1976 in spaceflight
 | This timeline of spaceflight may require cleanup to ensure consistency with other timeline of spaceflight articles. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Spaceflight/Timeline of spaceflight working group for guidelines on how to improve the article. Details Concerns have been raised that:
|  |
 | |
| Orbital launches | |
|---|---|
| First | 6 January |
| Last | 28 December |
| Total | 131 |
| Catalogued | 128 |
| National firsts | |
| Satellite |  Indonesia |
| Rockets | |
| Maiden flights | Thor DSV-2U |
| Retirements | Voskhod Scout B-1 Soyuz Soyuz-M Thor-Burner Luna sample return ascent stage |
| Crewed flights | |
| Orbital | 3 |
| Total travellers | 6 |
The following is an outline of 1976 in spaceflight.
Launches
[edit]| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
January[edit] | |||||||
| 6 January 04:52 |
 Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1 | |||||
| Kosmos 787 (Tselina-O 27)
|
Low Earth | SIGINT | 12 December 1980 | Successful | |||
| 7 January 15:34 |
Voskhod
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3 | |||||
| Kosmos 788 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 54)
|
GRU USSR | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 20 January | Successful | ||
| 15 January 05:34:00 |
 Titan IIIE/Star-37
|
Cape Canaveral SLC-41
|
NASA
| ||||
 Helios-B
|
NASA / DFVLR | Heliocentric | Solar probe | In orbit | Successful | ||
| Achieved a closest approach to the Sun of 43.432 million km (0.29 AU) on 17 April 1976, the closest approach achieved by an artificial satellite; it was succeeded by the Parker Solar Probe in 2018. | |||||||
| 17 January 23:27 |
Delta 2914
|
D-119 | Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
|
||||
 CTS Hermes
|
NASA / CSA | Geosynchronous | Experimental communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 20 January 17:07 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 789 (Parus 5)
|
Low Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 22 January 11:38 |
Molniya-M/Blok ML
|
Baikonur Site 1/5
|
|||||
| Molniya-1K 32
|
Molniya orbit | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 22 January 22:26 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1 | |||||
| Kosmos 790 (Tselina-O 30)
|
Low Earth | SIGINT | 12 November 1980 | Successful | |||
| 28 January 10:39 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1 | |||||
| Kosmos 791 (Strela-1M 105)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 792 (Strela-1M 106)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 793 (Strela-1M 107)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 794 (Strela-1M 108)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 795 (Strela-1M 109)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 796 (Strela-1M 110)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 797 (Strela-1M 111)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 798 (Strela-1M 112)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 29 January 08:30 |
Voskhod
|
Baikonur Site 31/6 | |||||
| Kosmos 799 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 64)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 10 February | Successful | ||
| 29 January 23:56 |
Atlas-SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
|
AC-37 | Cape Canaveral SLC-36B
|
||||
 Intelsat IVA F-2
|
Intelsat | Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
February[edit] | |||||||
| 3 February 08:16 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 800 (Zaliv 20)
|
Low Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 4 February 06:00 |
 M-3C
|
Kagoshima Space Center LP-M | ISAS | ||||
| Corsa A | ISAS | Low Earth | X-ray astronomy | 4 February | Failure | ||
| 5 February 14:30 |
Kosmos-2
|
Plesetsk Site 133/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 801 (DS-P1-I 17)
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 5 January 1978 | Successful | |||
| 11 February 08:50 |
Voskhod
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 802 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 55)
|
GRU | Low Eath | Reconnaissance | 25 February | Succsessful | ||
| 12 February 13:00 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
|||||
| Kosmos 803 (DS-P1-M 8)
|
Low Earth | ASAT target | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Target for Kosmos 804 and 814 | |||||||
| 16 February 08:29 |
Tsyklon-2
|
Baikonur Site 90/20
|
|||||
| Kosmos 804 (IS-A 1)
|
Low Earth | ASAT test | 16 February | Successful | |||
| 19 February 07:52 |
Thor-LV2F Burner-2A
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-10W
|
US Air Force
| ||||
| DMSP-5C F3 (OPS 5140)
|
USAF | Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) | Weather | 19 February | Failure | ||
| Thor stage not loaded with enough fuel due to typo in engine data sheet. The satellite was placed in much lower orbit and re-entered after one orbit | |||||||
| 19 February 22:32 |
Delta 2914
|
D-120 | Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
|
||||
| Marisat-1
|
Marisat | Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 20 February 14:01 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 805 (Yantar-2K/Feniks 4)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 11 March | Successful | ||
