launch failure. Rumored third stage restart failure, which would have left the vehicle just short of a marginal orbit..

2016 September 1

• EVA ISS US EVA-37 - . Crew: Williams, Jeffrey, Rubins. EVA Duration: 0.28 days. Nation: USA. Program: ISS.

  On Sep 1 Williams and Rubins made a second spacewalk, US EVA-37. The trailing thermal control radiator (TTCR) on the P6 truss segment, held in reserve as a spare, was retracted to protect it from space debris. A new high definition camera was installed at camera position CP9 on the P1 truss. The Quest airlock was depressurized at 1146 UTC and repressurized at 1841 UTC.

2016 September 5

03:14 GMT - . Launch Site: Hwangju. LV Family: Scud. Launch Vehicle: Hwasong 7.

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

• RV - . Nation: Korea North. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Sea of Japan..

• GT219GM - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 1,300 km (800 mi). Operational test mission. Impacted in Kwajalein..

2016 September 8

11:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Complex: Sriharikota SLP. LV Family: GSLV. Launch Vehicle: GSLV Mk II.

• Insat-3DR - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Insat 2. Spacecraft: Insat 3. USAF Sat Cat: 41752 . COSPAR: 2016-054A. Apogee: 35,935 km (22,328 mi). Perigee: 152 km (94 mi). Inclination: 20.60 deg.

  Fourth GSLV Mk II rocket, carrying the Insat-3DR weather satellite. The cryogenic upper stage, serial CUS-07, performed nominally. The satellite made its first orbit raising burn on Sep 9. As well as weather sensors and data relay payloads, Insat-3DR carried a transponder to support search and rescue (SARSAT).

2016 September 8

23:05 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC41. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC41. LV Family: Atlas V. Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 411.

• OSIRIS-REx - . Nation: USA. Class: Astronomy. Type: Space probe. Spacecraft: OSIRIS-Rex. USAF Sat Cat: 41757 . COSPAR: 2016-055A. Apogee: -40,174 km (-40,174 mi). Perigee: 203 km (126 mi). Inclination: 29.50 deg.

  Asteroid sample return mission launched by a ULA Atlas V. The model 411 vehicle, serial AV-067, injected O-REx on a hyperbolic trajectory; the probe entered a 0.77 x 1.17 AU heliocentric orbit on Sep 12. OSIRIS-REx had a mass of 834 kg, and carried 1230 kg of propellant and a 46 kg sample return capsule identical to the one used by the Stardust mission. OSIRIS-REx was to make an Earth flyby in Sep 2017 to change its orbit to 0.90 x 1.35 AU x 6.4 deg, allowing it to rendezvous with asteroid (101955) Bennu in Aug 2018. The spacecraft was to sample the asteroid and return to Earth in 2023.

2016 September 9

Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Vehicle: Topol'.

• RV - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Kura, Kamchatka..

2016 September 13

13:48 GMT - . Launch Site: Palmachim. LV Family: Jericho. Launch Vehicle: Shavit.

• 'Ofeq-11 - . Nation: Israel. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Tecsar. USAF Sat Cat: 41759 . COSPAR: 2016-056A. Apogee: 600 km (370 mi). Perigee: 250 km (150 mi). Inclination: 141.00 deg. Ofeq-11 spy satellite, thought to be ususal retrograde orbit. It was reported that Israeli mission controllers were working to correct unspecified technical problems with the payload..

2016 September 14

15:25 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• Flock 2e'-13 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-06-03 . USAF Sat Cat: 41761 . COSPAR: 1998-067KH. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  On Sep 14 the Nanoracks NRCSD-9 deployer was pulled from the Kibo airlock by the Japanese RMS arm, and at 1525 UTC two Flock 2E Prime satellites were ejected into space, with six more to come from the same deployer. These satellites have been aboard ISS since their delivery aboard Cygnus OA-6 in March.

• Flock 2e'-14 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-10-25 . USAF Sat Cat: 41762 . COSPAR: 1998-067KJ. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-16 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-06-01 . USAF Sat Cat: 41763 . COSPAR: 1998-067KK. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-15 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-11-10 . USAF Sat Cat: 41764 . COSPAR: 1998-067KL. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-18 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-11-07 . USAF Sat Cat: 41769 . COSPAR: 1998-067KM. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-17 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-06-26 . USAF Sat Cat: 41776 . COSPAR: 1998-067KN. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-19 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-05-12 . USAF Sat Cat: 41777 . COSPAR: 1998-067KP. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

• Flock 2e'-20 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2018-09-22 . USAF Sat Cat: 41782 . COSPAR: 1998-067KQ. Apogee: 409 km (254 mi). Perigee: 401 km (249 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Part of a Planetary Labs constellation of over 100 3U cubesats to provide continuous optical surveillance of the earth..

2016 September 15

14:04 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 2F.

• Tiangong-2 - . Nation: China. Class: Manned. Type: Manned space laboratory. Spacecraft Bus: Shenzhou. Spacecraft: Tiangong. USAF Sat Cat: 41765 . COSPAR: 2016-057A. Apogee: 389 km (241 mi). Perigee: 379 km (235 mi). Inclination: 42.80 deg.

  China's second space laboratory was launched on Sep 15. Tiangong 2 had a mass of 8600 kg and was launched into a low perigee orbit by a CZ-2F rocket. On Sep 16 at about 0904 UTC the lab raised its orbit from an initial 197 x 373 km to 369 x 378 km x 42.8 deg; on Sep 26 the lab moved to a 381 x 389 km orbit.

