Jump to content

1976 in spaceflight

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

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 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Plesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 787 (Tselina-O 27) Low Earth SIGINT 12 December 1980 Successful
7 January
15:34 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Plesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 788 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 54) GRU USSR Low Earth Reconnaissance 20 January Successful
15 January
05:34:00 		United StatesTitan IIIE/Star-37 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-41 United StatesNASA
United StatesGermanyHelios-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 		United StatesDelta 2914 D-119 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-17B
United StatesCanadaCTS Hermes NASA / CSA Geosynchronous Experimental communications In orbit Successful
20 January
17:07 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 789 (Parus 5) Low Earth Navigation In orbit Successful
22 January
11:38 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok ML Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5
Soviet UnionMolniya-1K 32 Molniya orbit Communications In orbit Successful
22 January
22:26 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Plesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 790 (Tselina-O 30) Low Earth SIGINT 12 November 1980 Successful
28 January
10:39 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Plesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 791 (Strela-1M 105) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 792 (Strela-1M 106) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 793 (Strela-1M 107) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 794 (Strela-1M 108) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 795 (Strela-1M 109) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 796 (Strela-1M 110) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 797 (Strela-1M 111) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 798 (Strela-1M 112) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
29 January
08:30 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Baikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 799 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 64) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 10 February Successful
29 January
23:56 		United StatesAtlas-SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR AC-37 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-36B
United NationsIntelsat IVA F-2 Intelsat Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful

February

[edit]
3 February
08:16 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 800 (Zaliv 20) Low Earth Navigation In orbit Successful
4 February
06:00 		JapanM-3C Kagoshima Space Center LP-M ISAS
Corsa A ISAS Low Earth X-ray astronomy 4 February Failure
5 February
14:30 		Soviet UnionKosmos-2 Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 133/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 801 (DS-P1-I 17) Low Earth Radar calibration 5 January 1978 Successful
11 February
08:50 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 802 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 55) GRU Low Eath Reconnaissance 25 February Succsessful
12 February
13:00 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 803 (DS-P1-M 8) Low Earth ASAT target In orbit Successful
Target for Kosmos 804 and 814
16 February
08:29 		Soviet UnionTsyklon-2 Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 90/20
Soviet UnionKosmos 804 (IS-A 1) Low Earth ASAT test 16 February Successful
19 February
07:52 		United StatesThor-LV2F Burner-2A United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-10W United StatesUS Air Force
United StatesDMSP-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 		United StatesDelta 2914 D-120 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-17B
United NationsMarisat-1 Marisat Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
20 February
14:01 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 805 (Yantar-2K/Feniks 4) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 11 March Successful
29 February
03:30:00 		JapanN-I JapanTanegashima LA-N JapanISAS
Japan 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 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 806 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 56) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 23 March Successful
11 March
19:45 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok ML Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 41/1
Soviet UnionMolniya-1K 33 Molniya Communications 10 October 1990 Successful
12 March
13:30 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 807 (Taifun-1 4) Low Earth Radar calibration In orbit Successful
15 March
01:25:40[2] 		United States Titan III(23)C United States Cape Canaveral SLC-40 United States NASA
United States LES-8 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Geostationary Technology demonstration In orbit Successful
United States LES-9 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Geostationary Technology demonstration In orbit Successful
United States SOLRAD 11A NRL High Earth orbit Heliophysics In orbit Successful
United States 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 		Soviet UnionVostok-2M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 41/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 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 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok ML Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5
Soviet UnionMolniya-1K 34 Molniya Communications 14 May 1985 Successful
22 March
18:14 		United StatesTitan III(24)B United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-4W United StatesUS Air Force
United StatesKH-8 46 (Gambit-3 46, OPS 7600) NRO Low Earth Reconnaissance 18 May Successful
26 March
15:00 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 810 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 57) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 8 April Successful
26 March
22:47 		United StatesDelta 3914 D-121 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-17A
United StatesSatcom 2 RCA Americom Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
31 March
12:50 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 41/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 811 (Zenit-4MT/Orion 10) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 12 April Successful

