Space Calendar

Launch Long March 12 / Unknown Payload
2025-12-12 | Wenchang Space Launch Center, ~19°N, Hainan Island, China
Scheduled for 07:00-07:21 UTC+8, the launch from “China’s Hawai`i” is of a medium-lift rocket using kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant; the Long March 12 is capable of placing 20,000+kg into LEO or 12,000+kg into SSO.

Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink Group 15-12
2025-12-12 | SLC-4E (~35°N), Vandenberg SFB CA, USA
Scheduled for 21:34 (with window open until 01:34), 27 satellites are headed to LEO for internet system. Booster Core B1093 will attempt its 9th landing, on barge (Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship-ASDS) OCISLY (Of Course I Still Love You).

MVA Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA) Operational Meeting
2025-12-12 | Online
12th GEGSLA Operational Meeting of 2025 will take place on Thursday, 12 December, from 15:00 to 17:00 Vienna time. Please register in advance using the link (the registration link will go automatically to your calendars).

Space Show: Manuel Cuba of Helix Space
2025-12-12 | Online
Dr. David Livingston interviews Manuel Cuba of Helix Space in Luxembourg. Since 2022, Helix Space is a Private Research Institution accredited by the Ministry of Economy of Luxembourg.

Geminids Meteor Shower Peak
2025-12-13 20:00 - 2025-12-14 05:00 UTC | Worldwide
Usually strongest meteor shower yearly, up to 150 hourly. Moon is 30% full.

Chang’E-3 Lander Begins Next Year on Moon
2025-12-14 | Guang Han Gong, 44.12°N 19.51°W, Moon Surface
Surpassing 12 full years / starting 13th year on the Moon, China National Space Administration (CNSA) spacecraft at Guang Han Gong “Moon Palace”, Sinus Iridum / Mare Imbrium, 44.12°N 19.51°W, landed in 2013.

WISE / NEOWISE Begins Next Year in Space
2025-12-14 | Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Surpassing 14 full years / starting 15th year in Space, the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft (redubbed Near-Earth Object WISE – NEOWISE) launched in 2009, went into hibernation February 17, 2011 and reactivated August 21, 2013.

Launch Atlas V 551 / Amazon Leo (LA-04)
2025-12-15 | SLC-41 (~28°N), Cape Canaveral SFS FL, USA
Scheduled for 03:35 UTC-5, United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket will take next batch of Amazon Leo (new name) satellites for internet system managed by Amazon subsidiary Kuiper Systems. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

Launch Proton-M / Blok DM-03 / Elektro-L No.5
2025-12-15 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, ~46°N, Kazakhstan
Scheduled for 17:20 Kazakhstan Time. Meteorological satellites developed by NPO Lavochkin. Launch cost estimated at US$65M. Built at Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, Moscow, with 43,000+ employees.

American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2025 Annual Meeting
2025-12-15 - 2025-12-19 | New Orleans LA, USA
Features Session P046-To the Moon: A New Era of Lunar Science, Session P030-Planetary Magnetism.

High-Resolution Spectroscopy for Exoplanet Atmospheres Workshop
2025-12-15 - 2025-12-19 | Tempe AZ, USA
Over the next few decades, the exoplanet community is poised to advance closer to answering a fundamental question about the universe and humanity’s place in it: Are we alone? High-resolution spectroscopy of exoplanets with the Extremely Large Telescopes (> 25 m) offers a unique opportunity to answer this question. The high spectral resolutions and large apertures enable high signal-to-noise measurements of spectrally resolved lines of key atmospheric gases. Current observational programs with 3 – 10 m class telescopes (e.g., TNG, ESO 3.6 m, LDT, CFHT, Gemini N/S, VLT, Keck) and high resolution spectrographs (R>~15,000, e.g., HARPS, GIANO, SPIRou, ESPRESSO, MAROON-X, GHOST, IGRINS, CRIRES+) have and are continuing to reveal unique insights into the composition, chemistry, and climates of large gas giant planets.
However, in order to maximize the science return from current instrumentation and the upcoming ELT’s, there is a pressing need to train the next generation of scientists in this challenging but powerful observational method. In particular, the pool of experts in this area within the US exoplanet community is rather small. Hence, there is a pressing need to train US-based junior scientists in ground-based high spectral resolution observational and analysis techniques so that we maximize the science return from current and upcoming platforms.
The goal of this week-long workshop is to provide sufficient background via lectures and hands-on activities such that attendees will be able to:

Open and read in pipeline processed data from a variety of US (e.g., IGRINS, MAROON-X, GHOST) and European-led (e.g, ESPRESSO, CRIRES+) instruments.

Apply common telluric removal methods like PCA, SYSREM, and forward modeling.

Perform model template-data cross-correlation analyses to detect atmospheric gases in both the transmission and emission geometries.

Apply publicly available atmospheric retrieval tools combined with various CCF-to-log-likelihood mappings to obtain atmospheric parameter constraints.

Plan and execute observations with a variety of instruments.

The workshop will be structured like the Sagan Summer Workshops, with a mix of pedagogical lectures and hands-on activities, as well as an opportunity for attendees to present their own work via daily poster sessions.

Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter ‘Danuri’ Begins Next Year in Moon Orbit
2025-12-16 | Moon Orbit
Surpassing 3rd full year / entering 4th year in lunar orbit, Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) first lunar spacecraft Danuri launched in Aug 2022 and reached Moon in Dec 2022.

Launch Long March 4C / Unknown Payload
2025-12-16 | Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC), ~39°N, Shanxi, China
Scheduled for 11:15 China Time. 3-stage, non-reusable orbital carrier rocket, also designated Chang Zheng 4C. This will be 60th launch attempt with 57 successful previously.