2016 September 16

01:43 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.

• PeruSAT-1 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Astrobus. USAF Sat Cat: 41770 . COSPAR: 2016-058A. Apogee: 678 km (421 mi). Perigee: 676 km (420 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. Optical surveillance satellite for the Peruvian military..

• SkySat-4 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Skysat. USAF Sat Cat: 41773 . COSPAR: 2016-058D. Apogee: 502 km (311 mi). Perigee: 501 km (311 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg.

  Arianespace's Vega rocket made its 7th flight from Kourou. The AVUM upper stage made two burns to deploy TerraBella's SkySat 4 to 7 in a 500 km orbit at 0224 UTC, and then two further burns to put PeruSAT-1 in a 677 km orbit at 0326 UTC. The AVUM made a final burn to deorbit itself in the Indian Ocean west of Sumatra.

• SkySat-5 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Skysat. USAF Sat Cat: 41774 . COSPAR: 2016-058E. Apogee: 502 km (311 mi). Perigee: 501 km (311 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg.

• SkySat-6 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Skysat. USAF Sat Cat: 41771 . COSPAR: 2016-058B. Apogee: 506 km (314 mi). Perigee: 497 km (308 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg.

• SkySat-7 - . Nation: Europe. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Skysat. USAF Sat Cat: 41772 . COSPAR: 2016-058C. Apogee: 503 km (312 mi). Perigee: 501 km (311 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg.

2016 September 26

03:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Complex: Sriharikota PSLV. Launch Vehicle: PSLV.

• ScatSat-1 - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Climate satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41790 . COSPAR: 2016-059H. Apogee: 733 km (455 mi). Perigee: 717 km (445 mi). Inclination: 98.10 deg. 0915LT SSO ISRO ocean wind speed scatterometer mission..

• Pratham - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41783 . COSPAR: 2016-059A. Apogee: 707 km (439 mi). Perigee: 660 km (410 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg.

  India's PSLV-C35 vehicle was launched on Sep 26 with a cluster of small satellites. For the first time, the PS4 final stage made multiple burns to deliver payloads to different orbits. Its first burn reached a 718 x 732 km orbit at 0358 UTC, and ISRO's SCATSAT ocean wind speed scatterometer mission was deployed at 0359. At 0504 and 0554 UTC two more burns reached a 661 x 704 km orbit and the DLA dual launch adapter was ejected, followed by deployment of the remaining payloads. PRATHAM from IIT Bombay, with an ionospheric science instrument 0930LT SSO

• PISAT - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41784 . COSPAR: 2016-059B. Apogee: 705 km (438 mi). Perigee: 661 km (410 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. From PES University, Bangalore, with an 80m resolution imager 0930LT SSO.

• Pathfinder 1 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41787 . COSPAR: 2016-059E. Apogee: 703 km (436 mi). Perigee: 660 km (410 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. From Black Sky Global (Seattle) with a 1 meter imager 0930LT SSO.

• CanX-7 - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41788 . COSPAR: 2016-059F. Apogee: 702 km (436 mi). Perigee: 660 km (410 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. From UTIAS/Toronto, with a deployable deorbit sail 0930LT SSO.

• ALSAT-1B - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41785 . COSPAR: 2016-059C. Apogee: 704 km (437 mi). Perigee: 661 km (410 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. 0930LT SSO imaging satellites for the Algerian space agency ASAL: ALSAT-1B built by Surrey.

• ALSAT-2B - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41786 . COSPAR: 2016-059D. Apogee: 673 km (418 mi). Perigee: 672 km (417 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. 0930LT SSO built by Airbus/Toulouse.

• ALSAT-Nano - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41789 . COSPAR: 2016-059G. Apogee: 700 km (430 mi). Perigee: 660 km (410 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg. 0930LT SSO cubesat built by Algerian engineers in Surrey and integrated in Algeria..

2016 September 27

Launch Site: White Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: K-535. LV Family: Topol'. Launch Vehicle: Bulava.

• RV - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Kura, Kamchatka..

2016 October 5

15:36 GMT - . Launch Site: Blue Origin. Launch Vehicle: New Shepard.

• New Shepard - . Nation: USA. Apogee: 94 km (58 mi).

  Blue Origin flew the New Shepard rocket vehicle from the West Texas launch site to an apogee of 93.7 km and landed it nearby 7min29s after launch. On this mission the New Shepard crew capsule, which normally separates at apogee, instead fired its pusher abort motors 45 seconds after launch at an altitude of 4.9 km, reaching an apogee of 7.0 km and landing 4min16s after launch. Before launch it was expected that the in-flight abort separation of the capsule would destroy the booster rocket but in the event the rocket's flight did not appear to be affected. This was the 5th flight of New Shepard rocket vehicle 2, and possibly the 6th flight of the first Crew Capsule.

2016 October 5

20:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA3. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5.

• Sky Muster II - . Nation: Australia. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41794 . COSPAR: 2016-060B. Apogee: 35,806 km (22,248 mi). Perigee: 35,292 km (21,929 mi). Inclination: 0.10 deg. Communications satellite for the Australian NBN broadcaster.

