Learn
How to read launch times
A launch time is a plan, not a promise. Here is what each part of it means, and how sure we are of it.
NET: no earlier than
NET stands for no earlier than. A launch will not lift off before its NET, but it can go later, and often does. Every upcoming launch time on this site is a NET.
When the plan is only a month or a year, we say so: NET November 2026 means some time in November, not the first of the month. We never turn a rough date into an exact time, and a rough date never gets a countdown.
T-0 and the launch window
T-0 is the planned moment of liftoff. Many launches also have a launch window: the stretch of time in which liftoff can happen, usually set by the orbit the rocket is aiming for. T-0 sits inside the window, sometimes minutes after it opens.
On 1 October 2026 we compared two major launch websites for the same launch, SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A, then planned for 5 October. One showed 08:06 UTC, the other 08:16 UTC. Neither was wrong. One was showing when the window opened, the other the planned T-0, and neither said which.
So we always label an exact time. If our source knows the planned liftoff, we show T-0. If all it knows is a window that starts at its time, we say the window opens then. The same plan, shown both ways, in Malta time:
- A source that knows the planned liftoff
- T-0Mon 5 Oct, 10:16 CEST08:16 UTC
- A source that knows only the window
- Window opensMon 5 Oct, 10:06 CEST08:06 UTC
Precision
Our source, Launch Library 2, says how precisely it knows each launch time, from the second to the decade. We show that precision beside every time and word the time to match. A countdown appears only when the time is exact: to the second or minute, or to the hour once the launch is Go.
In this table the first three levels are shown in Malta time with UTC beside them. Morning and Afternoon name the day at the launch site, here Cape Canaveral.
| Level | What Launch Library 2 says | How we show it | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second | The T-0 is accurate to the second. | Thu 5 Nov, 15:00:00 CET14:00:00 UTC | Yes |
| Minute | The T-0 is accurate to the minute. | Thu 5 Nov, 15:00 CET14:00 UTC | Yes |
| Hour | The T-0 is accurate to the hour. | Thu 5 Nov, around 15:00 CETaround 14:00 UTC | Only when Go |
| Morning | The T-0 is expected in the morning (local time). | Thu 5 Nov, morning at the launch site | No |
| Afternoon | The T-0 is expected in the afternoon (local time). | Thu 5 Nov, afternoon at the launch site | No |
| Day | The T-0 is expected on the given day. | NET Thu 5 Nov 2026 | No |
| Week | The T-0 is expected in the given week (starting on Monday according to ISO 8601). | NET week of 2 Nov 2026 | No |
| Month | The T-0 is expected in the given month. | NET November 2026 | No |
| Quarter 1 | The T-0 is expected in the first quarter of the given year. | NET Q1 2027 | No |
| Quarter 2 | The T-0 is expected in the second quarter of the given year. | NET Q2 2027 | No |
| Quarter 3 | The T-0 is expected in the third quarter of the given year. | NET Q3 2027 | No |
| Quarter 4 | The T-0 is expected in the fourth quarter of the given year. | NET Q4 2026 | No |
| Year Half 1 | The T-0 is expected in the first half of the given year. | NET first half of 2027 | No |
| Year Half 2 | The T-0 is expected in the second half of the given year. | NET second half of 2026 | No |
| Year | The T-0 is expected in the given year. | NET 2027 | No |
| Fiscal Year | The T-0 is expected in the given fiscal year of the launch country. | NET fiscal year 2027 | No |
| Decade | The T-0 is expected in the given decade. | NET 2030s | No |
If the source ever sends a level we do not know yet, we show it like a month, with no time and no countdown. We say only what Launch Library 2 says about each level, including the fiscal year: it means the fiscal year of the launch country.