April

[edit]
6 April
04:14 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 812 (Tselina-O 31) Low Earth SIGINT 30 October 1980 Successful
7 April
13:05 		Soviet UnionVostok-2M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 41/1
Soviet UnionMeteor-1 24 Low Earth Weather In orbit Successful
9 April
08:30 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 813 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 66) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 21 April Successful
13 April
17:15 		Soviet UnionTsyklon-2 Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 90/20
Soviet UnionKosmos 814 (IS-A 2) Low Earth ASAT test 13 March Successful
22 April
20:46 		United StatesDelta 2914 D-122 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-17B United StatesUS Air Force
NATONATO 3A NATO Geostationary Military communications In orbit Successful
28 April
09:30 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 815 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 58) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 11 May Successful
28 April
13:30 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Plesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 816 (Taifun-2 1) Low Earth Radar calibration 24 November 1979 Successful
Soviet Union24 Romb subsatellites Low Earth Radar calibration 1977
30 April
19:12 		United StatesAtlas F MSD United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-3W
United StatesMSD 1 US Navy Low Earth Satellite deployment In orbit Successful
United StatesNOSS 1A US Navy Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT In orbit Successful
United StatesNOSS 1B US Navy Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT In orbit Successful
United StatesNOSS 1C US Navy Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT In orbit Successful

May

[edit]
4 May
08:00 		United StatesDelta 2913 / Star-24 D-123 United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-2W
United StatesLAGEOS-1 NASA Medium Earth orbit Geodesy In orbit Successful
5 May
07:50 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 817 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 59) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 18 May Successful
12 May
17:57 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok ML Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 41/1
Soviet UnionMolniya-3 16L Molniya Communications 4 February 1990 Successful
13 May
22:28 		United StatesAtlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR AC-38 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-36A
United StatesComstar 1A (D1) COMSAT Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
15 May
13:30 		Soviet UnionVostok-2M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionMeteor-Priroda 2-1 (Meteor-1 25) Low Earth Weather, Earth observation In orbit Successful
18 May
10:59 		Soviet UnionKosmos-2 Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 133/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 818 (DS-P1-Yu 78) Low Earth Radar calibration 7 March 1977 Successful
20 May
09:00 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 819 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 67) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 1 June Successful
21 May
07:00 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 820 (Zenit-4MKT/Fram 2) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 2 June Successful
22 May
07:42 		United StatesScout B-1 United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-5 United StatesUS Air Force
United StatesWideband (P76-5) STP Low Earth Ionosphere research In orbit Successful
26 May
09:00 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 821 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 60) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 8 June Successful
28 May
15:00 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 822 (Taifun-1/Vektor 5) Low Earth Radar calibration 8 August 1978 Successful

June

[edit]
2 June
20:56 		United StatesTitan III(34)B United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-4W
United StatesQuasar 1 (SDS 1, OPS 7837) NRO Highly elliptical Data relay In orbit Successful
2 June
22:30 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 823 (Zaliv 21) Low Earth Navigation In orbit Successful
8 June
07:00 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 824 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 61) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 21 June Successful
10 June
00:09 		United StatesDelta 2914 D-124 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-17A
United NationsMarisat 2 Marisat Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 825 (Strela-1M 113) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 826 (Strela-1M 114) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 827 (Strela-1M 115) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 828 (Strela-1M 116) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 829 (Strela-1M 117) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 830 (Strela-1M 118) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 831 (Strela-1M 119) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 832 (Strela-1M 120) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
16 June
13:09 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 833 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 62) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 29 June Successful
19 June
16:00 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
United NationsInterkosmos 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 		Soviet UnionProton-K Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 81/23 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSalyut 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 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 834 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 68) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 6 July Successful
26 June
03:00 		United StatesTitan III(23)C United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-40
United StatesDSP 6 (OPS 2112) USAF Geostationary Missile early warning In orbit Successful
29 June
07:20 		Soviet UnionVoskhod Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 835 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 63) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 12 July Successful
Final flight of the Voskhod
29 June
08:12 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 836 (Strela-2M 12) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful

July

[edit]
1 July
08:05 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok ML Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 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 		Soviet UnionTsyklon-2 Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 90/19
Soviet UnionKosmos 838 (US-P 3) Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT 23 August 1977 Successful
6 July
12:08:45 		Soviet UnionSoyuz Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 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 		United StatesTitan IIID United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-4E
United StatesKH-9 12 (Hexagon, OPS 4699) NRO Low Earth Reconnaissance 13 December Successful
United StatesUrsala 3 (P-11 4430, OPS 5366) Low Earth ELINT, SIGINT In orbit Successful
United StatesS3 3 (S74-2, OPS 3986) STP Highly elliptical Magnetosphere research 24 April 1986 Successful
Ursala was deployed from KH-9
8 July
21:08 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 839 (DS-P1-M 9) Low Earth ASAT target In orbit Successful
Target for Kosmos 843
8 July
23:31 		United StatesDelta 2914 D-125 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-17A
IndonesiaPalapa A1 Perumtel Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
First Indonesian satellite
14 July
09:00 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 840 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 69) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 26 July Successful
15 July
13:11 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 841 (Strela-2M 13) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
21 July
10:20 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 842 (Sfera 15) Low Earth Geodesy In orbit Successful
21 July
15:14 		Soviet UnionTsyklon-2 Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 90/19
Soviet UnionKosmos 843 (IS-A 3) Low Earth ASAT test 22 July Successful
22 July
15:40 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet Union
Soviet UnionKosmos 844 (Yantar-2K/Feniks 5) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 30 August Successful
22 July
22:04 		United StatesAtlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR AC-40 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-36B
United StatesComstar 1B (D2) COMSAT Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
23 July
15:49 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok ML Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5
Soviet UnionMolniya-1K 35 Molniya Communications 30 May 1987 Successful
27 July
05:21 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 845 (Tselina-O 32) Low Earth SIGINT 15 November 1980 Successful
27 July
12:00 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionKapustin Yar Site 107/2
United NationsInterkosmos 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 		United StatesDelta 2310 D-126 United StatesVendenberg AFB SLC-2W
United StatesNOAA-5 (ITOS-H) NOAA SSO Weather In orbit Successful
29 July
20:02 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 846 (Zaliv 22) Low Earth Navigation In orbit Successful

August

[edit]
4 August
13:40 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Sie 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 847 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 64) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 17 August Successful
6 August
22:21 		United StatesTitan III(34)B United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-4W
United StatesQuasar 2 (SDS 2, OPS 7940) NRO Highly elliptic Data relay 18 April 2020 Successful
9 August
12:08:45 		Soviet Union Proton-K/D Soviet Union Baikonur 81/23
Soviet UnionLuna 24 Selenocentric Lunar lander 22 August Successful
Third uncrewed lunar sample return, Third Soviet lunar sample return
12 August
13:30 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 848 (Zenit-2M/Gektor #70) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 25 August Successful
Soviet UnionNauka-19KS 1L Low Earth Research
18 August
09:30 		Soviet UnionKosmos-2 Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 133/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 849 (DS-P1-I 18) Low Earth Radar calibration 24 April 1978 Successful
26 August
10:59 		Soviet UnionKosmos-2 Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 133/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 850 (DS-P1-Yu 79) Low Earth Radar calibration 16 May 1977 Successful
27 August
14:34 		Soviet UnionVostok-2M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 851 (Tselina-D 10) Low Earth SIGINT 5 August 1989 Successful
28 August
09:00 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 852 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 65) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 10 September Successful
30 August
11:45 		ChinaFeng Bao 1 ChinaJiuquan LA-2B (Site 138)
ChinaJSSW-3 (CK 3) Low Earth Unknown 25 November 1978 Successful

September

[edit]
1 September
03:23 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok ML Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 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 		United StatesScout D-1 United StatesVeandenberg AFB SLC-5 United StatesUS Air Force
United StatesTriad 3 (TIP 3) US Navy Low Earth Navigation 30 May 1981 Successful
3 September
09:20 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 854 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 66) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 16 September Successful
11 September
08:00 		United StatesThor-LV2F Star-37XE Star-37S-ISS United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-10W United StatesUS Air Force
United StatesDMSP-5D1 F1 (OPS 5721) USAF SSO Weather In orbit Successful
11 September
18:24 		Soviet UnionProton-K/Blok DM Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 81/24
Soviet UnionRaduga 2 (Gran 12L) Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
15 September
09:48:30 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 22 Low Earth Salyut expedition 23 September
07:40:47		 Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
15 September
18:50 		United StatesTitan III(24)B United StatesVandenberg AFB SLC-4W United StatesUS Air Force
United StatesKH-8 47 (Gambit-3, OPS 8533) NRO Low Earth Reconnaissance 5 November Successful
21 September
11:40 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 855 (Zenit-4MT/Orion 11) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 3 October Successful
22 September
09:30 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 856 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 71) & Nauka GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 5 October Successful
Soviet UnionNauka Low Earth Research
24 September
15:00 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionKosmos 857 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 67) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 7 November Successful
29 September
07:04 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 858 (Strela-2M 14) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful

October

[edit]
4 October
11:00 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionZenit-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 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 859 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 68) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 21 October Successful
14 October
17:39:18 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 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 		United StatesDelta 2914 D- United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-17A
United NationsMarisat 3 Marisat Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
15 October
22:59 		Soviet UnionVostok-2M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/3
Soviet UnionMeteor-1 26 Low Earth Weather In orbit Successful
17 October
18:06 		Soviet UnionTsyklon-2 Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 90/19
Soviet UnionKosmos 860 (US-A 12) Low Earth Radar ocean surveillance In orbit Successful
21 October
16:53 		Soviet UnionTsyklon-2 Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 90/19
Soviet UnionKosmos 861 (US-A 13) Low Earth Radar ocean surveillance In orbit Successful
22 October
09:11 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok 2BL Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 862 (US-K 5) Molniya Missile early warning In orbit Successful
25 October
14:30 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 863 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 69) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 5 November Successful
26 October
14:50 		Soviet UnionProton-K/Blok DM Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 81/24
Soviet UnionEkran 1 (Ekran 11L) Geostationary Communications In orbit Successful
29 October
12:39 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 864 (Parus 6) Low Earth Navigation In orbit Successful

November

[edit]
1 November
11:20 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 865 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 72) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 13 November Successful
10 November
09:05 		ChinaFeng Bao 1 ChinaJiuquan LA-2B (Site 138)
ChinaJSSW Low Earth Unknown In orbit Failure
11 November
10:45 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 866 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 70) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 23 November Successful
23 November
16:27 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 867 (Zenit-6U/Argon 1) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 6 December Successful
25 November
03:59 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok SO-L Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionPrognoz 5 Highly elliptical Magnetoshpere and solar research 12 July 1979 Successful
26 November
14:30 		Soviet UnionTsyklon-2 Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 90/20
Soviet UnionKosmos 868 (US-P 4) Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT 8 July 1978 Successful
29 November
16:04 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5
Soviet UnionKosmos 869 (Soyuz-T Test 3) Low Earth Uncrewed test of Soyuz-T spacecraft 17 December
10:31		 Successful

December

[edit]
2 December
00:17 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 870 (Tselina-O 33) Low Earth SIGINT 20 December 1980 Successful
2 December
02:44 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok ML Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionMolniya-2 16 Molniya Communications 18 January 1991 Successful
7 December
04:38 		ChinaLong March 2A ChinaJiquan LA-2B (Site 138)
ChinaFSW-0 2 Low Earth Reconnaissance 2 December Successful
Re-entry capsule recovered on 9 December
7 December
10:23 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 871 (Strela-1M 121) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 872 (Strela-1M 122) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 873 (Strela-1M 123) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 874 (Strela-1M 124) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 875 (Strela-1M 125) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 876 (Strela-1M 126) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 877 (Strela-1M 127) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 878 (Strela-1M 128) Low Earth Communications In orbit Successful
9 December
10:00 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionKosmos 879 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 73) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 22 December Successful
9 December
20:00 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 880 (DS-P1-M 10) Low Earth ASAT target 31 August 1991 Successful
Target for Kosmos 886
15 December
01:30 		Soviet UnionProton-K Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 81/24
Soviet UnionKosmos 881 (TKS-VA 1) Low Earth Uncrewed test of TKS-VA spacecraft 15 December Successful
Soviet UnionKosmos 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 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 883 (Tsikada 1) Low Earth Navigation In orbit Successful
17 December
09:30 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6
Soviet UnionKosmos 884 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 71) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 29 December Successful
17 December
12:00 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/2
Soviet UnionKosmos 885 (Taifun-2 2) Low Earth Radar calibration 14 October 1979 Successful
Soviet Union17 Romb subsatellites Low Earth Radar calibration 1977-1978
19 December
18:19 		United StatesTitan IIID United StatesVandenberg SLC-4E United StatesUS Air Force
United StatesKH-11 1 (Kennen, OPS 5705) NRO Low Earth Reconnaissance 28 January 1979 Successful
27 December
12:05 		Soviet UnionTsyklon-2 Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 90/19
Soviet UnionKosmos 886 (IS-A 4) Low Earth ASAT test In orbit Successful
28 December
06:38 		Soviet UnionMolniya-M/Blok BL Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 43/4
Soviet UnionMolniya-3 17L Molniya Communications 19 March 1990 Successful
28 December
07:49 		Soviet UnionKosmos-3M Soviet UnionPlesetsk Site 132/1
Soviet UnionKosmos 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 		Soviet Union Luna 24 Ascent stage Mare Crisium (Luna)
Soviet Union Luna 24 Return capsule Soviet Union 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).
Generic references:

Spaceflight portal

Footnotes

[edit]
  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.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1976_in_spaceflight&oldid=1240638075"