| 29 February 03:30:00 |
N-I
|
Tanegashima LA-N
|
ISAS
| ||||
| Ionospheric Sounding Satellite (ISS) Ume
|
ISAS | Low Earth | Ionospheric research | In orbit | Successful | ||
| First launch completed on February 29 | |||||||
March[edit] | |||||||
| 10 March 08:00 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 806 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 56)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 23 March | Successful | ||
| 11 March 19:45 |
Molniya-M/Blok ML
|
Plesetsk Site 41/1
|
|||||
| Molniya-1K 33
|
Molniya | Communications | 10 October 1990 | Successful | |||
| 12 March 13:30 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 807 (Taifun-1 4)
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 15 March 01:25:40[2] |
Titan III(23)C
|
Cape Canaveral SLC-40
|
NASA
| ||||
| LES-8
|
MIT Lincoln Laboratory | Geostationary | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Successful | ||
| LES-9
|
MIT Lincoln Laboratory | Geostationary | Technology demonstration | In orbit | Successful | ||
| SOLRAD 11A
|
NRL | High Earth orbit | Heliophysics | In orbit | Successful | ||
| SOLRAD 11B
|
NRL | High Earth orbit | Heliophysics | In orbit | Successful | ||
| LES-8 was decommissioned in 2004; LES-9, the last Lincoln Experimental Satellite, continued functioning for 44 years and was finally decommissioned in 2020.[1] | |||||||
| 16 March 17:22 |
Vostok-2M
|
Plesetsk Site 41/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 808 (Tselina-D 9)
|
Low Earth | SIGINT | 20 November 1993 | Successful | |||
| 18 March 09:15 |
Kosmos 809 | Baikonur Site 31/6 | |||||
| Kosmos 809 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 65) | GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 30 March | Successful | ||
| 19 March 19:31 |
Molniya-M/Blok ML
|
Baikonur Site 1/5
|
|||||
| Molniya-1K 34
|
Molniya | Communications | 14 May 1985 | Successful | |||
| 22 March 18:14 |
Titan III(24)B
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-4W
|
US Air Force
| ||||
| KH-8 46 (Gambit-3 46, OPS 7600)
|
NRO | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 18 May | Successful | ||
| 26 March 15:00 |
Voskhod
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 810 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 57)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 8 April | Successful | ||
| 26 March 22:47 |
Delta 3914
|
D-121 | Cape Canaveral SLC-17A
|
||||
| Satcom 2
|
RCA Americom | Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 31 March 12:50 |
Soyuz-M
|
Plesetsk Site 41/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 811 (Zenit-4MT/Orion 10)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 12 April | Successful | ||
April[edit] | |||||||
| 6 April 04:14 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 812 (Tselina-O 31)
|
Low Earth | SIGINT | 30 October 1980 | Successful | |||
| 7 April 13:05 |
Vostok-2M
|
Plesetsk Site 41/1
|
|||||
| Meteor-1 24
|
Low Earth | Weather | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 9 April 08:30 |
Voskhod
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 813 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 66)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 21 April | Successful | ||
| 13 April 17:15 |
Tsyklon-2
|
Baikonur Site 90/20
|
|||||
| Kosmos 814 (IS-A 2)
|
Low Earth | ASAT test | 13 March | Successful | |||
| 22 April 20:46 |
Delta 2914
|
D-122 | Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
|
US Air Force
| |||
 NATO 3A
|
NATO | Geostationary | Military communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 28 April 09:30 |
Voskhod
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 815 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 58)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 11 May | Successful | ||
| 28 April 13:30 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1 | |||||
| Kosmos 816 (Taifun-2 1)
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 24 November 1979 | Successful | |||
| 24 Romb subsatellites
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 1977 | ||||
| 30 April 19:12 |
Atlas F MSD
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-3W
|
|||||
| MSD 1
|
US Navy | Low Earth | Satellite deployment | In orbit | Successful | ||
| NOSS 1A
|
US Navy | Low Earth | Ocean surveillance, ELINT | In orbit | Successful | ||
| NOSS 1B
|
US Navy | Low Earth | Ocean surveillance, ELINT | In orbit | Successful | ||
| NOSS 1C
|
US Navy | Low Earth | Ocean surveillance, ELINT | In orbit | Successful | ||
May[edit] | |||||||
| 4 May 08:00 |
Delta 2913 / Star-24
|
D-123 | Vandenberg AFB SLC-2W
|
||||
| LAGEOS-1
|
NASA | Medium Earth orbit | Geodesy | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 5 May 07:50 |
Voskhod
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 817 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 59)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 18 May | Successful | ||
| 12 May 17:57 |
Molniya-M/Blok ML
|
Plesetsk Site 41/1
|
|||||
| Molniya-3 16L
|
Molniya | Communications | 4 February 1990 | Successful | |||
| 13 May 22:28 |
Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
|
AC-38 | Cape Canaveral SLC-36A
|