• GSAT-18 - . Nation: India. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: I-3K. USAF Sat Cat: 41793 . COSPAR: 2016-060A. Apogee: 35,831 km (22,264 mi). Perigee: 24,135 km (14,996 mi). Inclination: 0.50 deg. Ariane vehicle L585 mission VA231, placed two communications sats in geotransfer orbit. GSAT-18 was for the Indian Space Research Organization..

2016 October 12

Launch Site: Barents Sea Launch Area. Launch Platform: K-407. LV Family: R-29. Launch Vehicle: Sineva.

• RV - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Kura..

• RV - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Kura..

• RV - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Chiza..

2016 October 16

23:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. Launch Complex: Jiuquan SLS. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 2F.

• Shenzhou 11 - . Crew: Jing Haipeng, Chen Dong. Mass: 7,800 kg (17,100 lb). Nation: China. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Shenzhou 11. Spacecraft: Shenzhou. Duration: 32.27 days. Decay Date: 2016-11-18 . USAF Sat Cat: 41812 . COSPAR: 2016-061A. Apogee: 389 km (241 mi). Perigee: 378 km (234 mi). Inclination: 42.80 deg.

  China launched Shenhzou 11 with astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong; two days later, at 1924 UTC Oct 18, it docked with Tiangong-2 to begin a month-long mission. The Chinese astronauts Jing and Chen completed work aboard the Tiangong-2 spacelab on Nov 17 and undocked in Shenzhou-11 at 0441 UTC. Shenzhou 11 landed near Zhurihezen in Inner Mongolia province at 0559 UTC.

2016 October 17

23:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Wallops Island. Launch Complex: Wallops Island LA0A. Launch Pad: Wallops MARS 0A. LV Family: Antares LV. Launch Vehicle: Antares 230.

• SS Alan Poindexter - . Payload: Cygnus OA-6. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: OSC. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: Cygnus. Decay Date: 2016-11-28 . USAF Sat Cat: 41818 . COSPAR: 2016-062A. Apogee: 395 km (245 mi). Perigee: 373 km (231 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship, the SS Alan Poindexter, was launched on mission OA-5. The launch was the first flight of the Antares 230 rocket, featuring a first stage with two Energomash RD-181 engines replacing the Kuznetsov/Aerojet AJ-26 engines used on earlier Antares missions (which were implicated in the Oct 2014 Antares 130 failure), and a second stage with the Castor 30XL solid motor. The Castor 30XL was on the previous Antares launch but didn't get a chance to fire because of the first stage failure, so this was its first real test. In the event the rocket performed above specification and the mission reached a higher-than-planned 209 x 351 km orbit. OA-5 reached the ISS on Oct 23; it was grappled by the SSRMS at 1128 UTC and berthed to the nadir port of the Unity module at 1453 UTC. Cygnus OA-5 carried 2345 kg of pressurized cargo, and the external Nanoracks deployer with four Spire Global Lemur-2 cubesats.Cygnus cargo vehicle SS Alan Poindexter (OA-5) was unberthed from the Unity module at about 1125 UTC Nov 21 and released into space at 1322 UTC. It raised its orbit on Nov 25 to 495 x 504 km and released two pairs of Spire Global cubesats in the Lemur-2 series. Cygnus was deorbited on Nov 27, reentering over the S Pacific at 2336 UTC.

2016 October 19

08:05 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC31. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-FG.

• Soyuz MS-02 - . Call Sign: Favor. Crew: Ryzhikov, Borisenko, Kimbrough. Backup Crew: Misurkin, Tikhonov, Vande Hei. Return Crew: Ryzhikov, Borisenko, Kimbrough. Nation: Russia. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz MS-02. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz MS. Duration: 173.14 days. Decay Date: 2017-04-10 11:20:00 . USAF Sat Cat: 41820 . COSPAR: 2016-063A. Apogee: 306 km (190 mi). Perigee: 289 km (179 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  Soyuz MS-02 with astronauts Sergey Ryzhikov, Andrey Borisenko and Shane Kimbrough. They docked with the Poisk module at 0952 UTC Oct 21. On Apr 10, Soyuz MS-02 undocked from Poisk at 0757 UTC and landed in Kazakhstan at 1120 UTC, returing Ryzhikov, Borisenko and Kimbrough to Earth. Peggy Whitson became ISS commander of Expedition 51.

2016 October 22

23:31 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 2F.

• TG-2 bansui weixing - . Payload: Banxing-2. Nation: China. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41834 . COSPAR: 2016-057H. Apogee: 384 km (238 mi). Perigee: 374 km (232 mi). Inclination: 42.80 deg. Released from Tiangong-2 in low earth orbit. A 47 kg 'bansui weixing' (subsatellite) which remained in formation with TG-2 to image the complex..

2016 October 25

08:58 GMT - . Launch Site: Dombarovskiy. LV Family: UR-100N. Launch Vehicle: UR-100NU 15A35.

• RV - . Nation: Russia. Apogee: 1,000 km (600 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Kura..

2016 November 2

06:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Tanegashima. Launch Complex: Tanegashima Y. LV Family: H-2. Launch Vehicle: H-IIA 202.

• Himawari 9 - . Nation: Japan. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: DS2000. USAF Sat Cat: 41836 . COSPAR: 2016-064A. Apogee: 35,857 km (22,280 mi). Perigee: 243 km (150 mi). Inclination: 22.40 deg. Himawari 9 weather satellite was launched to geotransfer orbit by H-IIA-31. By Nov 8 the satellite was on station in GEO at 140.8E..