Webinar--The Collision Course: Is Space Traffic Management Dead, and Will Europe Kill the Commercial Dream?
2025-12-16 | Online
Expert panel includes speakers from Amazon Kuiper, Slingshot Aerospace, Triton Space and moderator from Space Policy Group. Noon, Eastern Standard Time. Analysis of proposed EU space legislation, impact on markets, Space Traffic Management (STM) policy of USA, more.

Launch HANBIT-Nano / Spaceward
2025-12-17 | Alcântara Space Center, ~2°S, Brazil
Innospace of Korea to use 1st launch of HANBIT-Nano to send to SSO 5 satellites from Brazil space agency AEB / Brazil university / Grahaa Space of India, 3 payloads from AEB / Brazil company that will remain attached to rocket, and empty aluminum beverage can from Brewguru of Korea.

Launch Ariane 6 / Galileo Launch 14, SATs 33 + 34
2025-12-17 | Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, BP 726 97387, French Guiana
1st launch of Galileo on Ariane 6, 5th launch of Ariane 6, scheduled for 05:01 UTC (French Guiana Time 02:01). These 2 satellites will join 27 others active in orbit. Galileo is called the world’s most precise satellite navigation system, has served 5Billion+ smartphone uses since 2016, is managed / funded by the European Commission. European Space Agency leads design / development / qualification of space and ground systems, and procures launches. https://www.usegalileo.eu/EN/

Launch Long March 12A / First Test Flight
2025-12-17 | Jiuquan Space Launch Center, ~41°N, Gansu, China
Launch window 10:00-12:14 China Time. 1st stage will attempt vertical landing using engines at location 300km from launch site, Minqin County, Gansu Province.

Launch Electron / STP-S30
2025-12-17 | SLC-2, ~38°N, Wallops Flight Facility VA, USA
STP-S30 mission for USA DoD includes research experiments and technology demonstrations includes primary payload, DISKSat.

Launch New Shepard / NS-37
2025-12-18 | West Texas Suborbital Launch Site / Corn Ranch, Van Horn TX, USA, Launch Site One (LSO), Van Horn, TX, United States
08:30-16:30 CST; 16th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and 37th in New Shepard program; crew is: aerospace engineer Michaela (Michi) Benthaus, physicist/investor Joey Hyde, former SpaceX engineer Hans Koenigsmann, entrepreneur Neal Milch, investor Adonis Pouroulis, and adventurer Jason Stansell.

49th World Conference on Applied Science, Engineering & Technology
2025-12-18 - 2025-12-19 | Bangkok, Thailand
Conference theme is “WCASET Nexus: Where Science, Education and Technology Converge” and offers both in-person and virtual participation; includes sessions on space science and technology.

Gaia Spacecraft Begins Next Year in Space
2025-12-19 | Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point
ESA spacecraft surpasses 12 full years in space today, begins year 13, in extended mission phase working to map more than 1 billion stars.

Human Space Activity Past, Present, Future
2025-12-20 | Rolling Hills Estates CA, USA
Moderated by Madhu Thangavelu. 10:00-17:00 PT. Panels include: Cis-Lunar / Lunar, Artemis, Starship / SLS, Space Architecture / Philosophy / Art / Agriculture, others. Online participation available; send email to register, either <contact@aiaa-lalv.org> or <events.aiaalalv@gmail.com>.
Suggested $5 donation to this 501(c)3 nonprofit for either the organization itself or its scholarship fund. Lunch not provided.

Family Overnight
2025-12-20 - 2025-12-21 | Houston TX, USA
Tent-camp by Falcon 9 rocket or Independence shuttle replica, and STEM activities.

December Solstice
2025-12-21 | Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Occurs 05:01 HST, 15:01 UTC; It is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in the shortest day and longest night of the year; and conversely, it is the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, bringing the longest day and shortest night.

Wenchang International Aviation and Aerospace Forum 2025
2025-12-21 | Wenchang, Hainan, China
With theme “Exploring New Industrial Models, Empowering the New Aerospace Economy”. 2025 marks a crucial stage for the Hainan Free Trade Port, coinciding with the full-scale customs closure operation of the island and the accelerated development of Wenchang International Aerospace City. The Forum will further leverage its unique advantages of “Launch Capacity + Industrial Clusters + Institutional Innovation” to contribute to the sustainable development of the global aerospace industry.

Ursids Meteor Shower Peak
2025-12-22 | Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
From Comet Tuttle (8P), with up to 10 per hour. Moon only 3% full helps viewing on peak nights; active Dec 17-26.

Launch Soyuz 2.1a / Obzor-R No.1
2025-12-23 | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, ~63°N, Mirny, Russia
NET Dec 23, launch of Earth science satellite to Sun-Synchronous Orbit for Russia.

Griffith Observatory Live Shows: Centered in the Universe and Signs of Life
2025-12-23 | Los Angeles CA, USA
The 290-seat Samuel Oschin Planetarium boasts a spectacular Zeiss star projector, digital projection system, state-of-the-art aluminum dome, comfy seats, sound system and theatrical lighting.

Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) / BlueBird 6
2025-12-24 | Satish Dhawan Space Center, ~14°N, Sriharikota, India
India Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), also called Bahubali, to launch 6,500-kg Bluebird 6 for AST SpaceMobile; launch was coordinated by New Space India Limited (NSIL), commercial arm of ISRO.

Planetarium Showings: One Sky Project, Cosmic Perspectives, Messengers of Space and Time
2025-12-24 | Hilo HI, USA
From 11:00 – 14:00 HST, three planetarium showings will highlight international, cultural and indigenous astronomy, where we ‘fit in’ in the Galaxy, and how Gemini Observatory works together with observatories.
