1996 in spaceflight

This article outlines notable events occurring in 1996 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs.

1996 in spaceflight

The first Long March 3B, carrying Intelsat 708, goes off-course immediately after launch. The rocket later came down over a village, reportedly killing several to hundred on the ground
Orbital launches
First	11 January
Last	24 December
Total	77
Successes	69
Failures	4
Partial failures	4
Catalogued	73
National firsts
Satellite	Malaysia
Rockets
Maiden flights	Ariane 5G J-I Long March 3B
Crewed flights
Orbital	9
Total travellers	49

Launches

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket	Flight number	Launch site		LSP
	Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
	Remarks
January
10 January	DF-21		Taiyuan
			Suborbital	Missile test	10 January	Successful
11 January 09:41	Space Shuttle Endeavour		Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
	STS-72	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite retrieval	20 January 07:41	Successful
	OAST-Flyer	NASA	Low Earth	Technology development
	Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts Retrieved Space Flyer Unit
12 January 23:10	Ariane 4 (44L)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	PAS-3R	PanAmSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Measat-1	Binariang	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Measat-1 is the first Malaysian satellite
14 January 11:10	Delta II 7925		Cape Canaveral LC-17B		Boeing IDS
	Koreasat-2	Korea Telecom	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Koreasat-2 retired on 8 April 2000
16 January 15:33	Kosmos-3M		Plesetsk Site 132/1
	Kosmos 2327 (Parus)	MO RF	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
25 January 09:56	Proton-K/DM-2		Baikonur Site 200/39
	Gorizont 31	MOM	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
27 January	Prithvi II		Balasore		DRDO
		DRDO	Suborbital	Missile test	27 January	Successful
	Maiden flight of Prithvi II missile
February
1 February 01:15	Atlas IIAS		Cape Canaveral LC-36B		International Launch Services
	Palapa C1	Telkom Indonesia	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
5 February 07:19	Ariane 4 (44P)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	N-STAR b	NTT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
11 February 23:00	S-310		Uchinoura LA-K		ISAS
	NTV-1	ISAS	Suborbital	Aeronomy research	11 February	Successful
11 February 23:00	J-I		Tanegashima LA-N		NASDA
	HYFLEX	NASDA	Suborbital	Test flight	11 February	Successful
	Only flight of J-I
14 February 19:01	Long March 3B		Taiyuan LC-2		CASC
	Intelsat 708	Intelsat	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communications	+22 seconds	Launch Failure
	Maiden flight of Long March 3B Loss of control at T+2 seconds, exploded 20 seconds later; Six to hundred fatalities on the ground
17 February 20:43	Delta II 7925-8		Cape Canaveral LC-17B		Boeing IDS
	NEAR	NASA	Erosian via Heliocentric	Asteroid probe	12 February 2001 20:01	Successful
	Flyby of 253 Mathilde, entered orbit around and landed on 433 Eros; First probe to orbit and land on an asteroid Final contact received on 28 February 2001, and unsuccessfully attempted on 10 December 2002
19 February 00:58	Tsyklon-3		Plesetsk Site 32
	Gonets-D1	Roskosmos	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Gonets-D1	Roskosmos	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Gonets-D1	Roskosmos	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2328 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2329 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2330 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
19 February 08:19	Proton-K/DM-2		Baikonur Site 200/39
	Raduga 44L	MOM	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: Geosynchronous transfer	Communications	In orbit	Launch Failure
	Upper stage failed to ignite for second burn due to blocked valve
21 February 12:34	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TM-23	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Mir EO-21	2 September 07:41	Successful
	Crewed orbital flight with two cosmonauts
22 February 20:18	Space Shuttle Columbia		Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
	STS-75	NASA	Low Earth	USMP-3	9 March 13:58	Successful
	TSS-1R	NASA	Low Earth	Tether satellite	19 March	Failure
	EDO Pallet	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Cryogenic mission extension pallet	9 March 13:58	Successful
	Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts TSS-1R tether snapped during deployment; Intended to be returned to Earth by Columbia, but could not be recovered
23 February 19:17	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Technology development	23 February	Successful
23 February 19:44	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	23 February	Successful
24 February 11:24	Delta II 7925-10		Vandenberg SLC-2W		Boeing IDS
	Polar	NASA	High Earth (elliptical)	Auroral research	In orbit	Successful
	Mission concluded in April 2008
March
2 March 10:00	Skylark 7		Esrange Area S		DLR
	TEXUS 34	DASA	Suborbital	Microgravity research	2 March	Successful
6 March 03:35	Black Brant IX		White Sands		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Astronomy	6 March	Successful
6 March 20:01	LGM-30G Minuteman III		Vandenberg LF-09		US Air Force
	FOT GT161GM	US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	6 March	Successful
9 March 01:53	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
	REX 2	US Air Force	Low Earth	Ionosphere research	In orbit	Operational
14 March 07:11	Ariane 4 (44LP)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	Intelsat 707	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
14 March 17:40	Soyuz-U		Plesetsk Site 43/4
	Kosmos 2331 (Yantar-4K1)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	11 June	Successful
21 March 04:53	PSLV		Sriharikota FLP		ISRO
	IRS-P3	ISRO	Sun-synchronous	Remote sensing	In orbit	Successful
22 March	Hera		White Sands LC-94		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM target	22 March	Successful
22 March	THAAD		White Sands		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM Test	22 March	Successful
22 March 08:13	Space Shuttle Atlantis		Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
	STS-76	NASA	Low Earth (Mir)	Shuttle-Mir flight	31 March 13:28	Successful
	SpaceHab LSM	NASA/SpaceHab	Low Earth (Atlantis)	Logistics
	Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts
28 March 00:21	Delta II 7925-9.5		Cape Canaveral LC-17B		Boeing IDS
	USA-117 (GPS IIA-16)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
April
3 April 15:59	Black Brant 9CM1		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Aeronomy and microgravity research	3 April	Successful
3 April 23:01	Atlas IIA		Cape Canaveral LC-36A		International Launch Services
	Inmarsat 3F1	Inmarsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
8 April 23:09	Proton-K/DM-2M		Baikonur Site 81/23		International Launch Services
	Astra 1F	SES Astra	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
17 April 07:00	RT-2PM Topol		Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	17 April	Successful
20 April 22:36	Ariane 4 (42P)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	MSAT-1	TMI	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 April	UGM-133 Trident II		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	21 April	Successful
21 April	UGM-133 Trident II		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	21 April	Successful
21 April 11:48	Proton-K		Baikonur Site 81/23		Roskosmos
	Priroda	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Mir module	23 March 2001 05:50	Successful
24 April 12:27	Delta II 7920-10		Vandenberg SLC-2W		Boeing IDS
	MSX	BMDO	Sun-synchronous	Infrared astronomy	In orbit	Successful
	Member of the Space Surveillance Network
24 April 13:00	Kosmos-3M		Plesetsk Site 132/1
	Kosmos 2332 (Taifun)	MO RF	Low Earth	Radar calibration	28 January 2005	Successful
24 April 23:37	Titan IVA (401)/Centaur		Cape Canaveral LC-41		Lockheed Martin
	USA-118 (Mercury-2)	NRO	Geosynchronous	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
30 April 04:31	Atlas I		Cape Canaveral LC-36B		International Launch Services
	BeppoSAX	ASI	Low Earth	X-ray astronomy	30 April 2003	Successful
May
3 May 04:16	Skylark 7		Esrange Area S		DLR
	MASER 7	SSC	Suborbital	Microgravity research	3 May	Successful
5 May 07:04	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-31	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Logistics	1 August 20:33	Successful
8 May 08:01	LGM-118 Peacekeeper		Vandenberg LF-05		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	8 May	Successful
12 May 21:32	Titan IVA (403)		Vandenberg SLC-4E		Lockheed Martin
	USA-119 (NOSS 2–3)	NRO	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