2016 November 3

12:43 GMT - . Launch Site: Wenchang. Launch Complex: Wenchang LC101. LV Family: CZ-NGLV. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 5.

• Shi Jian 17 - . Payload: SJ-17. Nation: China. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: DFH-4. USAF Sat Cat: 41838 . COSPAR: 2016-065A. Apogee: 35,804 km (22,247 mi). Perigee: 35,771 km (22,227 mi). Inclination: 0.80 deg.

  First launch from Wenchang Space Centre in Hainan. The CZ-5 configuration used four large liquid strapon boosters around a central 5 metre diameter core stage, with a second stage consisting of a stepped cylinder similar in configuration to the Delta 4/H-2A second stages. On this mission a Yuanzheng-2 third stage was also installed. The payload was Shi Jian 17, an experimental communications technology satellite with a secondary experiment to observe orbital debris. After launch at 1243 UTC the CZ-5 second stage achieved a 170 km parking orbit at 1257 UTC. At 1307 UTC the second stage made a six-minute-long second burn to 178 x 29127 km x 19.5 deg. The YZ-2 separated at 1313 UTC and shortly afterwards made a burn to 212 x 35802 km x 19.5 deg. YZ-2 then coasted to apogee and restarted at 1836 UTC to place itself in near geosynchronous orbit. The SJ-17 payload separated at about 1855 UTC into a 35886 x 38811 km x 0.8 deg orbit and drifted around the GEO arc. On Nov 12 it entered a 35771 x 35804 km geostationary orbit over 162.9E.

2016 November 9

23:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. Launch Complex: Jiuquan SLS-E. LV Family: DF-31. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 11.

• Maichong Xing SW - . Payload: XPNAV-1. Nation: China. Class: Astronomy. Type: Astronomy satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41841 . COSPAR: 2016-066A. Apogee: 512 km (318 mi). Perigee: 493 km (306 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg.

  Second launch of the small solid-fuel CZ-11 launch vehicle from Jiuquan. It carried the 240 kg Maichong Xing Shiyan Weixing (Pulse Star Experimental Satellite) which will test the concept of navigation using the signals from X-ray millisecond pulsars. These compact stars spin hundreds of times a second and the X-ray flashes from their magnetic poles swishing past us at that high rate can be used as a very accurate clock, the key component of a GPS-like navigation system. The concept was developed some years ago by the NRL team and it was hoped to use it in future US space systems. The launch also carried four cubesat-class payloads.

• Xiaioxiang-1 - . Nation: China. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41842 . COSPAR: 2016-066B. Apogee: 511 km (317 mi). Perigee: 492 km (305 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg. From Tianyi Research Institute in Changsha, a 6U cubesat with a precision attitude control system experiment intended for future astronomy missions..

• Lishui 1-01 - . Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41843 . COSPAR: 2016-066C. Apogee: 511 km (317 mi). Perigee: 491 km (305 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg. Imaging satellite launched to begin a commercial constellation for Zhejiang LiYi Electronic Technology Co..

• KS-1Q - . Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41844 . COSPAR: 2016-066D. Apogee: 511 km (317 mi). Perigee: 491 km (305 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg. Instrument package, attached to the CZ-11 final stage, measured the launch vehicle environment..

• CAS-2T - . Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41844 . COSPAR: 2016-066D. Apogee: 511 km (317 mi). Perigee: 491 km (305 mi). Inclination: 97.40 deg. Amateur radio payload in a 1U cubesat; remained attached to the launch vehicle..

2016 November 11

18:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg SLC3E. LV Family: Atlas V. Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 401.

• WorldView-4 - . Mass: 2,800 kg (6,100 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: BCP-5000. USAF Sat Cat: 41848 . COSPAR: 2016-067A. Apogee: 611 km (379 mi). Perigee: 607 km (377 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg.

  United Launch Alliance Atlas V, serial AV-062, placed the DigitalGlobe WorldView-4 commercial imaging satellite in orbit. WV-4 was originaly GeoEye-2 before the GeoEye/DG merger, and has a resolution of only 0.25 metres. AV-062 reached a 600 km orbit at 1846 UTC and deployed WV-4 at 1849 UTC. AV-062 also carried four cubesat deployers on its Aft Bulkhead Carrier. At 2120 UTC AV-062 made its second burn, accelerating to escape velocity to avoid it contributing to LEO space junk. The stage departed the Earth's gravitational sphere of influence on Nov 15 to enter a solar orbit of 0.93 x 1.57 AU x 3.4 deg.

• Prometheus 2.1 - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41854 . COSPAR: 2016-067G. Apogee: 585 km (363 mi). Perigee: 572 km (355 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg. Two 1.5U DoD Nanosat Program satellites (Prometheus series) were ejected at 2042 UTC..

• Prometheus 2.2 - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41855 . COSPAR: 2016-067H. Apogee: 584 km (362 mi). Perigee: 571 km (354 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg.

• Aerocube 8C - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41853 . COSPAR: 2016-067F. Apogee: 586 km (364 mi). Perigee: 573 km (356 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg.

• Aerocube 8D - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41852 . COSPAR: 2016-067E. Apogee: 585 km (363 mi). Perigee: 575 km (357 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg. Two 1.5U cubesats for the Aerospace Corporation, Aerocube 8C and 8D, ejected at 2045 UTC..

