2012
2012 – Japan Launch, Payload
Japan successfully conducted ## orbital launches in 2012. There are seven total HTV missions planned, launching roughly every year until 2016, after which the future of the HTV has yet to be decided.
2012 – Europe Launch, Payload
Europe operates a three-member family of launch vehicles from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. The newest and smallest member of this family, Vega, carried out its inaugural launch in February 2012, placing several small scientific and technology demonstration satellites into orbit.
2012 – China Launch, Payload
In 2012, China continued to outpace the United States in number of orbital launches, making ## orbital launch attempts in 2012, all of which were successful. This makes 2012 the second consecutive year in which China has surpassed the United States as the world’s second-most active launch operator, due primarily to China’s accelerating progress in deploying new scientific and communications satellites, and continued steady deployment of its Beidou satellite navigation constellation.
2012 – Russia Launch, Payload
Russia maintained its legacy as the world’s most prolific orbital launch operator in 2012. The Russian space program’s launches consisted mainly of cargo and crew transfer flights to the ISS and launches of commercial communications satellites. With little change anticipated in the amount of launch demand generated by these sources, Russia appears poised to retain its launch lead for the foreseeable future.
2012 – U.S. Launch, Payload
The United States made ## orbital launch attempts in 2012, all of which were successful. This total placed it third, behind Russia and China for the number of orbital launches performed in 2012. Among the 2012 U.S. launches were several noteworthy missions. The year saw the successful commercial debut of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft, the first privately developed spacecraft to berth with the ISS.
2012 – Orbital Launch Reports and Forecasts
Global launch activity in 2012 was similar to activity during the previous five years in both the total number and the balance between commercial and non-commercial payloads. Throughout 2012, there were ## orbital launch attempts, all but ## of which were fully or partially successful.
2012 – Other Countries, Launch, Human
Although Japan and India have both expressed interest in developing human spaceflight capabilities, neither has yet demonstrated strong commitment toward that goal. Japan is in early stage feasibility studies for its own crewed spacecraft, which would not be expected to fly before 2022. India identifies development of a human spaceflight program as an objective within its Five-Year Plan. However, specific details are sparse; India just states that it will focus on development of the technologies and systems necessary to support a human spaceflight program at some point.
2012 – China Launch, Human
In 2003, China became the third nation capable of human spaceflight, with the launch of the Shenzhou 5 mission. Since then, it has flown three additional missions, each one advancing Chinese spaceflight capabilities. So far, all Chinese crewed missions have used the Shenzhou spacecraft, which resembles a larger Russian Soyuz, although the Chinese space program has described the similarity as mostly cosmetic. The Shenzhou spacecraft have entered mass production, moving beyond the status of one-off experimental machines, after the design of Shenzhou 8 was finalized.
2012 – Russia Launch, Human
Russia has retained the ability to send cosmonauts into orbit since the launch of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, in 1961. Currently, Russia is the only nation ferrying people to and from the ISS. In addition to using its Soyuz spacecraft for ISS transportation, Russia also sells or barters transportation services to individuals and other ISS partner nations.
2012 – U.S. Launch, Human
The United States, after the Soviet Union, was the second nation to send a human into space, but it will not have its own human spaceflight capability for the next several years, following the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2012. The United States has several programs in development intended to restore its national human spaceflight capability.