Space launches of 2006

Commercial

Institutional

Military

All dates are given in Universal Time (UT).

Back to December 2005
Last modification: February 25, 2007

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January
Date	Site	Launcher	Payload	Country	Mission	Operator	Prime	Platform	Mass	Orbit
19	Cape Canaveral	Atlas 5/551	Pluto New Horizons	U.S.	Science	NASA/JPL	JHU-APL	-	478 kg	Escape
24	Tanegashima	H-2A/2022	Daichi (ALOS-1)	Japan	Remote Sensing	JAXA	NEC Toshiba	-	3,850 kg	SSO
February
Date	Site	Launcher	Payload	Country	Mission	Operator	Prime	Platform	Mass	Orbit
15	Pacific	Zenit 3SL	Echostar 10	U.S.	Communications	Echostar	Lockheed Martin	A2100AX	4,333 kg	GTO
16	Vandenberg	Minuteman 3	SERV#3	U.S.	Technology	U.S. Air Force	Sandia?	-	n.a.	Suborbital
18	Tanegashima	H-2A/2024	MT-Sat 2	Japan	Comm., Meteo	MLIT, JAM	Melco	DS-2000	3,000 kg	GTO
21	Kagoshima	M-5	Astro F	Japan	Technology	JAXA	NEC Toshiba	-	960 kg	SSO
-			CUTE-1.7	Japan	Technology	Tokyo Inst. Tech.	Tokyo Inst. Tech.	Cubesat	3 kg	SSO
-			SSP	Japan	Technology	JAXA?	n.a.	-	n.a.	SSO
23	Kodiak	Polaris/STARS	BMD Radar Test	U.S.	Technology	U.S. Air Force	Sandia?	-	n.a.	Suborbital
28	Baykonur	Proton M	Arabsat 4A	Arab League	Communications	Arabsat	EADS Astrium	ES-2000+	3,341 kg	Failure
March
Date	Site	Launcher	Payload	Country	Mission	Operator	Prime	Platform	Mass	Orbit
11	Kourou	Ariane 5ECA	Hot Bird 7A	Europe	Communications	Eutelsat	Alcatel Alenia Space	SB-3000B3	4,100 kg	GTO
			SpainSat	Spain	Communications	Hisdesat	SS/Loral	LS-1300	3,683 kg	GTO
22	Vandenberg	Pegasus XL	ST-5a	U.S.	Technology	NASA/GSFC	NASA/GSFC	-	21.5 kg	LEO
			ST-5b	U.S.	Technology	NASA/GSFC	NASA/GSFC	-	21.5 kg	LEO
			ST-5c	U.S.	Technology	NASA/GSFC	NASA/GSFC	-	21.5 kg	LEO
24	Kwajalein	Falcon 1	FalconSat 2	U.S.	Technology	USAFA	USAFA	-	19.5 kg	Failure
26	Woomera	Terrier-Orion	HyShot 3	Australia, G.B.	Technology	Un. Qu., QinetiQ	Un. Qu., QinetiQ	-	n.a.	Suborbital
30	Baykonur	Soyuz FG	Soyuz TMA-8	Rus., U.S., Bra.	ISS Manned	Roskosmos, NASA	RKK Energiya	7K-M	7,250 kg	LEO/ISS
30	Woomera	Terrier-Orion	HyShot 4	Australia, Japan	Technology	Un. Qu., JAXA	Un. Qu., JAXA	-	100 kg	Failure
April
Date	Site	Launcher	Payload	Country	Mission	Operator	Prime	Platform	Mass	Orbit
07	Vandenberg	Minuteman 3	GT-190GM	U.S.	ICBM	U.S. Air Force	Sandia?	-	n.a.	Suborbital
12	Pacific	Zenit 3SL	JCSAT-9	Japan	Communications	JSAT	Lockheed Martin	A2100AX	4,401 kg	GTO
13	Kauai	SR19/SR19	CMCM-2A?	U.S.	Technology	MDA	MIT/LL	-	n.a.	Suborbital
15	Vandenberg	Minotaur 1	Formosat 3A	Taiwan	Remote Sensing	NSPO	OSC	MicroStar	70 kg	SSO
			Formosat 3B	Taiwan	Remote Sensing	NSPO	OSC	MicroStar	70 kg	SSO
			Formosat 3C	Taiwan	Remote Sensing	NSPO	OSC	MicroStar	70 kg	SSO
			Formosat 3D	Taiwan	Remote Sensing	NSPO	OSC	MicroStar	70 kg	SSO
			Formosat 3E	Taiwan	Remote Sensing	NSPO	OSC	MicroStar	70 kg	SSO
			Formosat 3F	Taiwan	Remote Sensing	NSPO	OSC	MicroStar	70 kg	SSO
20	Cape Canaveral	Atlas 5/411	Astra 1KR	Luxembourg	Communications	SES Astra	Lockheed Martin	A2100AX	4,332 kg	GTO
22	Kapustin Yar	Kosmos 3M	[Dummy Warhead]	Russia	Technology	VKS	n.a.	-	n.a.	Suborbital
24	Baykonur	Soyuz U	Progress M-56	Russia	ISS Cargo	Roskosmos	RKK Energia	7K-TGM	7,250 kg	LEO/ISS
25	Svobodny	Start 1	EROS B	Israel, U.S.	Remote Sensing	ImageSat	IAI-MBT	Ofek	350 kg	SSO
26	Taiyuan	CZ-4B	Yaogan 1	China	Remote Sensing	CNSA?	CASC?	-	2,700 kg	SSO
28	Vandenberg	Delta 2/7420	Cloudsat	U.S., Canada	Meteorology	NASA, USAF, CSA	Ball Aerospace	RS2000	848 kg	SSO
			Calipso	U.S., France	Technology	NASA, CNES	Alcatel Alenia Space	Proteus	587 kg	SSO
28	Kauai	SR19/SR19	CMCM-2B?	U.S.	Technology	MDA	Sandia	-	n.a.	Suborbital
May
Date	Site	Launcher	Payload	Country	Mission	Operator	Prime	Platform	Mass	Orbit
02	Kiruna	Castor 4B	Maxus 7	Europe	Sciences	ESA	SSC	-	n.a.	Suborbital
03	Plesetsk	Soyuz U	Kosmos 2420	Russia	Observation	VKS	TsSKB Progress	Yantar 4K2M	6,700 kg	LEO
23	Emamshahr?	Shahab 3D	[Dummy Warhead]	Iran	Technology	RGAF	Shahid Hemmat IG	-	n.a.	Suborbital
24	Cape Canaveral	Delta 4M+	GOES-N	U.S.	Meteorology	NOAA	Boeing	BSS-601	3,199 kg	GTO
26	Barents Sea	Shtil	Kompas 2	Russia	Sciences	Izmiran	GRTsKB Makeyev	-	80 kg	LEO
27	Kourou	Ariane 5ECA	SatMex 6	Mexico	Communications	SatMex	SS/Loral	LS-1300X	5,456 kg	GTO
			Thaicom 5	Thailand	Communications	Shin	Alcatel Alenia Space	SB-3000	2,766 kg	GTO
June
Date	Site	Launcher	Payload	Country	Mission	Operator	Prime	Platform	Mass	Orbit