• CELTEE - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41850 . COSPAR: 2016-067C. Apogee: 586 km (364 mi). Perigee: 576 km (357 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg. 1U cubesat for the Air Force ResearchLab..

• Opticube 4 - . Nation: USA. Class: Surveillance. Type: Radar calibration target. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41851 . COSPAR: 2016-067D. Apogee: 585 km (363 mi). Perigee: 576 km (357 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg. 2U tracking calibration satellite, CalPoly's Opticub..

• RAVAN - . Nation: USA. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41849 . COSPAR: 2016-067B. Apogee: 583 km (362 mi). Perigee: 569 km (353 mi). Inclination: 98.00 deg. 3U RAVAN satellite for APL. It carried an experimental radiometer for Earth energy balance studies..

2016 November 11

23:14 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 2D.

• Yunhai-1 01 - . Nation: China. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CAST2000. USAF Sat Cat: 41857 . COSPAR: 2016-068A. Apogee: 787 km (489 mi). Perigee: 760 km (470 mi). Inclination: 98.50 deg. Meteorology satellite by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology..

2016 November 17

13:06 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA3. LV Family: Ariane 5. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5ES.

• GalileoSat-15 - . Payload: Galileo 15 (267). Nation: Europe. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Galileo Navsat. USAF Sat Cat: 41859 . COSPAR: 2016-069A. Apogee: 22,906 km (14,233 mi). Perigee: 22,879 km (14,216 mi). Inclination: 54.60 deg.

  Four more European navigation satellites in the Galileo system were launched. An Ariane 5ES rocket was used; the restartable EPS upper stage placed the satellites (FM07, FM12, FM13 and FM14, redesignated GalileoSat 15 to 18 after launch) in orbit. The 5ES model was previously used for ATV cargo ship launches.

• GalileoSat-16 - . Payload: Galileo 16 (26C). Nation: Europe. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Galileo Navsat. USAF Sat Cat: 41860 . COSPAR: 2016-069B. Apogee: 22,926 km (14,245 mi). Perigee: 22,890 km (14,220 mi). Inclination: 54.60 deg.

• GalileoSat-17 - . Payload: Galileo 17 (26D). Nation: Europe. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Galileo Navsat. USAF Sat Cat: 41861 . COSPAR: 2016-069C. Apogee: 22,912 km (14,236 mi). Perigee: 22,901 km (14,229 mi). Inclination: 54.60 deg.

• GalileoSat-18 - . Payload: Galileo 18 (26E). Nation: Europe. Class: Navigation. Type: Navigation satellite. Spacecraft: Galileo Navsat. USAF Sat Cat: 41862 . COSPAR: 2016-069D. Apogee: 22,899 km (14,228 mi). Perigee: 22,898 km (14,228 mi). Inclination: 54.50 deg.

2016 November 17

20:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-FG.

• Soyuz MS-03 - . Call Sign: Kazbek. Crew: Novitskiy, Pesquet, Whitson. Backup Crew: Yurchikhin, Fischer, Nespoli. Return Crew: Novitskiy, Pesquet. Nation: Russia. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz MS-03. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz MS. Decay Date: 2017-06-02 . USAF Sat Cat: 41864 . COSPAR: 2016-070A. Apogee: 228 km (141 mi). Perigee: 195 km (121 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Soyuz MS-03 was launched with the crew of Oleg Novitskiy (Roskosmos), Thomas Pesquet (ESA) and Peggy Whitson (NASA). The Soyuz docked with the ISS Rassvet module at 2158 UTC Nov 19..

2016 November 19

23:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC41. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC41. LV Family: Atlas V. Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 541.

• GOES 16 - . Payload: GOES R. Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: AS 2100. USAF Sat Cat: 41866 . COSPAR: 2016-071A. Apogee: 35,269 km (21,915 mi). Perigee: 8,157 km (5,068 mi). Inclination: 10.60 deg.

  Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R, which became GOES 16 when operational, was the first in a new series of Lockheed-Martin-built GOES weather satellites for NOAA. The satellite mass was 2857 kg dry, 5192 kg when full of propellant. GOES-R carried the Advanced Baseline Imager, a new camera similar in capabilities to those on the Japanese Himawari 8/9 series. Also aboard were the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, a Space Environment suite, a Solar Ultraviolet Imager, an EUV/X-Ray Irradiance Sensor, a Search and Rescue comm payload, and comm payloads to relay weather data.

2016 November 22

15:24 GMT - . Launch Site: Xichang. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 3C.

• Tianlian-1 04 - . Nation: China. Class: Communications. Type: Data relay satellite. Spacecraft: DFH-3. USAF Sat Cat: 41869 . COSPAR: 2016-072A. Apogee: 41,776 km (25,958 mi). Perigee: 201 km (124 mi). Inclination: 17.40 deg.

  The fourth in China's Tianlian-1 series of data relay satellites was launched into an elliptical geotransfer orbit. On Nov 23 at about 1000 UTC it raised its orbit with a burn over the Indian Ocean. It wa expected to replace Tianlian-1 01 at the 80E location. On Dec 1 Tianlian 1-04 was tracked on station at 76.9E, a few degrees from Tianlian 1-01.

2016 November 25

20:15 GMT - . Launch Site: ISS deployed. Launch Platform: Cygnus OA-.