||||
| Comstar 1A (D1)
|
COMSAT | Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 15 May 13:30 |
Vostok-2M
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Meteor-Priroda 2-1 (Meteor-1 25)
|
Low Earth | Weather, Earth observation | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 18 May 10:59 |
Kosmos-2
|
Plesetsk Site 133/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 818 (DS-P1-Yu 78)
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 7 March 1977 | Successful | |||
| 20 May 09:00 |
Voskhod
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 819 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 67)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 1 June | Successful | ||
| 21 May 07:00 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 820 (Zenit-4MKT/Fram 2)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 2 June | Successful | ||
| 22 May 07:42 |
Scout B-1
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-5
|
US Air Force
| ||||
| Wideband (P76-5)
|
STP | Low Earth | Ionosphere research | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 26 May 09:00 |
Voskhod
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 821 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 60)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 8 June | Successful | ||
| 28 May 15:00 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 822 (Taifun-1/Vektor 5)
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 8 August 1978 | Successful | |||
June[edit] | |||||||
| 2 June 20:56 |
Titan III(34)B
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-4W
|
|||||
| Quasar 1 (SDS 1, OPS 7837)
|
NRO | Highly elliptical | Data relay | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 2 June 22:30 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
|||||
| Kosmos 823 (Zaliv 21)
|
Low Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 8 June 07:00 |
Voskhod
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 824 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 61)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 21 June | Successful | ||
| 10 June 00:09 |
Delta 2914
|
D-124 | Cape Canaveral SLC-17A
|
||||
| Marisat 2
|
Marisat | Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
||||||
| Kosmos 825 (Strela-1M 113)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 826 (Strela-1M 114)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 827 (Strela-1M 115)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 828 (Strela-1M 116)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 829 (Strela-1M 117)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 830 (Strela-1M 118)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 831 (Strela-1M 119)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 832 (Strela-1M 120)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 16 June 13:09 |
Voskhod
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 833 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 62)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 29 June | Successful | ||
| 19 June 16:00 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Interkosmos 15 (AUOS-Z-T-IK 1)
|
Interkosmos | Low Earth | Test spacecraft | 18 November 1979 | Successful | ||
| Cooperative project of Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Poland and the USSR | |||||||
| 22 June 18:04:00 |
Proton-K
|
Baikonur Site 81/23
|
| ||||
| Salyut 5 (Almaz OPS-3)
|
Low Earth | Space station | 8 August 1977 | Successful | |||
| Visited by three crews, one of which failed to dock | |||||||
| 24 June 07:10 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 834 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 68)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 6 July | Successful | ||
| 26 June 03:00 |
Titan III(23)C
|
Cape Canaveral SLC-40
|
|||||
| DSP 6 (OPS 2112)
|
USAF | Geostationary | Missile early warning | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 29 June 07:20 |
Voskhod
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 835 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 63)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 12 July | Successful | ||
| Final flight of the Voskhod | |||||||
| 29 June 08:12 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
|||||
| Kosmos 836 (Strela-2M 12)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
July[edit] | |||||||
| 1 July 08:05 |
Molniya-M/Blok ML
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 837 (Molniya-2)
|
Molniya (planned) Low Earth (achieved) |
Communications | 18 November 1983 | Partial failure | |||
| Malfunction of Blok ML upper stage, the satellite placed in the much lower orbit | |||||||
| 2 July 10:30 |
Tsyklon-2
|
Baikonur Site 90/19
|
|||||
| Kosmos 838 (US-P 3)
|
Low Earth | Ocean surveillance, ELINT | 23 August 1977 | Successful | |||
| 6 July 12:08:45 |
Soyuz
|
Baikonur Site 1/5
|
| ||||
| Soyuz 21
|
Low Earth (Salyut 5) | Salyut expedition | 24 August 18:32:17 |
Partial mission failure | |||
| Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, final flight of Soyuz 11A511, returned early due to crew illness | |||||||
| 8 July 18:30 |
Titan IIID
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-4E
|
|||||
