.launch
Is .launch a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .launch in its own right, as of 8 October 2026. Identity Digital named .launch as a backup string for its .time application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Identity Digital named .launch as a backup string for its .stock application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Identity Digital named .launch as a backup string for its .park application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Squarespace named .launch as a backup string for its .brand application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Identity Digital named .launch as a backup string for its .log application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
A natural fit for startup and product-launch pages, but "launch" names a moment, not a lasting identity, so demand stays campaign-driven.
startup founders, product marketers and growth teams building launch or pre-order pages, plus space and rocketry ventures wanting a thematic address
No applications recorded for this TLD yet.
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .log application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .brand application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .park application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .stock application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .time application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet as .launch: a marketing-moment word with no permanent registrant class, sold to brand marketers for short-lived campaign microsites rather than to anyone whose standing identity is the word itself.
Also an action/CTA string whose entire value is the verb phrase a visitor reads left-to-right (brand.new, brand.launch) rather than membership in a category, so it needs a registry to manufacture a usage convention instead of serving an existing population.
The same urgency-adverb bet — a non-noun bought for the moment it signals (announce it, do it, it's live) with no industry, profession, or community that could claim it as its own name.
What a .launch domain is
.launch is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under AI & tech. Nobody has applied for .launch in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .launch domain extension real yet?
.launch is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .launch domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .launch name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .launch was .promo, delegated on 31 December 2015.
Is .launch a real TLD?
Not yet. .launch is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .launch as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
“FCL2632T-T60164 · Fore Course, LLC · replacement string of .log · Deactivated FCL2632T-T76002 · Fore Course, LLC · replacement string of .park · Deactivated FCL2632T-T83921 · Fore Course, LLC · replacement string of .stock · Deactivated FCL2632T-T99759 · Fore Course, LLC · replacement string of .time · Deactivated SRL2616T-T86558 · Squarespace Registry LLC · replacement string of .brand · Deactivated”ICANN
“SRL2616T-T20315 · Squarespace Registry LLC · replacement string of .learn”ICANN
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. .launch is a clear English action word with an obvious use case: a startup's pre-launch waitlist, a product-launch microsite, a space or rocketry venture. By analogy (flagged as analogy) with other verb-and-moment TLDs such as .live, .today and .now, strings like this attract steady registrations from marketers and founders but mostly as secondary or campaign addresses that point back to a .com, and aftermarket resale stays thin outside a handful of generic left-of-dot words. It is not in the 50-69 band because a launch is by definition transient: once a product ships, the brand's primary identity lives elsewhere, so genuine sustained primary-identity use is rare and adoption needs explaining to customers and investors. It is not in the 10-29 band because the demand is recurring and commercial rather than joke or event-only; startups and product teams keep launching things, and the space industry supplies a durable thematic niche. Applicant facts on the record are neutral: both recorded applications (Identity Digital, replacement string of .log; Squarespace, replacement string of .brand) are deactivated and the contention count on the record is 0, which is consistent with a string registries saw as optional rather than essential, but under the assumed-delegated rule this bears on adoption only through operator marketing, which is unknown. Main market uncertainty: whether launch-page tooling (website builders, waitlist and pre-order platforms) adopts .launch as a default suggested address, which would convert campaign demand into volume, versus founders continuing to use subpaths on their main domain.