• Lemur-2-Xiaoqing - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41871 . COSPAR: 2016-062C. Apogee: 507 km (315 mi). Perigee: 498 km (309 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

• Lemur-2-Sokolsky - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41872 . COSPAR: 2016-062D. Apogee: 507 km (315 mi). Perigee: 498 km (309 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

• Lemur-2-Anubhavthakur - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41873 . COSPAR: 2016-062E. Apogee: 507 km (315 mi). Perigee: 498 km (309 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

• Lemur-2-Wingo - . Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. USAF Sat Cat: 41874 . COSPAR: 2016-062F. Apogee: 507 km (315 mi). Perigee: 498 km (309 mi). Inclination: 51.00 deg.

2016 December 1

14:51 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-U. FAILURE: Third stage continued burning after payload separation.. Failed Stage: 3.

• Progress MS-04 - . Nation: Russia. Agency: RKA. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Progress MS. COSPAR: 2016-0F02. Apogee: 190 km (110 mi). Perigee: -4,000 km (-4,000 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  The launch vehicle failed during third stage burn and its debris fell in the Tuva Republic. Lost with the rest of the cargo was the first Orlan-MKS spacesuit. Reports suggested the Progress separated from the rocket third stage prematurely and the accelerating stage then crashed into the Progress.

2016 December 5

13:51 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ZLV. Launch Vehicle: Vega.

• Gokturk-1 - . Nation: Turkey. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41875 . COSPAR: 2016-073A. Apogee: 691 km (429 mi). Perigee: 679 km (421 mi). Inclination: 98.10 deg. Turkish Defense Ministry's Gokturk-1 high resolution (0.7m) imaging satellite. The satellite was built by Thales Alenia (Cannes).. 2230LT SSO.

2016 December 7

04:54 GMT - . Launch Site: Sriharikota. Launch Complex: Sriharikota PSLV. LV Family: PSLV. Launch Vehicle: PSLV-XL.

• Resourcesat-2A - . Nation: India. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41877 . COSPAR: 2016-074A. Apogee: 831 km (516 mi). Perigee: 814 km (505 mi). Inclination: 98.70 deg. 1030LT SSO imaging satellite to provide continuity of service for the system as 2011's Resourcesat-2 ages. The satellite has a 6 metre resolution imager..

2016 December 7

23:52 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC37B. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC37B. LV Family: Delta IV. Launch Vehicle: Delta 4M+(5,4).

• USA 272 - . Payload: WGS 8 / WGS SV-8. Mass: 6,200 kg (13,600 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: HS 702. USAF Sat Cat: 41879 . COSPAR: 2016-075A. Apogee: 44,207 km (27,468 mi). Perigee: 430 km (260 mi). Inclination: 27.00 deg.

  8th Boeing 702-class Wideband Global Satcom payload for the US Dept. of Defense carried an improved 'channelizer' that increases the capacity of the satellite. The second stage was reportedly deorbited, and the extra propellant required to do this necessitated a lower apogee transfer orbit than for previous WGS missions. By Dec 25 WGS-8 had reached a 26728 x 44588 km x 0.2 deg orbit.

2016 December 9

13:26 GMT - . Launch Site: Tanegashima. Launch Complex: Tanegashima Y2. LV Family: H-2. Launch Vehicle: H-IIB.

• Kounotori 6 / HTV-5 - . Mass: 16,000 kg (35,000 lb). Nation: Japan. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned logistics spacecraft. Spacecraft: HTV. Decay Date: 2017-02-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 41881 . COSPAR: 2016-076A. Apogee: 302 km (187 mi). Perigee: 276 km (171 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

  16-tonne Japanese HTV-6 (Kounotori-6) cargo ship. The pressurized module contains 600 kg of water and 2152 kg of dry cargo. This included two JAXA J-SSOD and one Nanoracks NRCSD-10 cubesat deployers; these were to be transferred to the Kibo module. The HTV also has an Exposed Pallet, which on this mission (using the enhanced capacity EP6B+) carried a set of replacement batteries for the ISS truss, with a total cargo mass of 1367 kg. The S4, S6, P4 and P6 truss segments each contain an Integrated Electronics Assembly (IEA), with 12 Ni-H2 batteries apiece in separate ORUs (Orbital Replacement Units). On this mission the S4 batteries are to be replaced. Six new 197 kg Li-ion battery ORUs were to be installed and six of the 166 kg Ni-H2 battery ORUs were to be transferred to the HTV EP for disposal on reentry. The remaining six Ni-H2 ORUs remained on S4, but they were taken off line and new 29 kg Adapter Plate ORUs were to be installed between them and the truss. On Dec 14 the Exposed Pallet was grappled by the Canadarm-2, pulled out of HTV-6 and attached to the Mobile Base System on the ISS truss. On Dec 15-16 the J-SSOD #5 was moved to the Kibo module's airlock. On Dec 19 the Japanese RMS arm took the MPEP platform, with J-SSOD attached, out of the airlock and the STARS-C cubesat was ejected from it at 0855 UTC. On Dec 27 J-SSOD #6 was installed in the airlock with its sats to be deployed in January. Japan's HTV 6 cargo ship separated from ISS on Jan 27 at 1546 UTC. However, its KITE tether experiment failed to deploy when commanded to do so on Jan 28. HTV 6 was deorbited on Feb 5 at 1442 UTC and entered the atmosphere over the South Pacific at 1506 UTC.

2016 December 10

16:11 GMT - . Launch Site: Xichang. Launch Complex: Xichang LC3. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 3B/G2.

