| Date | Payload | Launcher | Launch Site | Notes |
| 18 January | NROL-26 | Delta 4-Heavy | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | US signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellite |
| 23 January | Ibuki (GOSAT), Kagayaki, KKS 1, PRISM, SDS 1, SOHLA 1, SpriteSat, STARS 1 | H-IIA | Yoshinobu Launch Complex, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan | |
| 30 January | Koronas-Foton | Tsyklon-3 | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | Russian solar observatory |
| 2 February | Omid | Safir 2 | Semnan Satellite Launch Site, Semnan, Iran | Iranian test satellite |
| 6 February | NOAA-N Prime | Delta 2 | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA | meteorological satellite |
| 10 February | Progress M-66 (ISS 32P) | Soyuz U | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | unmanned cargo transport to the International Space Station |
| 11 February | Express AM-44, Express MD1 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | Russian commercial communications satellites |
| 12 February | Hot Bird 10, NSS-9, Spirale 1, Spirale 2 | Ariane 5 ECA | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | commercial communications satellite (Hot Bird 10, NSS-9), French early warning satellites (Spirale 1, Spirale 2) |
| 24 February | Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) | Taurus | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA | intended to monitor carbon dioxide levels in the Earth's atmosphere – launch failure |
| 26 February | Telstar 11N | Zenit 3SLB / DM-SLB | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| 28 February | Raduga-1 8 | Proton K / Blok DM2 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | Russian military communications satellite |
| 6 March | Kepler (Discovery 10) | Delta 2 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | space telescope which will search for planets around distant stars |
| 15 March | Space Shuttle Discovery ISS-28-15A | Shuttle Discovery (STS-119) | the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | manned flight to the International Space Station (ISS) delivering the fourth starboard truss segment (ITS S6) and fourth set of solar arrays and batteries |
| 17 March | GOCE | Rokot / Briz KM | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | scientific satellite which will measure the Earth's gravitational field with great precision |
| 24 March | GPS 2R-20 (M7) | Delta 2 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | American military navigation satellite |
| 26 March | Soyuz TMA-14 ISS 18S | Soyuz FG | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | manned transport vessel to the International Space Station |
| 3 April | W2A | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| 4 April | WGS 2 | Atlas 5 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | US military communications satellite |
| 14 April | BeiDou-2 (Compass-G2) | Long March 3C | Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, China | Chinese navigation satellite |
| 20 April | RISAT, Anusat | PSLV-C | Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India | Indian synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite (RISAT), small Indian educational satellite (Anusat) |
| 20 April | Sicral 1B | Zenit 3SL / Blok DM-SL | Sea Launch's Odyssey platform in the Pacific Ocean | Italian military communications satellite |
| 22 April | Yaogan VI | Long March 2C | Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, Shanxi Province, China | Chinese earth resources satellite |
| 29 April | Kobalt-M (Cosmos 2450) | Soyuz U | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | Russian military optical surveillance satellite |
| 5 May | SSTS-ATRR | Delta 2 | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA | US military technology satellite which will investigate ballistic missile tracking technologies |
| 7 May | Progress M-02M (ISS 33P) | Soyuz U | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | unmanned transport vessel to the international space station |
| 11 May | Space Shuttle Atlantis HST SM-04 | Shuttle Atlantis (STS-125) | the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope |
| 14 May | Herschel, Planck | Ariane 5 ECA | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | infrared telescope (Herschel), cosmic background radiation observatory (Planck) |
| May 16 | ProtoStar 2 (Galaxy 8iR) | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| May 19 | TacSat 3, CP-6, Genesat 2, HawkSat 1, PharmaSat 1 | Minotaur 1 | Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, Virginia, USA | technology research satellite (TacSat 3) |
| May 21 | Meridian N2 | Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | military communications satellite, possible partial launch failure |
| May 27 | Soyuz TMA-15 ISS 19S | Soyuz FG | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | manned transport vessel to the International Space Station |
| June 18 | Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) | Atlas V | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | scientific probes to moon |
| June 21 | Measat 3A (Measat 1R) | Zenit 3SLB /Blok DM-SLB | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | TV broadcast satellite, damaged during launch preparation the satellite has now been repaired and is again preparing for launch |
| June 27 | GOES-O | Delta IV | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida | meteorological and space weather satellite |
| June 30 | Sirius 5 | Proton | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial radio broadcast satellite |
| July 1 | TerreStar 1 | Ariane 5GS | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | commercial communications satellite |
| July 6 | Cosmos 2451, Cosmos 2452, Cosmos 2453 | Rokot / Briz-KM | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | three Russian military satellites |
| July 14 | CubeSAT, InnoSAT, RazakSAT (ATSB, MACSAT) | Falcon 1 | Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands | Malaysian Earth Observation satellite (RazakSAT) |
| July 15 | Space Shuttle Endeavour ISS-29-2J/A | Shuttle Endeavour (STS-127) | the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | shuttle visit to the International Space Station, delivery of Kibo Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility (JEM EF), Kibo Japanese Experiment Logistics Module - Exposed Section (ELM-ES) and Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) to ISS |
