ISS Tracking

Upcoming launches

SpaceX and everything flying to the ISS: countdown, live stream, flight stages and an alert before liftoff.

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How this page works

The list brings together upcoming SpaceX launches and every mission flying to the International Space Station, whether by SpaceX, Roscosmos, Northrop Grumman, Boeing or Sierra Space. Dates, launch pads, rockets and live stream links come from Launch Library 2, an open database maintained by The Space Devs community, and refresh automatically every few minutes.

Altitude, speed and the position on the globe are an estimate based on the liftoff time, the rocket's typical profile and the target orbit; they are not live telemetry. Flight stages are the official ones once the operator publishes them, usually a few days before launch, and the rocket's typical ones until then. Tap «Notify me» to get an alert on your phone or computer one hour and ten minutes before liftoff, with no sign-up and no email.

How to read the countdown

All times on this page are in your device's time, so there's nothing to convert. Look at each launch's status label: "Go" means the operator has given the green light for that date; "To be confirmed", that the date is fairly likely but not yet officially confirmed; and "Date not final", only that it won't be before that day. With the last two, it's worth checking again the day before.

Even a confirmed launch can slip at the last minute: strong winds at altitude, an odd sensor reading or a boat inside the safety zone are enough to stop the countdown. It happens often and doesn't mean anything serious has gone wrong. Missions to the ISS also have an instantaneous window: the rocket has to lift off at a precise second, because that's the only moment the pad lines up with the station's orbit as the Earth turns. If it's missed, the attempt moves to another day. Starlink launches, by contrast, usually have windows several hours long.

The stages of a typical Falcon 9 flight

  • Liftoff and Max-Q (around minute 1): the moment of greatest aerodynamic stress on the rocket.
  • First-stage separation (about 2.5 minutes): the first stage's nine engines shut down, the stage drops away and the second-stage engine ignites.
  • Fairing separation (about 3 minutes): once out of the dense part of the atmosphere, the two halves of the shell protecting the payload open. Dragon missions don't carry one.
  • Booster landing (around minute 8): the first stage flies back and touches down on a drone ship at sea or, on some flights, on land near the pad.
  • Orbit (around minute 9): the second stage shuts down. A Dragon separates a few minutes later; with other payloads, such as Starlink satellites, it can take much longer.

These times are approximate and vary with the mission and the target orbit. When the operator publishes its timeline, the page shows the official stages.