The first Japanese asteroid probe, Hayabusa, returned to Earth on 13 June, having landed on 25143 Itokawa in an effort to collect samples.

[5] On 1 October at 10:59:57 UTC, China successfully launched the Chang'e-2 spacecraft, the nation's second mission to explore the Moon.

STS-130, using orbiter Endeavour, was the first crewed flight of the year, launching on 8 February with the Tranquility node and Cupola for the ISS.

On 14 May, Space Shuttle Atlantis launched on its second-to-last flight, STS-132, carrying the Rassvet module to the ISS.

[7] The third failure occurred on 5 December, when a Proton-M with the first Blok DM-03 upper stage failed to inject three Glonass-M satellites into orbit.

Before launch, the Blok DM was fuelled incorrectly, resulting in the rocket being too heavy to reach its parking orbit.

The rocket was destroyed by range safety, after control of the liquid-fuelled boosters attached to the first stage was lost.