1976 in spaceflight

none January 2014 May 2020 yes yes 1976 Viking2lander1.jpg Viking 2 on the surface of Mars 6 January 28 December 131 128 Thor DSV-2U VoskhodScout B-1SoyuzSoyuz-MThor-BurnerLuna sample return ascent stage 3 6 Timeline of spaceflight 1975 1977 right on The following is an outline of 1976 in spaceflight. Launches yes |colspan=8| January |- 1 6 January 04:52 USSRKosmos-3M Plesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 787 (Tselina-O 27) Low Earth SIGINT 12 December 1980 Successful 1 7 January 15:34 USSRVoskhod Plesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 788 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 54) GRU USSR Low Earth Reconnaissance 20 January Successful 1 15 January 05:34:00 USATitan IIIE/Star-37 USACape Canaveral SLC-41 USANASA 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. USAGERHelios-B NASA / DFVLR Solar probe Heliocentric Successful 1 17 January 23:27 USADelta 2914 D-119 USACape Canaveral SLC-17B USACANCTS Hermes NASA / CSA Geosynchronous Experimental communications Successful 1 20 January 17:07 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 789 (Parus 5) Low Earth Navigation Successful 1 22 January 11:38 USSRMolniya-M/Blok ML USSRBaikonur Site 1/5 USSRMolniya-1K 32 Molniya orbit Communications Successful 1 22 January 22:26 USSRKosmos-3M Plesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 790 (Tselina-O 30) Low Earth SIGINT 12 November 1980 Successful 8 28 January 10:39 USSRKosmos-3M Plesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 791 (Strela-1M 105) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 792 (Strela-1M 106) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 793 (Strela-1M 107) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 794 (Strela-1M 108) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 795 (Strela-1M 109) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 796 (Strela-1M 110) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 797 (Strela-1M 111) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 798 (Strela-1M 112) Low Earth Communications Successful 1 29 January 08:30 USSRVoskhod Baikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 799 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 64) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 10 February Successful 1 29 January 23:56 USAAtlas-SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR AC-37 USACape Canaveral SLC-36B UNIntelsat IVA F-2 Intelsat Geostationary Communications Successful |colspan=8| February |- 1 3 February 08:16 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 800 (Zaliv 20) Low Earth Navigation Successful 1 4 February 06:00 JPNM-3C Kagoshima Space Center LP-M ISAS Corsa A ISAS Low Earth X-ray astronomy 4 February Failure 1 5 February 14:30 USSRKosmos-2 USSRPlesetsk Site 133/1 USSRKosmos 801 (DS-P1-I 17) Low Earth Radar calibration 5 January 1978 Successful 1 11 February 08:50 USSRVoskhod USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 802 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 55) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 25 February Successful 1 12 February 13:00 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 Target for Kosmos 804 and 814 USSRKosmos 803 (DS-P1-M 8) Low Earth ASAT target Successful 1 16 February 08:29 USSRTsyklon-2 USSRBaikonur Site 90/20 USSRKosmos 804 (IS-A 1) Low Earth ASAT test 16 February Successful 1 19 February 07:52 USAThor-LV2F Burner-2A USAVandenberg AFB SLC-10W USAUS Air Force 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 USADMSP-5C F3 (OPS 5140) USAF Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) Weather 19 February Failure 1 19 February 22:32 USADelta 2914 D-120 USACape Canaveral SLC-17B UNMarisat-1 Marisat Geostationary Communications Successful 1 20 February 14:01 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 805 (Yantar-2K/Feniks 4) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 11 March Successful 1 29 February 03:30:00 JapanN-I JapanTanegashima LA-N JapanISAS First launch completed on February 29 Japan Ionospheric Sounding Satellite (ISS) Ume ISAS Ionospheric research Low Earth Successful |colspan=8| March |- 1 10 March 08:00 USSRSoyuz-U USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 806 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 56) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 23 March Successful 1 11 March 19:45 USSRMolniya-M/Blok ML USSRPlesetsk Site 41/1 USSRMolniya-1K 33 Molniya Communications 10 October 1990 Successful 1 12 March 13:30 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 807 (Taifun-1 4) Low Earth Radar calibration Successful 4 15 March 01:25:40Jonathan McDowell McDowell Jonathan https://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt Launch Log Jonathan's Space Report 6 December 2020 16 November 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20211116033853/http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt live USA Titan III(23)C USA Cape Canaveral SLC-40 USA NASA LES-8 was decommissioned in 2004; LES-9, the last Lincoln Experimental Satellite, continued functioning for 44 years and was finally decommissioned in 2020.Ryan Dorothy