| Designation |
Date |
Country |
Event |
| Progress M1-11/13P |
January 29 |
Russia |
Uncrewed logistics cargo/resupply mission to the
International Space Station ISS, on a Soyuz-U rocket. |
| Rosetta |
March 2 |
Europe |
Successful launch of ESA’s intercept mission on
an Ariane-5G to Comet 67 P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko, to arrive
in 2014. |
| Soyuz TMA-4/ISS-8S |
April 19 |
Russia |
Launch of the third ISS crew rotation flight on
a Soyuz-FG, bringing the Expedition 9 crew of Gennady Padalka
& Michael Fincke, plus 10-day visitor André Kuipers from
ESA. |
| Gravity Probe-B (GP-B) |
April 20 |
United States |
Successful launch of NASA probe on a Delta 2 to
test two predictions of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. |
| Progress M-49/14P |
May 25 |
Russia |
Uncrewed logistics cargo/resupply mission to the
International Space Station ISS, on a Soyuz-U rocket. |
| Aura |
July 15 |
United States |
Launch of the 3rd major Earth Observation System
(EOS) platform on a Delta 2, joining Terra and Aqua. |
| Messenger |
August 3 |
United States |
Successful Delta 2 launch of NASA’s Mercury orbiter probe,
to arrive at the Sun’s
innermost planet in March 2011. |
| Progress M-50/15P |
August 11 |
Russia |
Uncrewed logistics cargo/resupply mission to the
International Space Station ISS, on a Soyuz-U rocket. |
| EDUSAT |
September 20 |
India |
Successful launch of India’s first operational
GSLV rocket carrier, with the country’s first educational services
satellite. |
| Soyuz TMA-5/ISS-9S |
October 13 |
Russia |
Launch of the fourth ISS crew rotation flight
on a Soyuz-FG, bringing the Expedition 10
crew of Leroy Chiao & Salizhan Sharipov, plus 10-day visitor
Yuri Shargin from Russia. |
| Swift |
November 20 |
United States |
Successful Delta 2 launch of NASA satellite to
research interstellar gamma ray bursts (GRBs). |
| Progress M-51/16P |
December 24 |
Russia |
Uncrewed logistics cargo/resupply mission to the
International Space Station ISS, on a Soyuz-U rocket. |