	USA-120 (NOSS 2–3)	NRO	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
	USA-121 (NOSS 2–3)	NRO	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
	USA-122 (NOSS 2–3)	NRO	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
	USA-123 (TiPS)	NRL	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	USA-124 (TiPS)	NRL	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
14 May 08:55	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 31/6
	Yantar-1KFT	VKS	Intended: Low Earth	Reconnaissance	+ 49 seconds	Launch Failure
	Payload fairing disintegrated
16 May	UGM-96 Trident I		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	16 May	Successful
16 May	UGM-96 Trident I		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	16 May	Successful
16 May	UGM-96 Trident I		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	16 May	Successful
16 May	UGM-96 Trident I		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	16 May	Successful
16 May 01:56	Ariane 4 (44L)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	Palapa C2	Telkom Indonesia	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	AMOS 1	Spacecom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
17 May 02:44	Pegasus-H		Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
	MSTI-3	BMDO	Low Earth	Technology development	11 December 1997	Successful
19 May 10:30	Space Shuttle Endeavour		Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
	STS-77	NASA	Low Earth	Microgravity research	29 May 11:10	Successful
	SpaceHab LSM	NASA/SpaceHab	Low Earth (Endeavour)	Scientific experiments
	SPARTAN-207	NASA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration
	IAE	NASA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	22 May	Successful
	PAMS	NASA	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	26 October	Successful
	Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts SPARTAN used to deploy the IAE satellite on 20 May; PAMS deployed on 22 May
24 May 01:09	Delta II 7925		Cape Canaveral LC-17B		Boeing IDS
	Galaxy 9	PanAmSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
25 May 02:05	Proton-K/DM-2		Baikonur Site 200/39
	Gorizont 32	MOM	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
30 May 08:01	LGM-118 Peacekeeper		Vandenberg LF-02		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	30 May	Successful
June
4 June 05:06	Black Brant VIIIC		White Sands		NASA
	XQC	NASA	Suborbital	X-ray astronomy	4 June	Successful
4 June 12:34	Ariane 5G		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Cluster F1	ESA	Intended: High Earth (elliptical)	Magnetosphere research	+37 seconds	Launch Failure
	Cluster F2	ESA	Intended: High Earth (elliptical)	Magnetosphere research
	Cluster F3	ESA	Intended: High Earth (elliptical)	Magnetosphere research
	Cluster F4	ESA	Intended: High Earth (elliptical)	Magnetosphere research
	Maiden flight of Ariane 5G; Ariane 5 Flight 501 Programming error led to rocket going off course
6 June	UR-100N		Baikonur		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	6 June	Successful
6 June	RT-2PM Topol		Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	6 June	Successful
15 June 06:55	Ariane 4 (44P)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	Intelsat 709	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
17 June 05:50	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Radio astronomy	17 June	Successful
20 June 14:40	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Test rocket	20 June	Successful
20 June 14:49	Space Shuttle Columbia		Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
	STS-78	NASA	Low Earth	Microgravity research	7 July 12:36	Successful
	Spacelab Long Module 2	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Spacelab LMS-1
	EDO Pallet	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Cryogenic mission extension pallet
	Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts
20 June 18:45	Soyuz-U		Plesetsk Site 16/2
	Yantar-4K1	VKS	Intended: Low Earth	Reconnaissance	+50 seconds	Launch Failure
	Payload fairing disintegrated
26 June 12:17	LGM-30G Minuteman III		Vandenberg LF-10		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	26 June	Successful
26 June 14:59	LGM-30G Minuteman III		Vandenberg LF-04		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	26 June	Successful
26 June 19:00	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Solar observation	26 June	Successful