https://news.mit.edu/2020/lincoln-laboratory-decommissions-lincoln-experimental-satellite-9-0527 Lincoln Laboratory decommissions Lincoln Experimental Satellite–9 MIT 27 May 2020 6 December 2020 2 February 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230202202455/https://news.mit.edu/2020/lincoln-laboratory-decommissions-lincoln-experimental-satellite-9-0527 live USA LES-8 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Geostationary Technology demonstration Successful USA LES-9 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Geostationary Technology demonstration Successful USA SOLRAD 11A NRL High Earth orbit Heliophysics Successful USA SOLRAD 11B NRL High Earth orbit Heliophysics Successful 1 16 March 17:22 USSRVostok-2M USSRPlesetsk Site 41/1 USSRKosmos 808 (Tselina-D 9) Low Earth SIGINT 20 November 1993 Successful 1 18 March 09:15 Kosmos 809 Baikonur Site 31/6 Kosmos 809 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 65) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 30 March Successful 1 19 March 19:31 USSRMolniya-M/Blok ML USSRBaikonur Site 1/5 USSRMolniya-1K 34 Molniya Communications 14 May 1985 Successful 1 22 March 18:14 USATitan III(24)B USAVandenberg AFB SLC-4W USAUS Air Force USAKH-8 46 (Gambit-3 46, OPS 7600) NRO Low Earth Reconnaissance 18 May Successful 1 26 March 15:00 USSRVoskhod USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 810 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 57) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 8 April Successful 1 26 March 22:47 USADelta 3914 D-121 USACape Canaveral SLC-17A USASatcom 2 RCA Americom Geostationary Communications Successful 1 31 March 12:50 USSRSoyuz-M USSRPlesetsk Site 41/1 USSRKosmos 811 (Zenit-4MT/Orion 10) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 12 April Successful |colspan=8| April |- 1 6 April 04:14 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 812 (Tselina-O 31) Low Earth SIGINT 30 October 1980 Successful 1 7 April 13:05 USSRVostok-2M USSRPlesetsk Site 41/1 USSRMeteor-1 24 Low Earth Weather Successful 1 9 April 08:30 USSRVoskhod USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 813 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 66) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 21 April Successful 1 13 April 17:15 USSRTsyklon-2 USSRBaikonur Site 90/20 USSRKosmos 814 (IS-A 2) Low Earth ASAT test 13 March Successful 1 22 April 20:46 USADelta 2914 D-122 USACape Canaveral SLC-17B USAUS Air Force NATONATO 3A NATO Geostationary Military communications Successful 1 28 April 09:30 USSRVoskhod USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 815 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 58) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 11 May Successful 2 28 April 13:30 USSRKosmos-3M Plesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 816 (Taifun-2 1) Low Earth Radar calibration 24 November 1979 Successful 2USSR24 Romb subsatellites Low Earth Radar calibration 1977 inherit 4 30 April 19:12 USAAtlas F MSD USAVandenberg AFB SLC-3W USAMSD 1 US Navy Low Earth Satellite deployment Successful USANOSS 1A US Navy Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT Successful USANOSS 1B US Navy Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT Successful USANOSS 1C US Navy Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT Successful |colspan=8| May |- 1 4 May 08:00 USADelta 2913 / Star-24 D-123 USAVandenberg AFB SLC-2W USALAGEOS-1 NASA Medium Earth orbit Geodesy Successful 1 5 May 07:50 USSRVoskhod USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 817 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 59) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 18 May Successful 1 12 May 17:57 USSRMolniya-M/Blok ML USSRPlesetsk Site 41/1 USSRMolniya-3 16L Molniya Communications 4 February 1990 Successful 1 13 May 22:28 USAAtlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR AC-38 USACape Canaveral SLC-36A USAComstar 1A (D1) COMSAT Geostationary Communications Successful 1 15 May 13:30 USSRVostok-2M USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRMeteor-Priroda 2-1 (Meteor-1 25) Low Earth Weather, Earth observation Successful 1 18 May 10:59 USSRKosmos-2 USSRPlesetsk Site 133/1 USSRKosmos 818 (DS-P1-Yu 78) Low Earth Radar calibration 7 March 1977 Successful 1 20 May 09:00 USSRVoskhod USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 819 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 67) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 1 June Successful 1 21 May 07:00 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 820 (Zenit-4MKT/Fram 2) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 2 June Successful 1 22 May 07:42 USAScout B-1 USAVandenberg AFB SLC-5 USAUS Air Force USAWideband (P76-5) STP Low Earth Ionosphere research Successful 1 26 May 09:00 USSRVoskhod USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 821 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 60) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 8 June Successful 1 28 May 15:00 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 822 (Taifun-1/Vektor 5) Low Earth Radar calibration 8 August 1978 Successful |colspan=8| June |- 1 2 June 20:56 USATitan III(34)B USAVandenberg AFB SLC-4W USAQuasar 1 (SDS 1, OPS 7837) NRO Highly elliptical Data relay Successful 1 2 June 22:30 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 USSRKosmos 823 (Zaliv 21) Low Earth Navigation Successful 1 8 June 07:00 USSRVoskhod USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 824 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 61) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 21 June Successful 1 10 June 00:09 USADelta 2914 D-124 USACape Canaveral SLC-17A UNMarisat 2 Marisat Geostationary Communications Successful 8 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 USSRKosmos 825 (Strela-1M 113) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 826 (Strela-1M 114) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 827 (Strela-1M 115) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 828 (Strela-1M 116) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 829 (Strela-1M 117) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 830 (Strela-1M 118) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 831 (Strela-1M 119) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 832 (Strela-1M 120) Low Earth Communications Successful 1 16 June 13:09 USSRVoskhod USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 833 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 62) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 29 June Successful 1 19 June 16:00 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 Cooperative project of Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary, Poland and the USSR UNInterkosmos 15 (AUOS-Z-T-IK 1) Interkosmos Low Earth Test spacecraft 18 November 1979 Successful 1 22 June 18:04:00 USSR 1955Proton-K USSR 1955Baikonur Site 81/23 USSR 1955 Visited by three crews, one of which failed to dock USSR 1955Salyut 5 (Almaz OPS-3) Space station Low Earth 8 August 1977 Successful 1 24 June 07:10 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 834 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 68) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 6 July Successful 1 26 June 03:00 USATitan III(23)C USACape Canaveral SLC-40 USADSP 6 (OPS 2112) USAF Geostationary Missile early warning Successful 1 29 June 07:20 USSRVoskhod USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 Final flight of the Voskhod USSRKosmos 835 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 63) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 12 July Successful 1 29 June 08:12 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 USSRKosmos 836 (Strela-2M 12) Low Earth Communications Successful |colspan=8| July |- 1 1 July 08:05 USSRMolniya-M/Blok ML USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 Malfunction of Blok ML upper stage, the satellite placed in the much lower orbit USSRKosmos 837 (Molniya-2) Molniya (planned)Low Earth (achieved) Communications 18 November 1983 Partial failure 1 2 July 10:30 USSRTsyklon-2 USSRBaikonur Site 90/19 USSRKosmos 838 (US-P 3) Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT 23 August 1977 Successful 1 6 July 12:08:45 USSR 1955Soyuz USSR 1955Baikonur Site 1/5 USSR 1955 Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, final flight of Soyuz 11A511, returned early due to crew illness USSR 1955Soyuz 21 Salyut expedition Low Earth (Salyut 5) 24 August 18:32:17 Partial mission failure 3 8 July 18:30 USATitan IIID USAVandenberg AFB SLC-4E Ursala was deployed from KH-9 USAKH-9 12 (Hexagon, OPS 4699) NRO Low Earth Reconnaissance 13 December Successful USAUrsala 3 (P-11 4430, OPS 5366) Low Earth ELINT, SIGINT Successful USAS3 3 (S74-2, OPS 3986) STP Highly elliptical Magnetosphere research 24 April 1986 Successful 1 8 July 21:08 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 Target for Kosmos 843 USSRKosmos 839 (DS-P1-M 9) Low Earth ASAT target Successful 1 8 July 23:31 USADelta 2914 D-125 USACape Canaveral SLC-17A First Indonesian satellite IDNPalapa A1 Perumtel Geostationary Communications Successful 1 14 July 09:00 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRKosmos 840 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 69) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 26 July Successful 1 15 July 13:11 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 841 (Strela-2M 13) Low Earth Communications Successful 1 21 July 10:20 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk 132/1 USSRKosmos 842 (Sfera 15) Low Earth Geodesy Successful 1 21 July 15:14 USSRTsyklon-2 USSRBaikonur Site 90/19 USSRKosmos 843 (IS-A 3) Low Earth ASAT test 22 July Successful 1 22 July 15:40 USSRSoyuz-U USSR USSRKosmos 844 (Yantar-2K/Feniks 5) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 30 August Successful 1 22 July 22:04 USAAtlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR AC-40 USACape Canaveral SLC-36B USAComstar 1B (D2) COMSAT Geostationary Communications Successful 1 23 July 15:49 USSRMolniya-M/Blok ML USSRBaikonur Site 1/5 USSRMolniya-1K 35 Molniya Communications 30 May 1987 Successful 1 27 July 05:21 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 845 (Tselina-O 32) Low Earth SIGINT 15 November 1980 Successful 