Rocket Launch Schedule: Every Upcoming Launch

Somewhere on Earth a rocket lifts off every couple of days now, and a surprising number are worth planning an evening around — if you know when they are and where to stand. This is the running schedule of what is coming up: the date, the rocket, who is flying it, and the launch site, with a link to our own guide for the places you can actually go and watch.

The board above is the next couple of dozen orbital launches, soonest first. It rebuilds twice a day from The Space Devs Launch Library 2, the open database most launch trackers draw on, so it stays current without anyone retyping it.

How to read it

A few things save you a wasted drive:

• Times are UTC. Subtract for your own clock — four hours for US Eastern time, seven for Pacific. A launch dated late in the UTC evening is often the same afternoon or evening where you are.
• “Date may move” means exactly that. When the database only knows a launch to the day (or looser), we don’t print a fake to-the-minute time. A status tag like To Be Confirmed or TBD next to the rocket is the same warning: the slot is real but the clock isn’t pinned yet.
• “Watch it” links appear only where we have a guide. The Florida Space Coast, Vandenberg, Starbase, Wallops and the beaches at Wenchang are all places the public can see a launch; most other sites on the board are closed ranges with no public vantage, so we leave those without a link rather than send you somewhere you can’t go.

Launches slip — plan for it

The single rule every launch chaser learns the hard way: dates move constantly, for weather, a technical hold, or a range conflict with the launch before yours. Never build a whole trip around one fixed date you can’t change. Check the schedule again close to your travel dates, hold a backup day, and confirm the window with the operator before you drive out. Our guide to every major U.S. launch site covers the best free spot at each, the Cape Canaveral guide goes deep on Florida’s Space Coast, and the Wenchang guide covers the only launch site in the world where thousands gather on a public beach.

What you’ll actually see

From a public viewing spot you are kept several miles back for safety, which is plenty: you see the silent flash and the climbing pillar of fire, and then, fifteen to thirty seconds later, the deep crackling roar catches up. Night launches light the whole sky. A pair of binoculars turns the white sliver on the pad into a rocket you can watch through the countdown and follow downrange long after your naked eye loses it. And when nothing is on the schedule, what’s in the sky tonight has the Moon, the planets and the next meteor shower.

The bottom line

A launch is the rare bucket-list thing that is free, family-friendly, and on offer most weeks of the year. Find one on the board, check which site it flies from, follow the “Watch it” link to work out where to stand, and keep a backup day in your pocket. Then go feel one in person — a video never carries the sound.

Outer Space Trip may earn a commission from some gear and booking links on this page; your price is the same. Schedule data is from The Space Devs Launch Library 2 and launch times slip constantly — always confirm with the operator before you travel. How we choose.