On December 22, 2020 at 04:37 UTC the Chang Zheng-8 (Long March-8) rocket-carrier was launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (WSLC), located in Wenchang on Hainan Island off China’s southern coastline. This new Chinese rocket-carrier successfully placed five payloads into orbit on its first mission, debuting an expendable booster intended to eventually be outfitted for recovery and reuse. The “Long March-8” rocket is designed to carry a payload of about 4.5 tons to a 700-kilometer-high polar sun-synchronous orbit.

On December 19, 2020 at 14:00 UTC, the "Falcon-9” rocket-carrier was launched from SLC-39A of the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited a secret cargo for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. The exact purpose of the NRO payload for this mission, codenamed NROL-108, was kept secret by the government spy satellite agency.

On December 18, 2020 at 12:26 UTC the "Soyuz-2.1b” rocket-carrier was launched from Russian Vostochny Cosmodrome, in the Amur Oblast, in the Russian Far East. The rocket equipped with the “Fregat” upper stage orbited 36 satellites for OneWeb’s broadband internet network. London-based OneWeb said ground teams established contact with the 36 spacecraft, verifying the satellites were alive after launch. OneWeb’s broadband relay network is designed to beam high-speed internet signals around the world.

On December 17, 2020 at 10:11 UTC, the PSLV-XL C-50 rocket-carrier was launched from Satish Dhawan (Sriharikota) spaceport, 80 km from Chennai, India. The rocket (PSLV - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) orbited CMS-01 (GSAT-12R) telecommunications satellite.

On December 16, 2020 at 17:59 UTC (on December 17 at 01:59 Beijing time) the Chinese “Chang’e-5” mission’s sample return capsule containing moon rocks landed in China’s Inner Mongolia region.

On December 15, 2020 at 10:09 UTC, the “Electron KS-17” rocket-carrier was launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, the commercial spaceport located on the Mahia Peninsula on the eastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. The rocket orbited the Japanese “StriX-α” radar observation satellite.

On December 14, 2020 at 05:50 UTC the “Angara-A5” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. Russian officials confirmed the “Angara-A5” rocket and its “Breeze-M” upper stage performed as intended during the test flight, which carried a mass simulator into orbit on a marathon nine-hour mission mimicking a mission profile that might be required by future Russian military and commercial payloads. The “Angara-A5” is the most powerful new Russian launcher since the 1980s, and is designed to replace the “Proton-M” rocket to carry the country’s heaviest payloads into orbit.

On December 13, 2020 at 17:30 UTC the " Falcon-9” rocket-carrier was launched Cape Canaveral launch site of US Air Force. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited the “SiriusXM-7” broadcasting satellite. SiriusXM’s SXM-7 space vehicle, built by Maxar in Palo Alto, California, is the first of two new-generation digital broadcasting satellites set to join the company’s fleet in the coming months.

On December 11, 2020 the "Delta-4 Heavy” rocket-carrier was launched from SLC-37B of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The launch was performed by United Launch Alliance supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited a U.S. government spy satellite (a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office). The NRO published no details about the payload on the Delta 4-Heavy mission, which officials designated NROL-44.