• Fengyun-4 01 - . Payload: Fengyun 4A. Nation: China. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: FY-4. USAF Sat Cat: 41882 . COSPAR: 2016-077A. Apogee: 35,803 km (22,246 mi). Perigee: 184 km (114 mi). Inclination: 28.40 deg.

  First satellite in the FY-4 series, placed in a geotransfer orbit. China's FY-1 and newer FY-3 series were polar orbiting weather satellites comparable to the NOAA polar series, while the FY-2 constellation, to be superseded by the FY-4 system, consistd of geostationary satellites like NOAA's GOES. FY-4 No. 1 carried a 0.5 km resolution imager, a 913-channel IR sounder, a lightning mapping imager, and a space environment package.

2016 December 15

Launch Site: Barking Sands.

• FTM-27 Target - . Nation: USA. Type: ABM Target. Apogee: 200 km (120 mi). ABM Target mission. Impacted in Pacific Ocean. MDA target launch was intercepted by two SM-6 endoatmospheric missiles from the Aegis ship DDG 53. It's not clear what kind of target launch vehicle was used..

2016 December 15

13:37 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral RW31/13. LV Family: Pegasus. Launch Vehicle: Pegasus XL.

• CYGNSS A - . Payload: CYGFM01. Mass: 18 kg (39 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CYGNSS. USAF Sat Cat: 41887 . COSPAR: 2016-078D. Apogee: 537 km (333 mi). Perigee: 515 km (320 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg. Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System for NASA's Earth Science Division. The constellation of small satellites will investigate air-sea interactions that take place in the core of the storms..

• CYGNSS B - . Payload: CYGFM02. Mass: 18 kg (39 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CYGNSS. USAF Sat Cat: 41886 . COSPAR: 2016-078C. Apogee: 537 km (333 mi). Perigee: 515 km (320 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg.

• CYGNSS C - . Payload: CYGFM03. Mass: 18 kg (39 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CYGNSS. USAF Sat Cat: 41891 . COSPAR: 2016-078H. Apogee: 537 km (333 mi). Perigee: 515 km (320 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg.

• CYGNSS D - . Payload: CYGFM04. Mass: 18 kg (39 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CYGNSS. USAF Sat Cat: 41885 . COSPAR: 2016-078B. Apogee: 537 km (333 mi). Perigee: 515 km (320 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg.

• CYGNSS E - . Payload: CYGFM05. Mass: 18 kg (39 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CYGNSS. USAF Sat Cat: 41884 . COSPAR: 2016-078A. Apogee: 537 km (333 mi). Perigee: 515 km (320 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg.

• CYGNSS F - . Payload: CYGFM06. Mass: 18 kg (39 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CYGNSS. USAF Sat Cat: 41889 . COSPAR: 2016-078F. Apogee: 537 km (333 mi). Perigee: 515 km (320 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg.

• CYGNSS G - . Payload: CYGFM07. Mass: 18 kg (39 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CYGNSS. USAF Sat Cat: 41890 . COSPAR: 2016-078G. Apogee: 537 km (333 mi). Perigee: 515 km (320 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg.

• CYGNSS H - . Payload: CYGFM08. Mass: 18 kg (39 lb). Nation: USA. Class: Earth. Type: Weather satellite. Spacecraft: CYGNSS. USAF Sat Cat: 41888 . COSPAR: 2016-078E. Apogee: 537 km (333 mi). Perigee: 515 km (320 mi). Inclination: 35.00 deg.

2016 December 16

Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Vehicle: Nudol.

• A-235 test - . Nation: Russia. Type: ASAT. Apogee: 100 km (60 mi). Test mission of new direct ascent anti-satellite missile..

• NASA 12.080DR - . Nation: USA. Type: ABM Target. Apogee: 80 km (49 mi). Test mission. The US Army (as part of a NASA managed launch) test-launched the Zombie, a missile-defense target missile probably based on an ATACMS motor. It's not clear whether the flight was exoatmospheric. Impacted in White Sands..

2016 December 18

19:13 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC41. Launch Pad: Cape Canaveral SLC41. LV Family: Atlas V. Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 431.

• Echostar 19 - . Nation: USA. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41893 . COSPAR: 2016-079A. Apogee: 65,110 km (40,450 mi). Perigee: 164 km (101 mi). Inclination: 25.60 deg.

2016 December 19

08:55 GMT - . Launch Platform: ISS.

• Hagoromo Parent - . Payload: STARS-C. Nation: Japan. Class: Technology. Type: Technology satellite. Decay Date: 2018-03-03 . USAF Sat Cat: 41895 . COSPAR: 1998-067KR. Apogee: 406 km (252 mi). Perigee: 400 km (240 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg.

• Hagoromo Child - . Nation: Japan. COSPAR: 1998-067KS?.

2016 December 20

11:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Tanegashima. LV Family: J-1. Launch Vehicle: Epsilon.

• Arase - . Payload: ARASE (ERG). Nation: Japan. Class: Science. Type: Science satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41896 . COSPAR: 2016-080A. Apogee: 32,259 km (20,044 mi). Perigee: 228 km (141 mi). Inclination: 31.40 deg.

