Here is your one-stop shop for space launches with our December launch schedule. This month sees at least 158 satellites launched and 1 lunar mission. Read on to find out more!
Last updated: October 19th 2023
Satellite Launches
- LAUNCH SUCCESS 8th OneWeb 15 : 40 new OneWeb satellites are launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida at 22:27 GMT. Delayed from November and December 6th and 7th.
- LAUNCH SUCCESS 13th Galaxy 35 & 36, MTG I-1 : Designated VA259, an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA rocket launches from Kourou, French Guiana at 20:30 GMT. It will carry 2 Galaxy satellites for Intelsat and the MTG I-1 weather satellite for Eumetsat.
- LAUNCH SUCCESS 16th SWOT: NASA and CNES launch the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, California at 11:46 GMT. Delayed from December 12th and 15th.
- LAUNCH SUCCESS 16th O3b mPOWER 1, 2, 3 : SES launch the first 3 O3b mPOWER broadband satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Built by Boeing, they launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida at 22:48 GMT. Delayed from May, June, August, November and December 13th.
- LAUNCH SUCCESS 17th Starlink 4-37 : Another batch of 54 Starlink satellites launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 21:32 GMT. They will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Delayed from October, November and December 5th, 6th and 16th.
- LAUNCH FAILURE 21st Pléiades Neo 5 & 6 : The Airbus-built Pléiades Neo 5 & 6 Earth observation satellites launch aboard an Arianespace Vega-C rocket from Kourou, French Guiana at 01:47 GMT. Delayed from November 21st, 23rd and 24th.
- LAUNCH SUCCESS 28th Starlink 5-1 : SpaceX launch another batch of 54 Starlink satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida at 09:34 GMT.
- LAUNCH SUCCESS 30th EROS C3 : A SpaceX Falcon rocket launches ImageSat International‘s EROS C3 satellite. It was built by Israel Aerospace Industries and will launch from the Vandenburg Space Force Base, California at 07:38 GMT. Delayed from December 28th and 29th.
Lunar Missions
- LAUNCH SUCCESS 11th ispace Hakuto-R Mission 1 : ispace‘s first lunar lander, assembled alongside ArianeGroup, will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida at 07:38 GMT, and will contain several payloads including NASA’s Lunar Flashlight CubeSat. Delayed from mid-November, November 22nd, 29th, 30th and December 7th.