28 June	R-29 Vysota		Submarine, Sea of Okhotsk		Russian Navy
		Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
28 June	R-29 Vysota		Submarine, Sea of Okhotsk		Russian Navy
		Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
28 June	R-29 Vysota		Submarine, Sea of Okhotsk		Russian Navy
		Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	28 June	Successful
July
2 July 07:48	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
	TOMS-EP	NASA	Low Earth	Ozone mapping	In orbit	Operational
3 July 00:31	Titan IVA (405)		Cape Canaveral LC-40		Lockheed Martin
	USA-125 (SDS 2–4)	US Air Force	High Earth (elliptical)	Communications	In orbit	Operational
3 July 10:47	Long March 3		Xichang LC-1
	Apstar 1A	APT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 July	Aries		Wallops Island		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Tracking demonstration	9 July	Successful
9 July 22:24	Ariane 4 (44L)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	Arabsat 2A	Arabsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Turksat 1C	Türksat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
14 July 07:15	Black Brant 9CM1		White Sands LC-36		NASA
	NUVIEWS 1	NASA	Suborbital	Ultraviolet astronomy	14 July	Successful
15 July	R-29 Vysota		Submarine, Barents Sea		Russian Navy
		Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	15 July	Successful
15 July	R-29 Vysota		Submarine, Barents Sea		Russian Navy
		Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	15 July	Successful
15 July 11:28	Hera		White Sands LC-94		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM Target	15 July	Successful
15 July 11:31	THAAD		White Sands		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM test	15 July	Successful
15 July 18:21	Castor 4B		Wake Island		Orbital Sciences
		Orbital Sciences	Suborbital	Re-entry test	15 July	Successful
16 July 00:50	Delta II 7925-9.5		Cape Canaveral LC-17A		Boeing IDS
	USA-126 (GPS IIA-17)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
19 July	UGM-133 Trident II		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	19 July	Successful
19 July	UGM-133 Trident II		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	19 July	Successful
25 July	RT-2PM Topol		Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	25 July	Successful
25 July 12:42	Atlas II		Cape Canaveral LC-36A
	USA-127 (UHF F/O F7)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
26 July 09:40	Black Brant 9CM1		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Aeronomy	26 July	Successful
31 July 20:00	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-32	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Logistics	20 November 22:42	Successful
August
8 August 22:49	Ariane 4 (44L)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	Italsat F2	ASI	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Telecom 2D	France Télécom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 August 18:58	Nike Orion		White Sands		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Aeronomy	12 August	Successful
14 August 22:20	Molniya-M		Plesetsk Site 43/3
	Molniya 1-89	MOM	Molniya	Communications	7 April 2012	Successful
17 August 01:58	H-II		Tanegashima LA-Y1		NASDA
	ADEOS (Midori)	NASDA	Low Earth	Atmospheric research	In orbit	Operational
	JAS-2 (Fuji-2)	JARL	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
17 August 13:18	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TM-24	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Mir EO-22	2 March 1997 06:44	Successful
	Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts
18 August 10:27	Long March 3		Xichang LC-1
	Chinasat 7	Chinasat	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: High Earth (elliptical)	Communications	In orbit	Launch Failure
	Third stage failure left satellite in useless orbit
20 August 15:30	S-310		Uchinoura Area K		ISAS
	SEEK	ISAS	Suborbital	Plasma research	20 August	Successful
20 August 16:00	Black Brant 9CM1		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Solar research	20 August	Successful
21 August 09:47	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
	FAST	NASA	Low Earth	Magnetosphere research	In orbit	Operational
26 August 14:00	S-310		Uchinoura Area K		ISAS
	SEEK	ISAS	Suborbital	Plasma research	26 August	Successful
29 August	Black Brant VC		Wallops Island		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Test rocket	29 August	Successful