  Second Epsilon rocket launched the 350 kg ERG geospace science satellite into elliptical orbit. ERG carried experiments to study energetic particles, waves and fields in the magnetosphere. After launch, ERG was renamed 'Arase' (rough water, a metaphor for the dynamic magnetic storms of geospace). The second Epsilon uses a new second stage, the M-35. The first flight in 2013 used a derivative of the M-34 from the old M-V rocket. The M-35, with a mass of 17200 kg, was a growth version sized to match the 2.6m diameter of the larger Epsilon first stage. The third stage was the KM-V2c, with minor improvements compared to the previous mission's KM-V2b. The PBS liquid post-boost 4th stage was not included on this flight.

2016 December 21

19:22 GMT - . Launch Site: Jiuquan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 2D.

• Tan Weixing - . Payload: TANSAT. Nation: China. Class: Earth. Type: Atmosphere satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41898 . COSPAR: 2016-081A. Apogee: 719 km (446 mi). Perigee: 690 km (420 mi). Inclination: 98.20 deg.

  China's Tan Weixing (Carbon Satellite or TanSat) carried a high resolution grating spectrometer to measure CO2 and O2 distribution and a wide field of view cloud/aerosol imager. The 620 kg satellite was to map global CO2 sources and sinks with a precision of 1 percent. Three smaller payloads from the Shanghai microsatellite center were also carried. 0138LT SSO.

• Spark-01 - . Mass: 50 kg (110 lb). Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41900 . COSPAR: 2016-081C. Apogee: 720 km (440 mi). Perigee: 690 km (420 mi). Inclination: 98.10 deg. 50 kg satellite with hyperspectral imager..

• Spark-02 - . Mass: 50 kg (110 lb). Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41901 . COSPAR: 2016-081D. Apogee: 726 km (451 mi). Perigee: 690 km (420 mi). Inclination: 98.10 deg. About 50 kg each. Spark-01 and Spark-02 have hyperspectral imagers; the third, referred to as Chao fenbianlu duo guangpu chengxiang weixing (Ultra-resolution multispectral imaging satellite) has a 1.4m resolution imager.

• CFDG - . Payload: YIJIAN. Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. USAF Sat Cat: 41899 . COSPAR: 2016-081B. Apogee: 728 km (452 mi). Perigee: 690 km (420 mi). Inclination: 98.10 deg. 50 kg satellite, referred to as Chao fenbianlu duo guangpu chengxiang weixing (Ultra-resolution multispectral imaging satellite), with a 1.4m resolution imager..

2016 December 21

20:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Complex: Kourou ELA3. LV Family: Ariane 5. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 5ECA.

• JCSAT 15 - . Nation: Japan. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41903 . COSPAR: 2016-082A. Apogee: 35,774 km (22,228 mi). Perigee: 35,721 km (22,195 mi). Inclination: 0.10 deg.

  Placed in geosynchronous orbit at 135 deg E. Ariane vehicle L587, mission VA234, placed two comm satellites in orbit. JCSAT 15, for Sky Perfect JSAT of Japan, was to become JCSAT-110A operational at 110E to replace JCSAT-110R. Loral 1300 class satellites built in MDA/Loral's Palo Alto factory.

• Star One D1 - . Nation: Brazil. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: FS-1300. USAF Sat Cat: 41904 . COSPAR: 2016-082B. Apogee: 35,777 km (22,230 mi). Perigee: 35,741 km (22,208 mi). Inclination: 0.10 deg. Loral 1300 class satellites built in MDA/Loral's Palo Alto factory for Embratel Star One of Brazil, to replace Brasilsat B4. Placed in geosynchronous orbit at 86 deg W..

2016 December 26

05:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Kalam Island. LV Family: ASLV. Launch Vehicle: Agni 5.

• Agni RV - . Nation: India. Apogee: 500 km (310 mi). Test mission. Impacted in Indian Ocean..

2016 December 28

03:23 GMT - . Launch Site: Taiyuan. LV Family: CZ. Launch Vehicle: Chang Zheng 2D.

• Gaojing 1 - . Payload: Superview-1 01. Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: CAST3000. USAF Sat Cat: 41907 . COSPAR: 2016-083A. Apogee: 523 km (324 mi). Perigee: 212 km (131 mi). Inclination: 97.60 deg.

  The first time the CZ-2D booster was flown from their southern launch site. However, the rocket appeared to have run into problems and achieved orbit with an underspeed of 100 m/s, making a 212 x 520 km orbit instead of a circular 500 km one. The main payloads were Gaojing 1 and 2, two commercial high resolution (0.5m) imaging satellites also called SuperView 1 and 2. The satellites were owned by Beijing Aerospace World View Information Technology Co., Ltd (also called Beijing Space View Tech Co.Ltd.); the US company DigitalGlobe was a major investor. 1030LT SSO

• Gaojing 2 - . Payload: Superview-1 02. Nation: China. Class: Surveillance. Type: Surveillance satellite. Spacecraft: CAST3000. USAF Sat Cat: 41908 . COSPAR: 2016-083B. Apogee: 523 km (324 mi). Perigee: 212 km (131 mi). Inclination: 97.60 deg. 1030LT SSO.

• BJ70-1 - . Nation: China. Class: Communications. Type: Communications satellite. Spacecraft: Cubesat. Decay Date: 2017-02-18 . USAF Sat Cat: 41909 . COSPAR: 2016-083C. Apogee: 523 km (324 mi). Perigee: 212 km (131 mi). Inclination: 97.60 deg. BY70-1, or Bayi kepu weixing 01 xing, a 2U cubesat with an amateur radio payload developed by high school students at the PLA-related Beijing Bayi School..