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An artist’s conception of the Lucy and Psyche spacecraft
Gif image of CubeSats being deployed

Launch Services Program

NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) is responsible for launching rockets delivering spacecraft that observe the Earth, visit other planets and explore the universe – from weather satellites to telescopes to Mars rovers and more.

LSP functions as a broker, matching spacecraft with the best-suited rockets, managing the launch process, providing support from pre-mission planning to post-launch. LSP helps implement NASA’s policy of a mixed-fleet launch strategy, which uses both existing and emerging domestic launch capabilities to assure access to space.

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Rockets

Northrop Grumman Antares

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket is a two-stage vehicle with optional third stage that provides low-Earth orbit launch capability for payloads weighing up to 8,000 kg. Today the rocket is primarily used to support the company’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

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A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with the company’s Cygnus spacecraft onboard, launches at 6:01 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with the company’s Cygnus spacecraft onboard, launches at 6:01 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station is carrying nearly 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Photo Credit: NASA Wallops/Brian Bonsteel
NASA

Launch Sites

Kennedy Space Center

One of two primary launch sites for NASA’s Launch Vehicles.

Located along Florida’s central Atlantic coast between Jacksonville and Miami, our nation’s premiere spaceport is ideal for spacecraft requiring a west-east or equatorial orbit.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021.

GOES-U

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program (GOES) is a joint effort of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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GOES-17

Upcoming Missions

Learn more about future missions managed by NASA's Launch Services Program.

PREFIRE mission will send two CubeSats – depicted in an artist’s concept orbiting Earth

PREFIRE

A mission designed for a pair of tiny satellites to measure a little-studied portion of the radiant energy emitted by Earth, for clues about sea ice loss, ice-sheet melting, and a warming Arctic – the region that behaves like our planet’s thermostat, as it regulates the climate by venting excess energy received in the tropics.

NASA’s Europa Clipper Builds Hardware, Moves Toward Assembly

Europa Clipper

NASA's Europa Clipper mission will conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter's moon Europa and investigate whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life.

SPHEREx

The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission will provide the first all-sky spectral survey. 

About

CubeSat Launch Initiative

Since its inception, NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative has launched over 150 CubeSats on more than 40 Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) missions. 

NASA’s CubeSat Launch initiative (CSLI) provides low-cost access to space for U.S. educational institutions, informal educational institutions such as museums and science centers, non-profits with an education/outreach component, and NASA centers for early career workforce development. The initiative’s intent is to inspire and develop the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technologists by offering a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research and develop/demonstrate novel technologies in space.

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The goal of the CHOMPTT mission is to demonstrate new technologies for navigation and satellite networking in space.
Once Launch Services Program pairs CubeSats to a launch, an Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission number is assigned. Pictured is ELaNa 19 / Venture Class CubeSats (CHOMPTT) inside Rocket Lab’s facility, located at Huntington Beach California.
Image credit: NASA
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