| July 21 | Parus, Sterkh | Kosmos-3M | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | Russian navigation satellite (Parus) and Russian COSPAS-SARSAT satellite (Sterkh) |
| July 24 | Progress M-67 (ISS 34P) | Soyuz U | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | unmanned cargo transport to the International Space Station |
| July 29 | AprizeSat 3/4, Deimos 1 (DMC F6), Dubaisat 1, Nanosat 1B, UK-DMC 2 | Dnepr-1 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | several small satellites to be used primarily for earth observation |
| August 11 | AsiaSat 5 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| August 17 | GPS 2R-21 (M8) | Delta 2 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | navigation satellite |
| August 21 | JC-Sat 12, Optus D3 | Ariane 5ECA | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | commercial communications satellites |
| August 25 | Science and Technology Satellite 2 (STSAT 2) | Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 | Naro Space Center, Goheung, South Jeolla Province, South Korea | South Korean technology demonstration satellite, launch failure |
| August 29 | Space Shuttle Discovery ISS-30-17A | Shuttle Discovery (STS-128) | the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | shuttle visit to the International Space Station, delivery of Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) and Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier (LMC) to ISS |
| August 31 | Palapa D1 | Long March 3B | Xichang, China | commercial communications satellite - there were initial reports that the spacecraft had been injected into the wrong orbit, but this appears to have been corrected during in-orbit manoeuvering of the spacecraft |
| September 8 | PAN | Atlas V | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | classified US military communications satellite |
| September 10 | HTV-1 (H-II Transfer Vehicle) | H-2B | Tanegashima, Japan | Japanese unmanned cargo vehicle to the International Space Station |
| September 17 | IRIS, Meteor M N1, Sterkh 2 (Cospas 12), Sumbandila, Tatyana 2, Ugatusat | Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | Russian meterological satellite (Meteor M N1) |
| September 17 | Nimiq 5 | Proton | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| September 23 | Oceansat 2, Beesat, ITUpSAT 1, Rubin 9.1, Rubin 9.2, SwissCube 1, UWE 2 | PSLV | Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India | Indian ocean monitoring satellite (Oceansat 2) |
| September 25 | Space Tracking and Surveillance System Demo (STSS Demo) | Delta 2 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida | pair of missile defence technology satellites |
| September 30 | Soyuz TMA-16 ISS 20S | Soyuz FG | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | manned transport vessel to the International Space Station |
| October 1 | Amazonas 2, ComSat BW-1 | Ariane 5ECA | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | commercial communications satellite (Amazonas 2), military communications satellite (ComSat BW-1) |
| October 8 | Worldview 2 | Delta 2 | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA | commercial optical imaging satellite |
| October 15 | Progress M-03M (ISS 35P) | Soyuz U | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | unmanned cargo transport to the International Space Station |
| October 18 | DMSP-5D3 F18 | Atlas 5 | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA | American military meteorological satellite |
| October 28 | Ares I-X | Aries I | Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | first test flight of NASA's Constellation launch vehicle, the Ares I |
| October 29 | NSS 12, Thor 6 | Ariane 5 ECA | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | commercial communications satellites |
| November 2 | SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), Proba 2 | Rokot / Briz KM | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | earth observation satellite to measure the moisture content in soil and the salinity of seawater (SMOS) |
| November 10 | Poisk MRM-2 (ISS 05R) | Soyuz U | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | unmanned launch of Poisk Mini Research Module 2 (MRM-2) to the International Space Station |
| November 12 | Shijian 11-01 | Long March 2C | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Kansu Province, China | technology satellite |
| November 16 | Space Shuttle Atlantis ISS-31-ULF-3 | Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) | the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | shuttle visit to the International Space Station, delivery of Express Logistics Carrier 1 and 2 (ELC1 and ELC2) to ISS |
| November 20 | Lotus S N1 | Soyuz U | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | Russian military ELINT satellite |
| November 23 | Intelsat 14 | Atlas 5 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida | commercial communications satellite |
| November 24 | Eutelsat W7 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| November 28 | IGS Optical 4 | H-2A | Tanegashima Space Center, Kagoshima, Japan | Japanese military optical reconnaissance satellite |
| November 30 | Intelsat 15 | Zenit 3SLB | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| December 6 | WGS-3 | Delta 4-Medium+ | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | US military communications satellite |
| December 9 | Yaogan 7 | Long March 2D | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Kansu Province, China | Chinese military optical reconnaissance satellite |
| December 14 | Uragan M/Glonass M21/M22/M23 | Proton M / Blok DM-2 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | three Russian navigation satellites |
| December 14 | WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) (MIDEX-06) | Delta 2 | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA | astronomical satellite which will perform a complete survey of the sky in the mid-infrared region |
| December 15 | Yaogan 8, Hope 1 | Long March 4C | Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, Shanxi Province, China | Chinese remote sensing satellite (Yaogan 8) |
| December 18 | Helios IIB | Ariane 5GS | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | French military reconnaissance satellite |
| December 20 | Soyuz TMA-17 ISS 21S | Soyuz FG | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | manned transport vessel to the International Space Station |
| December 29 | DirecTV 12 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial television broadcast satellite |
