On February 19, 2016 the US "Cygnus” (CRS OA-4) unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the International Space Station. The spacecraft, which had been attached to the space station since December 9, 2015 was released by astronauts aboard the station using the orbiting complex's huge robotic arm at 10:40 UTC. It was the 4^th flight of "Cygnus” to the ISS.

On February 17, 2016 at 08:45 UTC the Japanese H-2A rocket-carrier was launched from Tanegashima Cosmodrome situated at the island located 115 km south of Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. The rocket orbited the “Astro-H” spacecraft. This satellite weighing nearly three tons is a pioneering observatory with X-ray vision to peer into the mysterious, light-starved neighborhoods around black holes and study the genesis of galaxies and other cosmic mega-structures billions of light-years from Earth.

On February 16, 2016 at 17:58 UTC the “Rockot” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket equipped with the “Briz-KM” booster (upper stage) orbited the “Sentinel-3A” European ocean survey satellite. The mission is set to last at least seven years, tracking changes in the planet’s sea level, ocean color, marine organisms like algae and phytoplankton, ice sheets, and rivers and lakes.

On February 10, 2016 at 11:40 UTC the " Delta 4M+(5,2)” rocket-carrier was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA. The launch was performed by United Launch Alliance supported by the 30th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited the payload named as NROL-45 for the National Reconnaissance Office. The NROL (National Reconnaissance Office Launch) abbreviation is used to identify classified satellites operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. The experts suppose that the rocket orbited the “Topaz-4” sttelite, the fourth in a series of radar-imaging satellites built by Boeing for the National Reconnaissance Office.

On February 07, 2016 at 00:30 UTC the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched the "Unha-3” three-stage rocket-carrier from Sohae Satellite Launching Station (also known as Tongch'ang-dong Space Launch Center and Pongdong-ri) in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The rocket orbited the "Kwangmyongsong-4” satellite. The DPRK National Aerospace Development Administration on Sunday issued a report on the successful launch of the “Kwangmyongsong-4” earth observation satellite. The report said: Scientists and technicians of the DPRK National Aerospace Development Administration succeeded in putting the newly developed earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong-4 into its orbit according to the 2016 plan of the 5-year program for national aerospace development.

On February 07, 2016 at 00:21 UTC the “Soyuz-2.1b” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket equipped with the “Fregat” booster (upper stage) orbited the “Glonass-M” navigation satellite. The Russian GLONASS Global Navigation Satellite System – operated by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces – is currently the only global alternative to the American GPS fleet in operation that has global coverage of comparable precision.

On February 5, 2016 at 13:38 UTC the "Atlas-5” rocket-carrier was launched from Cape Canaveral launch site of US Air Force. The launch was performed by United Launch Alliance supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited the GPS IIF-12 navigation satellite.

American astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon, died on February 4, 2016, one day before the 45th anniversary of his landing on the Moon with crewmate Alan Shepard. He was 85.

On February 3, 2016 at 12:56 UTC two Russian cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov began their spacewalk. The cosmonauts collected residue samples from the Pirs hatch and a window on the Zvezda command module before removing an experiment package known as EXPOSE-R, which exposed various biological and biochemical materials to the space environment. Malenchenko and Volkov then moved up to the “Poisk” module where they swapped out another set of space exposure samples and reoriented a thruster plume impingement monitor. They also attached another space exposure experiment before moving to the “Zarya” module and installing two handrails. The final task of the spacewalk was testing an applicator similar in appearance to a packing tape dispenser. Using a test panel, the cosmonauts applied specially coated tape intended to test thin films that could prove useful reconditioning exterior pa ... Read more »

On February 1, 2016 at 07:29 UTC the Chang Zheng-3C (Long March-3C) rocket-carrier was launched from Xichang Cosmodrome, Sichuan province, southwestern China. The rocket equipped with the YZ-1 booster orbited the “Beidou-3” navigation satellite.