| KH-9 12 (Hexagon, OPS 4699)
|
NRO | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 13 December | Successful | ||
| Ursala 3 (P-11 4430, OPS 5366)
|
Low Earth | ELINT, SIGINT | In orbit | Successful | |||
| S3 3 (S74-2, OPS 3986)
|
STP | Highly elliptical | Magnetosphere research | 24 April 1986 | Successful | ||
| Ursala was deployed from KH-9 | |||||||
| 8 July 21:08 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 839 (DS-P1-M 9)
|
Low Earth | ASAT target | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Target for Kosmos 843 | |||||||
| 8 July 23:31 |
Delta 2914
|
D-125 | Cape Canaveral SLC-17A
|
||||
| Palapa A1
|
Perumtel | Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| First Indonesian satellite | |||||||
| 14 July 09:00 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 840 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 69)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 26 July | Successful | ||
| 15 July 13:11 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 841 (Strela-2M 13)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 21 July 10:20 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 842 (Sfera 15)
|
Low Earth | Geodesy | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 21 July 15:14 |
Tsyklon-2
|
Baikonur Site 90/19
|
|||||
| Kosmos 843 (IS-A 3)
|
Low Earth | ASAT test | 22 July | Successful | |||
| 22 July 15:40 |
Soyuz-U
|
|
|||||
| Kosmos 844 (Yantar-2K/Feniks 5)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 30 August | Successful | ||
| 22 July 22:04 |
Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
|
AC-40 | Cape Canaveral SLC-36B
|
||||
| Comstar 1B (D2)
|
COMSAT | Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 23 July 15:49 |
Molniya-M/Blok ML
|
Baikonur Site 1/5
|
|||||
| Molniya-1K 35
|
Molniya | Communications | 30 May 1987 | Successful | |||
| 27 July 05:21 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 845 (Tselina-O 32)
|
Low Earth | SIGINT | 15 November 1980 | Successful | |||
| 27 July 12:00 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Kapustin Yar Site 107/2
|
|||||
| Interkosmos 16 (DS-U3-IK 6)
|
Interkosmos | Low Earth | Aeronomy, solar research | 10 July 1979 | Successful | ||
| Cooperative project of Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Sweden and the USSR | |||||||
| 29 July 17:07 |
Delta 2310
|
D-126 | Vendenberg AFB SLC-2W
|
||||
| NOAA-5 (ITOS-H)
|
NOAA | SSO | Weather | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 29 July 20:02 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 846 (Zaliv 22)
|
Low Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Successful | |||
August[edit] | |||||||
| 4 August 13:40 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Sie 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 847 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 64)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 17 August | Successful | ||
| 6 August 22:21 |
Titan III(34)B
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-4W
|
|||||
| Quasar 2 (SDS 2, OPS 7940)
|
NRO | Highly elliptic | Data relay | 18 April 2020 | Successful | ||
| 9 August 12:08:45 |
Proton-K/D
|
Baikonur 81/23
|
|||||
| Luna 24
|
Selenocentric | Lunar lander | 22 August | Successful | |||
| Third uncrewed lunar sample return, Third Soviet lunar sample return | |||||||
| 12 August 13:30 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 848 (Zenit-2M/Gektor #70)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 25 August | Successful | ||
| Nauka-19KS 1L
|
Low Earth | Research | |||||
| 18 August 09:30 |
Kosmos-2
|
Plesetsk Site 133/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 849 (DS-P1-I 18)
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 24 April 1978 | Successful | |||
| 26 August 10:59 |
Kosmos-2
|
Plesetsk Site 133/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 850 (DS-P1-Yu 79)
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 16 May 1977 | Successful | |||
| 27 August 14:34 |
Vostok-2M
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 851 (Tselina-D 10)
|
Low Earth | SIGINT | 5 August 1989 | Successful | |||
| 28 August 09:00 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 852 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 65)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 10 September | Successful | ||
| 30 August 11:45 |
 Feng Bao 1
|
Jiuquan LA-2B (Site 138)
|
|||||
| JSSW-3 (CK 3)
|
Elliptical low Earth orbit | Unknown | 25 November 1978 | Successful | |||
| Apogee much higher than intended. | |||||||
September[edit] | |||||||
| 1 September 03:23 |
Molniya-M/Blok ML
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 853 (Molniya-2)
|
Molniya (intended) Low Earth (achieved) |
Communications | 31 December | Partial failure | |||
| Malfunction of the Blok ML upper stage, the satellite placed to the much lower orbit | |||||||
| 1 September 21:14 |
Scout D-1
|
Veandenberg AFB SLC-5
|
US Air Force
| ||||
| Triad 3 (TIP 3)
|
US Navy | Low Earth | Navigation | 30 May 1981 | Successful | ||
| 3 September 09:20 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 854 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 66)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 16 September | Successful | ||