29 August 05:22	Molniya-M		Plesetsk Site 43/3
	MUSAT	CONAE	Molniya	Magnetosphere research	12 November 1999	Successful
	Interbol 2	Roskosmos	Molniya	Auroral research	In orbit	Operational
	Magion 5		Molniya	Auroral research	In orbit	Successful
31 August 15:41	STARS		Barking Sands		US Air Force
	ODES/MSX MDT-2	US Air Force	Suborbital	Target	31 August	Successful
September
4 September 09:01	Zenit-2		Baikonur Site 45/1
	Kosmos 2333 (Tselina-2)	MO RF	Low Earth	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
5 September 12:47	Kosmos-3M		Plesetsk Site 132/1
	Kosmos 2334 (Parus)	MO RF	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
	Oscar 30	UNAMSAT	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
6 September 17:37	Proton-K/DM-2		Baikonur Site 81/23		International Launch Services
	Inmarsat 3F2	Inmarsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
8 September 21:49	Atlas IIA		Cape Canaveral LC-36B		International Launch Services
	GE 1	GE Americom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
11 September 00:00	Ariane 4 (42P)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	Echostar II	EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Retired after malfunction on 14 July 2008[1]
11 September 08:01	LGM-118 Peacekeeper		Vandenberg LF-05		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	11 September	Successful
12 September 08:49	Delta II 7925-9.5		Cape Canaveral LC-17A		Boeing IDS
	USA-128 (GPS IIA-18)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
16 September 08:54	Space Shuttle Atlantis		Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
	STS-79	NASA	Low Earth	Shuttle-Mir flight	26 September 12:13	Successful
	SpaceHab LDM	NASA/SpaceHab	Low Earth (Atlantis)	Logistics
	Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts
24 September 22:00	TR-1		Tanegashima LA-T		NASDA
		NASDA	Suborbital	Microgravity research	24 September	Successful
26 September 17:50	Proton-K/DM-2M		Baikonur Site 200/39
	Ekspress-6	RSCSC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
27 September 16:51	LGM-30F Minuteman II		Vandenberg LF-03		US Air force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Target	27 September	Successful
October
2 October	UGM-96 Trident I		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	2 October	Successful
3 October	RT-2PM Topol		Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	3 October	Successful
3 October	R-29 Vysota		Submarine, Barents Sea		Russian Navy
		Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	3 October	Successful
9 October	Hera		White Sands LC-94		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM target	9 October	Successful
9 October	THAAD		White Sands		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM test	9 October	Successful
16 October 10:41	LCLV		Wallops Island		US Air Force
	Red Tigress 3	US Air Force	Suborbital	Target	16 October	Successful
16 October 16:02	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Technology development	16 October	Successful
20 October 07:20	Long March 2D		Jiuquan
	FSW-2-3	CASC	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	4 November	Successful
21 October 03:00	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Astronomy	21 October	Successful
24 October 11:37	Molniya-M		Plesetsk Site 43/4
	Molniya 3–48	MOM	Molniya	Communications	18 October 2007 03:51	Successful
28 October	UGM-133 Trident II		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful
28 October	UGM-133 Trident II		Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
		US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful
29 October 03:30	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Aeronomy	29 October	Successful
November
4 November 17:08	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Wallops Island		Orbital Sciences
	HETE	NASA	Low Earth	Astronomy	7 April 2002	Launch Failure
	SAC-B	CONAE	Low Earth	Technology development
	Both payloads failed to separate from the launch vehicle and each other
6 November 13:06	LGM-118 Peacekeeper		Vandenberg LF-02		US Air Force
		US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	6 November	Successful
7 November 17:00	Delta II 7925		Cape Canaveral LC-17A		Boeing IDS
	Mars Global Surveyor	NASA	Areocentric	Mars orbiter	In orbit	Successful
	Contact lost on 2 November 2006 and mission declared complete on 10 January 2007 after numerous troubleshooting attempts to regain contact.
