Launch Schedule 101
Last Updated: Thursday, 25 August 2016
NASA's Launch Schedule features the planned dates and details for
missions by NASA, commercial companies and the partner nations in the
International Space Station Program, including Russia, European Space
Agency and Japan.
Date: September 6, 2016 - 9:14 p.m. Eastern
Mission: Expedition 48 Crew Landing
Description: NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos will undock their TMA-20M Soyuz spacecraft from the Poisk module of the International Space Station and return to Earth, landing in Kazakhstan.
Date: September 8, 2016 - 7:05 p.m. Eastern
Mission: OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission
Description: Launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security–Regolith Explorer mission (OSIRIS-REx) will reach its near-Earth asteroid target, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36), in 2018. The spacecraft will collect a 2.1-ounce sample for return to Earth in 2023.
Targeted Date: August 22, 2016
Mission: Orbital ATK CRS-5
Description: Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo delivery to the International Space Station is targeted for no earlier than an August 22 launch on the Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad OA at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Date: September 23, 2016 - 2:17 p.m. Eastern
Mission: Expedition 49 Launch
Description: NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will launch to the space station Sept. 23 aboard the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Date: November 4, 2016 - 5:40 p.m. Eastern
Mission: GOES-R
Description: Launching aboard an Atlas V 541 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, GOES-R will be the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES), which will also include GOES-S, T, and U.
Date: November 21, 2016
Mission: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS)
Description: Launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on a Pegasus XL rocket, the CYGNSS mission will probe the inner core of hurricanes to learn about their rapid intensification.