1976 in spaceflight

1976 in spaceflight
Viking 2 on the surface of Mars
Orbital launches
First6 January
Last28 December
Total131
Catalogued128
National firsts
Satellite Indonesia
Rockets
Maiden flightsThor DSV-2U
RetirementsVoskhod
Scout B-1
Soyuz
Soyuz-M
Thor-Burner
Luna sample return ascent stage
Crewed flights
Orbital3
Total travellers6
1976 in spaceflight

The following is an outline of 1976 in spaceflight.

Launches

Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks

January

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

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 Successful
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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • 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". 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.
  • "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
  • "Rocket Launch Manifest". Next Spaceflight.
  • "Space Launch Plans". Novosti Kosmonavtiki.
Generic references:
Spaceflight portal

Footnotes

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
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