Status
Every launch carries a status from Launch Library 2. We show it in plain words with a colour, and quote the source's own definition here. A countdown never runs while a launch is on hold.
| Shown as | What it means |
|---|---|
| Go for launch | Launch Library 2, "Go for Launch": "Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources." |
| To be determined | Launch Library 2, "To Be Determined": "Current date is a placeholder or rough estimation based on unreliable or interpreted sources." |
| Launch successful | The rocket put its payload into the planned orbit. Launch Library 2, "Launch Successful": "The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s)." |
| Launch failure | The rocket did not reach orbit, or the payload did not separate from it. Launch Library 2, "Launch Failure": "Either the launch vehicle did not reach orbit, or the payload(s) failed to separate." |
| On hold | The countdown is paused. The launch can still happen within the window. Launch Library 2, "On Hold": "The countdown has been paused, but the launch can still happen within the launch window." |
| In flight | The rocket has lifted off from the launch pad. Launch Library 2, "Launch in Flight": "The launch vehicle has lifted off from the launchpad." |
| Partial failure | The rocket reached orbit but did not put its payload into the planned orbit, or something else went wrong that stops the mission counting as a success. Launch Library 2, "Launch was a Partial Failure": "Either the launch vehicle reached orbit but did not deliver its payload in the targeted orbit, or an exceptional event made it impossible to consider the mission a success." |
| To be confirmed | Launch Library 2, "To Be Confirmed": "Awaiting official confirmation - current date is known with some certainty." |
| Payload deployed | Deployment of the payload is confirmed: it has separated from the rocket. Launch Library 2, "Payload Deployed": "Deployment of the payload(s) has been confirmed." |
Why sites show different times
When two websites disagree about a launch, it is usually for one of five reasons.
- They read different sources. Some sites use community databases, some keep their own lists, some follow journalists. Launch Library 2 gathers its data from space agencies, launch companies, trusted journalists and its own community.
- One shows the window opening and the other the planned liftoff, without saying which: the ten minutes in the example above.
- They treat precision differently. A placeholder such as the last day of a month can look like a real date when its precision is hidden.
- They update at different rates. Free data plans limit how often a site can check; we check our source every 10 minutes, and every 4 minutes as a launch that is Go comes close.
- They handle time zones differently. A launch on a US evening falls on the next day in UTC and in Europe, so we show your local time with its zone and UTC beside it.
Clock changes catch people out too. On 25 October 2026 clocks in Malta go back an hour, so 02:30 happens twice. These two launches are an hour apart, yet both read 02:30 in Malta; the zone name tells them apart. In New York both fall on the evening before.
| UTC | Malta | New York |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 25 Oct, 00:30 UTC | Sun 25 Oct, 02:30 CEST | Sat 24 Oct, 20:30 EDT |
| Sun 25 Oct, 01:30 UTC | Sun 25 Oct, 02:30 CET | Sat 24 Oct, 21:30 EDT |
Slip history
Launches move. Each time our source changes a launch's NET, we record it, and the launch page lists every change with the time we saw it. In the schedule a badge sums it up, for example Moved 2 times, +3 days.
That figure is how far the source's estimate has moved since we started tracking the launch, not a measured delay. If the source makes a date less certain, say from a day to a month, the badge says the date became less certain. When two estimates cannot be compared, for example a fiscal year, the badge says the delay is unknown rather than guess.
Freshness
Everything live on the site says when its data was last checked, such as Updated 4 min ago. That means the last time we checked successfully, even if nothing had changed.
If launch data is more than 30 minutes old, the stamp turns amber and says May be out of date, with the time of the last update. Before the first update it says No data yet and links to the source.
Cross-checking
Cross-checking is coming, and it is not live yet. No agreement badge appears on the site today.
The plan is to compare our main source's times for the next five launches with a second, independent source, RocketLaunch.Live, whose free feed covers only the next five launches, and to show plainly whether the two agree. When it arrives, its data will carry the credit "Data by RocketLaunch.Live".
Sources
- Launch Library 2: NET precision levels
- Launch Library 2: launch statuses
- Launch Library 2 FAQ (The Space Devs)
- RocketLaunch.Live API
- Our comparison of two launch websites for SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A, observed on 1 October 2026
Where each source fits: How we source.
Written with AI from the sources listed