9 November 08:50	RT-2PM Topol		Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	9 November	Successful
13 November 18:30	Black Brant IX		White Sands LC-36		NASA
	SERTS-96	NASA	Suborbital	Solar observation	13 November	Successful
13 November 22:40	Ariane 4 (44L)		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	Arabsat 2B	Arabsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Measat-2	Binariang	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
16 November 20:48	Proton-K/D-2		Baikonur Site 200/39		VKS
	Mars 96 (Mars-8)	VKS	Intended: Areocentric Actual: Low Earth	Mars orbiter	17 November	Failure
	Upper stage failed to re-ignite for Earth orbit departure; re-entered the following day
17 November 13:30	Terrier-Orion		White Sands LC-36		NASA
		NASA	Suborbital	Test rocket	17 November	Successful
19 November 19:55	Space Shuttle Columbia		Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
	STS-80	NASA	Low Earth	Microgravity research	7 December 11:49	Successful
	ORFEUS-SPAS	NASA	Low Earth	Ultraviolet astronomy
	Wake Shield Facility	NASA	Low Earth	Materials research
	EDO Pallet	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Cryogenic mission extension pallet
	Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts; All EVAs cancelled due to airlock malfunction; Longest-duration Space Shuttle flight in history[2] Story Musgrave becomes the only American astronaut to fly on all five Space Shuttle orbiters[3] ORFEUS-SPAS deployed on 20 November and retrieved on 4 December; WSF deployed on 22 November and retrieved on 26 November
19 November 23:20	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-33	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Logistics	12 March 1997 03:23	Partial Failure
	Failed to redock after free-flight in February–March 1997
21 November 20:47	Atlas IIA		Cape Canaveral LC-36A		International Launch Services
	Hot Bird 2	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
24 November 11:05	Skylark 7		Esrange Area S		DLR
	TEXUS 35	DASA	Suborbital	Microgravity research	24 November	Successful
29 November	RT-2PU Topol		Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
		RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	29 November	Successful
December
4 December 06:58	Delta II 7925		Cape Canaveral LC-17B		Boeing IDS
	Mars Pathfinder	NASA	Heliocentric	Mars lander	4 July 1997 16:57	Successful
	Sojourner	NASA	Heliocentric	Mars rover
	First Mars rover; landing site: Ares Vallis Final contact with Sojourner received on 27 September 1997 and the mission was terminated on 10 March 1998
11 December 12:00	Tsyklon-2		Baikonur Site 90/20
	Kosmos 2335 (EORSAT)	MO RF	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	1 January 1999	Successful
18 December 01:57	Atlas IIA		Cape Canaveral LC-36B		International Launch Services
	Inmarsat 3F3	Inmarsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
20 December 06:43	Kosmos-3M		Plesetsk Site 132/1
	Kosmos 2336 (Parus)	MO RF	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
20 December 18:04	Titan IVA (404)		Vandenberg SLC-4E		Lockheed Martin
	USA-129 (KH-12)	NRO	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
	NRO Launch 2
24 December 13:50	Soyuz-U		Plesetsk Site 43/4		Roskosmos
	Bion 11	Roskosmos	Low Earth	Biological research	7 January 1997	Successful
28 December	DF-21		Taiyuan
			Suborbital	Missile test	28 December	Successful

Deep-space rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
27 June	Galileo	1st flyby of Ganymede
6 September	Galileo	2nd flyby of Ganymede
4 November	Galileo	1st flyby of Callisto
19 December	Galileo	1st flyby of Europa

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
15 January 05:35	6 hours 9 minutes	11:44	STS-72 Endeavour	Leroy Chiao Daniel T. Barry	Practiced construction techniques for the upcoming International Space Station. The activities included installing a cable tray, hooking up cables and fluid lines, handling small screws and bolts in the screw, and grappling large objects at the end of the robotic arm.[4]
17 January 05:40	6 hours 54 minutes	12:34	STS-72 Endeavour	Leroy Chiao Winston E. Scott	Continued testing of construction techniques with utility boxes, slidewires and a portable work stanchion attached to the robotic arm. Scott also tested the heating capabilities of his spacesuit by riding the robotic arm into a cold night zone while Endeavour's payload bay was oriented toward space.[5]
8 February 14:03	3 hours 5 minutes	17:08	Mir EO-20 Kvant-2	Thomas Reiter Yuri Gidzenko	Moved a YMK maneuvering unit from the Kvant-2 airlock and secured it on the module exterior. Then collected experiments deployed earlier on the ESEF. The team was unable to remove an antenna from Kristall when they were unable to loosen some bolts on the antenna.