| 11 September 08:00 |
Thor-LV2F Star-37XE Star-37S-ISS
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-10W
|
US Air Force
| ||||
| DMSP-5D1 F1 (OPS 5721)
|
USAF | SSO | Weather | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 11 September 18:24 |
Proton-K/Blok DM
|
Baikonur Site 81/24
|
|||||
| Raduga 2 (Gran 12L)
|
Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 15 September 09:48:30 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 1/5
|
| ||||
| Soyuz 22
|
Low Earth | Salyut expedition | 23 September 07:40:47 |
Successful | |||
| Crewed flight with two cosmonauts | |||||||
| 15 September 18:50 |
Titan III(24)B
|
Vandenberg AFB SLC-4W
|
US Air Force
| ||||
| KH-8 47 (Gambit-3, OPS 8533)
|
NRO | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 5 November | Successful | ||
| 21 September 11:40 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 855 (Zenit-4MT/Orion 11)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 3 October | Successful | ||
| 22 September 09:30 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 856 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 71) & Nauka
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 5 October | Successful | ||
| Nauka
|
Low Earth | Research | |||||
| 24 September 15:00 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Kosmos 857 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 67)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 7 November | Successful | ||
| 29 September 07:04 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
|||||
| Kosmos 858 (Strela-2M 14)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
October[edit] | |||||||
| 4 October 11:00 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Zenit-4MKT/Fram 3
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 4 October | Failure | ||
| One of liquid rocket boosters prematurely detached from the core stage, the launch vehicle lost stability. Thrust termination command was issued at T+94 s | |||||||
| 10 October 09:35 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 859 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 68)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 21 October | Successful | ||
| 14 October 17:39:18 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 1/5
|
| ||||
| Soyuz 23
|
Low Earth (Intended: Salyut 5) | Salyut expedition | 16 October 17:45:53 |
Spacecraft failure | |||
| Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, failed to dock with Salyut 5 | |||||||
| 14 October 22:44 |
Delta 2914
|
D- | Cape Canaveral SLC-17A
|
||||
| Marisat 3
|
Marisat | Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 15 October 22:59 |
Vostok-2M
|
Plesetsk Site 43/3
|
|||||
| Meteor-1 26
|
Low Earth | Weather | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 17 October 18:06 |
Tsyklon-2
|
Baikonur Site 90/19
|
|||||
| Kosmos 860 (US-A 12)
|
Low Earth | Radar ocean surveillance | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 21 October 16:53 |
Tsyklon-2
|
Baikonur Site 90/19
|
|||||
| Kosmos 861 (US-A 13)
|
Low Earth | Radar ocean surveillance | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 22 October 09:11 |
Molniya-M/Blok 2BL
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 862 (US-K 5)
|
Molniya | Missile early warning | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 25 October 14:30 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 863 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 69)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 5 November | Successful | ||
| 26 October 14:50 |
Proton-K/Blok DM
|
Baikonur Site 81/24
|
|||||
| Ekran 1 (Ekran 11L)
|
Geostationary | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 29 October 12:39 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
|||||
| Kosmos 864 (Parus 6)
|
Low Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Successful | |||
November[edit] | |||||||
| 1 November 11:20 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 865 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 72)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 13 November | Successful | ||
| 10 November 09:05 |
Feng Bao 1
|
Jiuquan LA-2B (Site 138)
|
|||||
| JSSW
|
Low Earth | Unknown | 10 November | Failure | |||
| Engine on the second stage malfunctioned, reducing thrust. | |||||||
| 11 November 10:45 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 866 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 70)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 23 November | Successful | ||
| 23 November 16:27 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 867 (Zenit-6U/Argon 1)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 6 December | Successful | ||
| 25 November 03:59 |
Molniya-M/Blok SO-L
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Prognoz 5
|
Highly elliptical | Magnetoshpere and solar research | 12 July 1979 | Successful | |||
| 26 November 14:30 |
Tsyklon-2
|
Baikonur Site 90/20
|
|||||
| Kosmos 868 (US-P 4)
|
Low Earth | Ocean surveillance, ELINT | 8 July 1978 | Successful | |||
| 29 November 16:04 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 1/5
|
|||||
| Kosmos 869 (Soyuz-T Test 3)
|
