Nine Major Space Launches Set to Illuminate Final Week of 2025

The final week of 2025 is poised to be action-packed within the scope of space exploration, with nine launches planned across various global launch sites. Notably, only one mission will take place in the United States—SpaceX’s Falcon 9, scheduled to rocket from California. Meanwhile, South Korean firm Innospace is preparing to launch its Hanbit-Nano rocket, which has faced multiple postponements, while Russia is set to conduct two Soyuz launches from Plesetsk and Vostochny.

The upcoming week sees an impressive focus on China, with four significant missions launching from different sites throughout the country. Additionally, India will contribute to this international endeavor by launching a BlueBird Block 2 satellite aboard its LVM-3 rocket.

Innospace’s Hanbit-Nano is targeted for its inaugural orbital flight at 01:00 UTC on Tuesday, December 23, under the mission name “Spaceward.” This mission will carry a total of eight payloads, comprised of five small satellites dedicated to gathering climate and environmental data from orbit and three experimental units aimed at testing new technologies. Standing at 21.7 meters tall and features an single hybrid-propellant engine, Hanbit-Nano generates 245 kN of thrust during liftoff. The rocket will take off from the Alcantara Launch Center located in Maranhão, Brazil.

On the same day, another debut launch is expected from the Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation as they unveil the Chang Zheng 12A (CZ-12A) rocket at 02:00 UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This innovative vehicle will mark China’s first reusable launch system, and its first stage will attempt a landing about 300 kilometers from the launch site.

India’s contribution to the week’s activities will come with the launch of a BlueBird Block 2 satellite aboard the LVM-3 rocket on Wednesday, December 24, at 03:24 UTC. The LVM-3, launching from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, is designed to facilitate significant increases in communication bandwidth across the United States through the Block 2 satellite.

In the same 24-hour period, a Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket will lift off on December 24 at 14:00 UTC, launching the Obzor-R n°1 Earth observation satellite along with other small companions, including another Iranian satellite. Significantly, Obzor-R will use advanced radar imaging capabilities.

The solo launch on December 25 will see the Chang Zheng 8A rocket lift off from Wenchang, carrying an undisclosed payload. Following that, on December 26, Chinarocket plans to send its Jielong 3 rocket aloft from Haiyang Oriental Spaceport, also with a yet-to-be-announced payload.

This flurry of launches will culminate in the final Falcon 9 mission of the year, CSG-3, scheduled for December 27 at 6:08 PM PST (02:08 UTC). The Falcon 9 will deliver the CSG-3 satellite to a sun-synchronous orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking another milestone in SpaceX’s extensive launch history.

The week’s events conclude with a Soyuz 2.1b rocket launch on December 28, set for 13:18 UTC, which will deploy two AIST-2T Earth observation satellites and an additional 20 small satellites as rideshares. This mission signifies the ever-increasing cooperation among nations and private space entities, underscoring the remarkable growth of global space exploration efforts as the year draws to a close.