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Do you participate in spacecraft development? Do you know the status of a particular mission? Please help us to keep this page up to date! (We respect confidentiality of all sources.) Contact:
Anatoly Zak

Major developments in 2018:

Super-heavy rocket (Variant 3)

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Super-heavy rocket (Variant 4)

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NEM-based LOS

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Russian launch vehicle strategy in 2018

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Variant 1 of the super-heavy rocket

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Super-heavy rocket in 2018

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PTK NP development in 2018

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PTK Docking port interface redesign in 2018

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Russian-Chinese cooperation

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Near-lunar station in 2018

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ESPRIT in 2018

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Soyuz-5 development in 2018

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Sea Launch in 2018

Spektr-RG in 2018

Proton operations in 2018

NEM-2

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Angara pad in Vostochny in 2018

Russian space program and rocket development in 2018

At the beginning of the year, Roskosmos listed 23 missions in its 2018 flight manifest, which if fulfilled, would increase the previous year's record of 21 attempts (including one failure). In reality, Russia performed 20 orbital launch attempts in 2018, including one failure, despite a false claim by the head of Roskosmos Dmitry Rogozin on December 29 about 22 launches.

For missions in 2017 click here

In his count, Rogozin likely included two suborbital launches of the 14A042 Nudol anti-satellite missile, bringing a total of launches from Plesetsk to eight. Even if their flights were successful, the Nudols are not known to carry satellites or to achieve orbital velocity. However, their designation contains letter "A" associated with space launch vehicles in the current Russian nomenclature.

In any case, as long expected, the annual launch rate left Russia in a distant third place after China and the United States in this key indicator of space activity. For comparison, on January 4, the official Chinese press promised 35 launches of the liquid-propellant Chang Zheng series of space rockets and five orbital shots of the solid-propellant Kuaizhou launchers. As of December 30, China had apparently made a total of 39 orbital launch attempts with one failure.

According to Rogozin, the Russian orbital assets increased by eight spacecraft, reaching a total of 156. In the official Roskosmos tally at the end of the year, Russia operated 89 civilian or dual-use spacecraft, including nine remote-sensing satellites, among them two for observation of natural resources, three for meteorology and four for monitoring of natural and man-made disasters.

In the field of military rocketry, the Russian Ministry of Defense promised to boost its strategic arsenal with 20 new Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles and to conduct 12 test launches, or twice as many as in 2017, according to the commander of Strategic Missile Forces, RVSN, Col. General Sergei Karakaev quoted by the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper in December 2017. At the end of 2018, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that one regiment of Yars ballistic missiles had entered operational readiness. At the same time, the Peresvet laser battle complex and the Kinzhal aircraft-based ballistic missile system were reported as undergoing deployment tests.

In the course of the year, the Russian military also performed a salvo test launch of four Bulava ballistic missiles from the Yuri Dolgorukiy submarine and fired 12 Kh-101 cruise missiles from the Tupolev-160 aircraft. On December 26, Russia also claimed flight-testing an Avangard maneuverable reentry vehicle, while releasing footage of the Strela booster (converted from the Soviet-era UR-100NU ballistic missile) lifting off from a silo originally built for the R-36M-2 ICBM in the Dombarovsky deployment area. Satellite imagery revealed six such silos around Dombarovsky in the apparent process of being converted for the UR-100NU-based missiles.

The world's orbital launch attempts in 2018 (as of January 20, 2024 ):

*The launch vehicle reported operating as planned, but its payload failed to separate from the upper stage. **An anomaly during orbital insertion

The 2018 space launch score card (as of January 20, 2024 ):,

*The launch vehicle reported operating as planned, but its payload failed to separate from the upper stage; **In case of an equal number of launches, the country that reached that number first is listed at the top; ***Failed launch

For missions in 2019 click here

This page is compiled by Anatoly Zak; Last update: January 20, 2024

Page editor: Alain Chabot; Last edit: December 30, 2018

All rights reserved

Soyuz-2-1a lifts off on February 1, 2018, with a pair of Kanopus-V satellites and nine secondary payloads. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Progress MS-08 lifts off on Feb. 13, 2018. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

A Soyuz-2-1v rocket lifts off with the EMKA satellite on March 29, 2018. Click to enlarge. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense

Rockot with Sentinel-3B lifts off on April 25, 2018. Click to enlarge. Credit: ESA

A Soyuz-2-1a rocket lifts off with Progress MS-09 spacecraft on July 10. Click to enlarge. Credit: ESA

Soyuz-2-1b lifts off on Nov. 3, 2018, with GLONASS M-57 satellite. Click to enlarge. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense

A long-exposure shot captures the ascent trajectory of the Progress MS-10 spacecraft on Nov. 17, 2018. Click to enlarge. Credit: RKK Energia

Soyuz-ST-A launches CSO-1 (Composante Spatiale Optique) satellite on Dec. 19, 2018. Click to enlarge. Credit: CNES

Soyuz-2-1a lifts off from Vostochny on Dec. 27, 2018. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos