| Date | Payload | Launcher | Launch Site | Notes |
| 16 January | BeiDou-3 (Compass-G1) | Long March 3C | Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, China | Chinese navigation satellite |
| 28 January | Raduga 1M-2 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | Russian military communications satellite |
| 3 February | Progress M-04M (ISS 36P) | Soyuz U | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | unmanned cargo transport to the International Space Station |
| 8 February | Space Shuttle Endeavour ISS-32-20A | Shuttle Endeavour (STS-130) | the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | shuttle visit to the International Space Station, delivery of Node 3 and Cupola to ISS |
| 11 February | SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) | Atlas V | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | space weather research satellite |
| 12 February | Intelsat 16 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| 1 March | Uragan M / Glonass M24/M25/M26 | Proton M / Blok DM-2 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | three Russian navigation satellites |
| 4 March | GOES-P | Delta 4M+ | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | meteorological satellite |
| 5 March | Yaogan 9 | Long March 4C | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Kansu Province, China | Chinese military reconnaissance satellite |
| 21 March | Echostar 14 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial broadcast satellite |
| 2 April | Soyuz TMA-18 ISS 22S | Soyuz FG | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | manned transport vessel to the International Space Station |
| 5 April | Space Shuttle Discovery ISS-33-19A | Shuttle Discovery (STS-131) | 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 |
| 8 April | Cryosat 2 | Dnepr 1 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | European satellite to monitor changes to polar ice |
| 15 April | GSAT 4 | GSLV D3 | Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India | launch failure – problem with 3rd stage. Indian experimental communications satellite |
| 16 April | Kobalt-M (Cosmos 2462) | Soyuz U | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | Russian optical military reconnaissance satellite |
| 22 April | X-37B F-1 (OTV-1) | Atlas 5 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | test flight of USAF prototype Orbital Test Vehicle space plane |
| 24 April | SES 1 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| 27 April | Parus N99 | Kosmos-3M | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | Russian military navigation satellite |
| 28 April | Progress M-05M (ISS 37P) | Soyuz U | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | unmanned cargo transport to the International Space Station |
| 14 May | Space Shuttle Atlantis ISS-34-ULF4 | Shuttle Atlantis (STS-132) | the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA | shuttle visit to the International Space Station, delivery of Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) and Mini Reserach Module (MRM 1) to ISS |
| 20 May | Venus Planet Orbiter Akatsuki (Planet-C), Ikaros, KSAT, Negai, UNITEC-1, Waseda-SAT2 | H-2A | Tanegashima Space Center, Kagoshima, Japan | interplanetary probe to Venus (Akatsuki), solar sail demonstrator (Ikaros), technology microsatellites (KSAT, Negai, UNITEC-1, Waseda-SAT2) |
| 21 May | Astra 3B, ComSat BW-2 | Ariane 5ECA | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | commercial communications satellite (Astra 3B), military communications satellite (ComSat BW-2B) |
| 28 May | GPS 2F-1 | Delta 4 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | navigation satellite |
| 2 June | Servis 2 | Rokot / Briz KM | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia | Japanese technology satellite |
| 2 June | BeiDou-2 (Compass-G3) | Long March 3C | Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, China | Chinese navigation satellite |
| 3 June | Badr 5 (Arabsat 5B) | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| 4 June | Dragon Qualification Unit | Falcon 9 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | test launch; first flight of the Falcon 9 |
| 10 June | STSAT 2B | KSLV-1 | Naro Space Center, Goheung, South Jeolla Province, South Korea | launch failure – exploded 137 seconds into flight; Korean technology satellite |
| 15 June | Shijian 12 | Long March 2D | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Kansu Province, China | Chinese technology satellite |
| 15 June | Picard, Prisma-Mango, Prisma-Tango | Dnepr 1 | Dombarovskiy Launch Site, Yasny, Russia | climate research satellite (Picard), technology demonstrator satellite pair (Prisma) |
| 15 June | Soyuz TMA-19 ISS 23S | Soyuz FG | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | manned transport vessel to the International Space Station |
| 21 June | TanDEM-X | Dnepr-1 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite |
| 22 June | Ofeq 9 | Shavit 2 | Palmahim Air Base, Israel | Israeli military reconnaissance satellite |
| 26 June | Arabsat 5A, COMS 1 | Ariane 5ECA | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | commercial communications satellites |
| 30 June | Progress M-06M (ISS 38P) | Soyuz U | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | unmanned cargo transport to the International Space Station |
| 10 July | Echostar 15 | Proton M / Briz M | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | commercial communications satellite |
| 11 July | Cartosat 2, AISSat-1, AlSat-2A, STUDSAT, Tisat-1 | PSLV | Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India | Indian remote sensing satellite (Cartosat 2B), Algerian remote sensing satellite (AlSat-2A), technology satellites (AISSat-1, STUDSAT, Tisat-1) |
| 31 July | BeiDou 2 IG1 (Compass-IG1) | Long March 3A | Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province, China | Chinese navigation satellite |
| 4 August | Nilesat 2, Rascom-QAF 1R | Ariane 5ECA | CSG Kourou, French Guiana | television broadcast satellite (Nilesat 2), commercial communications satellite (Rascom-QAF 1R) |
| 9 August | Yaogan 10 | Long March 4C | Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, Shanxi Province, China | Chinese military reconnaissance satellite |
| 14 August | AEHF 1 (Advanced Extremely High Frequency 1) | Atlas 5 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA | US military communications satellite |
| 24 August | TianHui 1 | Long March 2D | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Kansu Province, China | Chinese earth observation satellite |
| 2 September | Uragan M / Glonass M27/M28/M29 | Proton M / Blok DM-2 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | three Russian navigation satellites |