15 March 01:04	5 hours 51 minutes	06:55	Mir EO-21 Kvant-2	Yury Onufriyenko Yury Usachov	To improve access to the outside of the Kristall module, Onufriyenko and Usachev installed a second Strela boom on the Mir base block. Also prepared cables and connectors for the future installation of the Mir Cooperative Solar Array.
27 March 06:34	6 hours 2 minutes	12:36	STS-76 Mir Atlantis	Michael R. Clifford Linda M. Godwin	Added four canisters of experiments, called the Mir Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP), to the outside of docking module. Also tested new tethers and foot restraints for future use on Mir and the upcoming ISS assembly. First Shuttle-Mir EVA and EVA performed from a Space Shuttle docked at a space station.
20 May 22:50	6 hours 20 minutes	21 May 04:10	Mir EO-21 Kvant-2	Yury Onufriyenko Yury Usachov	Moved the Mir Cooperative Solar Array (MCSA) from its stowage position on Kristal to a final location on Kvant-1, and prepared the array for complete deployment. Also released a balloon shaped like a large Pepsi can, and filmed it for a television commercial.
24 May 20:47	6 hours 43 minutes	25 May 02:30	Mir EO-21 Kvant-2	Yury Onufriyenko Yury Usachov	Completed deployment of the Mir Cooperative Solar Array (MCSA) on the Kvant-1 module.
30 May 18:20	4 hours 20 minutes	22:40	Mir EO-21 Kvant-2	Yury Onufriyenko Yury Usachov	Installed the German made Modular Optoelectronic Multispectral Scanner (MOMS) camera to the exterior of the Priroda module. Also installed a new handrail on the exterior of Kvant-2 to aid future spacewalks.
6 June 16:56	3 hours 34 minutes	20:30	Mir EO-21 Kvant-2	Yury Onufriyenko Yury Usachov	Installed two American micrometeoroid detector experiments to the exterior of Kvant-2. Also replaced a cassette for the Komza experiment of the surface of Spektr.
13 June 12:45	5 hours 42 minutes	18:27	Mir EO-21 Kvant-2	Yury Onufriyenko Yury Usachov	Installed the Rapana girder to the exterior of Kvant-1 in anticipation of mounting future experiments to the girder. Also manually deployed the Travers radar on the surface of Priroda.
2 December 15:54	5 hours 58 minutes	21:52	Mir EO-22 Kvant-2	Valery Korzun Aleksandr Kaleri	Successfully connected electrical cables to the solar panels on surface installed on Kvant-1.[6]
9 December 13:50	6 hours 38 minutes	20:28	Mir EO-22 Kvant-2	Valery Korzun Aleksandr Kaleri	Completed the construction of the Rapana truss structure and the installed the Kurs docking antenna. Also fixed an amateur radio antenna that had loosened.[7]

References

Generic references:
 Spaceflight portal

• Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
• Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
• Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.
• Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
• Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report".
• McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report".
• 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.
• "Space Information Center". JAXA.
• "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).

Footnotes

1. Bergin, Chris (16 July 2008). "Sea Launch lofts EchoStar 11 – EchoStar 2 dies on orbit". NASASpaceflight.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
2. "CNN Student News One-Sheet: Space Shuttle Facts". CNN. 11 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
3. Story Musgrave 6-time Space Shuttle Astronaut simulates Space Flight | Hubble Space Telescope | Space Exploration | Space Story Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
4. Dumoulin, Jim (2001). "STS-72 Day 5 Highlights". NASA Space Shuttle Launch Archive. NASA. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
5. Dumoulin, Jim (2001). "STS-72 Day 7 Highlights". NASA Space Shuttle Launch Archive. NASA. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
6. van der Berg, Chris (3 December 1996). "MIRNEWS 3 DECEMBER 1996 (337)". MirNews. SpaceOnLine. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
7. van der Berg, Chris (10 December 1996). "MIRNEWS 10 DECEMBER 1996 (338)". MirNews. SpaceOnLine. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2009.