Low Earth | Uncrewed test of Soyuz-T spacecraft | 17 December 10:31 |
Successful | |||
December[edit] | |||||||
| 2 December 00:17 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
|||||
| Kosmos 870 (Tselina-O 33)
|
Low Earth | SIGINT | 20 December 1980 | Successful | |||
| 2 December 02:44 |
Molniya-M/Blok ML
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Molniya-2 16
|
Molniya | Communications | 18 January 1991 | Successful | |||
| 7 December 04:38 |
Long March 2A
|
Jiquan LA-2B (Site 138)
|
|||||
| FSW-0 2
|
Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 2 December | Successful | |||
| Re-entry capsule recovered on 9 December | |||||||
| 7 December 10:23 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 871 (Strela-1M 121)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 872 (Strela-1M 122)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 873 (Strela-1M 123)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 874 (Strela-1M 124)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 875 (Strela-1M 125)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 876 (Strela-1M 126)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 877 (Strela-1M 127)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 878 (Strela-1M 128)
|
Low Earth | Communications | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 9 December 10:00 |
Soyuz-U
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Kosmos 879 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 73)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 22 December | Successful | ||
| 9 December 20:00 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
|||||
| Kosmos 880 (DS-P1-M 10)
|
Low Earth | ASAT target | 31 August 1991 | Successful | |||
| Target for Kosmos 886 | |||||||
| 15 December 01:30 |
Proton-K
|
Baikonur Site 81/24
|
|||||
| Kosmos 881 (TKS-VA 1)
|
Low Earth | Uncrewed test of TKS-VA spacecraft | 15 December | Successful | |||
| Kosmos 882 (TKS-VA 2)
|
Low Earth | Uncrewed test of TKS-VA spacecraft | 15 December | Successful | |||
| Test flight of two VA capsules without FGB service modules | |||||||
| 15 December 13:59 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 883 (Tsikada 1)
|
Low Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 17 December 09:30 |
Soyuz-U
|
Baikonur Site 31/6
|
|||||
| Kosmos 884 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 71)
|
GRU | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 29 December | Successful | ||
| 17 December 12:00 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/2
|
|||||
| Kosmos 885 (Taifun-2 2)
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 14 October 1979 | Successful | |||
| 17 Romb subsatellites
|
Low Earth | Radar calibration | 1977-1978 | ||||
| 19 December 18:19 |
Titan IIID
|
Vandenberg SLC-4E
|
US Air Force
| ||||
| KH-11 1 (Kennen, OPS 5705)
|
NRO | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 28 January 1979 | Successful | ||
| 27 December 12:05 |
Tsyklon-2
|
Baikonur Site 90/19
|
|||||
| Kosmos 886 (IS-A 4)
|
Low Earth | ASAT test | In orbit | Successful | |||
| 28 December 06:38 |
Molniya-M/Blok BL
|
Plesetsk Site 43/4
|
|||||
| Molniya-3 17L
|
Molniya | Communications | 19 March 1990 | Successful | |||
| 28 December 07:49 |
Kosmos-3M
|
Plesetsk Site 132/1
|
|||||
| Kosmos 887 (Parus 7)
|
Low Earth | Navigation | In orbit | Successful | |||
Launches from the Moon
[edit]| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload (⚀ = CubeSat) |
Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 19 August 5:25 |
Luna 24 Ascent stage
|
Mare Crisium (Luna) | |||||
| Luna 24 Return capsule
|
|
Highly elliptical | Sample return | 22 August 1976 | Successful | ||
| Third uncrewed lunar sample return mission | |||||||
Deep space rendezvous
[edit]| Date | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 June | Viking 1 | Areocentric orbit insertion | |
| 20 July | Viking 1 Lander | landed in Chryse Planitia | |
| 7 August | Viking 2 | Areocentric orbit insertion | |
| 18 August | Luna 24 | landed in Mare Crisium | sample return mission |
| 19 August | Luna 24 | lift-off from Mare Crisium | 170 grams (6.0 oz) |
| 3 September | Viking 2 Lander | landed in Utopia Planitia |
References
[edit]- Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
- Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
- Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.[dead link]
- Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
- Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- McDowell, Jonathan. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
- Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
- Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
- Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
- Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
- "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
- "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
- "Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.[dead link]
- "Space Information Center". JAXA.[dead link]
- "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Ryan, Dorothy (27 May 2020). "Lincoln Laboratory decommissions Lincoln Experimental Satellite–9". MIT. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2020.