1 27 July 12:00 USSRKosmos-3M USSRKapustin Yar Site 107/2 Cooperative project of Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Sweden and the USSR UNInterkosmos 16 (DS-U3-IK 6) Interkosmos Low Earth Aeronomy, solar research 10 July 1979 Successful 1 29 July 17:07 USADelta 2310 D-126 USAVendenberg AFB SLC-2W USANOAA-5 (ITOS-H) NOAA SSO Weather Successful 1 29 July 20:02 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 846 (Zaliv 22) Low Earth Navigation Successful |colspan=8| August |- 1 4 August 13:40 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Sie 43/4 USSRKosmos 847 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 64) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 17 August Successful 1 6 August 22:21 USATitan III(34)B USAVandenberg AFB SLC-4W USAQuasar 2 (SDS 2, OPS 7940) NRO Highly elliptic Data relay 18 April 2020 Successful 1 9 August 12:08:45 USSR Proton-K/D USSR Baikonur 81/23 Third uncrewed lunar sample return, Third Soviet lunar sample return USSRLuna 24 22 August Selenocentric Lunar lander Successful 2 12 August 13:30 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 848 (Zenit-2M/Gektor #70) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 25 August Successful 2 2USSRNauka-19KS 1L Low Earth Research inherit inherit 1 18 August 09:30 USSRKosmos-2 USSRPlesetsk Site 133/1 USSRKosmos 849 (DS-P1-I 18) Low Earth Radar calibration 24 April 1978 Successful 1 26 August 10:59 USSRKosmos-2 USSRPlesetsk Site 133/1 USSRKosmos 850 (DS-P1-Yu 79) Low Earth Radar calibration 16 May 1977 Successful 1 27 August 14:34 USSRVostok-2M USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRKosmos 851 (Tselina-D 10) Low Earth SIGINT 5 August 1989 Successful 1 28 August 09:00 USSRSoyuz-U USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 852 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 65) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 10 September Successful 1 30 August 11:45 PRCFeng Bao 1 PRCJiuquan LA-2B (Site 138) Apogee much higher than intended. PRCJSSW-3 (CK 3) Elliptical low Earth orbit Unknown 25 November 1978 Successful |colspan=8| September |- 1 1 September 03:23 USSRMolniya-M/Blok ML USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 Malfunction of the Blok ML upper stage, the satellite placed to the much lower orbit USSRKosmos 853 (Molniya-2) Molniya (intended)Low Earth (achieved) Communications 31 December Partial failure 1 1 September 21:14 USAScout D-1 USAVeandenberg AFB SLC-5 USAUS Air Force USATriad 3 (TIP 3) US Navy Low Earth Navigation 30 May 1981 Successful 1 3 September 09:20 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRKosmos 854 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 66) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 16 September Successful 1 11 September 08:00 USAThor-LV2F Star-37XE Star-37S-ISS USAVandenberg AFB SLC-10W USAUS Air Force USADMSP-5D1 F1 (OPS 5721) USAF SSO Weather Successful 1 11 September 18:24 USSRProton-K/Blok DM USSRBaikonur Site 81/24 USSRRaduga 2 (Gran 12L) Geostationary Communications Successful 1 15 September 09:48:30 USSR 1955Soyuz-U USSR 1955Baikonur Site 1/5 USSR 1955 Crewed flight with two cosmonauts USSR 1955Soyuz 22 Salyut expedition Low Earth 23 September 07:40:47 Successful 1 15 September 18:50 USATitan III(24)B USAVandenberg AFB SLC-4W USAUS Air Force USAKH-8 47 (Gambit-3, OPS 8533) NRO Low Earth Reconnaissance 5 November Successful 1 21 September 11:40 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 855 (Zenit-4MT/Orion 11) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 3 October Successful 2 22 September 09:30 USSRSoyuz-U USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 856 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 71) & Nauka GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 5 October Successful USSRNauka Low Earth Research inherit inherit 1 24 September 15:00 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRKosmos 857 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 67) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 7 November Successful 1 29 September 07:04 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 USSRKosmos 858 (Strela-2M 14) Low Earth Communications Successful |colspan=8| October |- 1 4 October 11:00 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 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 USSRZenit-4MKT/Fram 3 GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 4 October Failure 1 10 October 09:35 USSRSoyuz-U USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 859 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 68) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 21 October Successful 1 14 October 17:39:18 USSR 1955Soyuz-U USSR 1955Baikonur Site 1/5 USSR 1955 Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, failed to dock with Salyut 5 USSR 1955Soyuz 23 Salyut expedition Low Earth (Intended: Salyut 5) 16 October 17:45:53 Spacecraft failure 1 14 October 22:44 USADelta 2914 D- USACape Canaveral SLC-17A UNMarisat 3 Marisat Geostationary Communications Successful 1 15 October 22:59 USSRVostok-2M USSRPlesetsk Site 43/3 USSRMeteor-1 26 Low Earth Weather Successful 1 17 October 18:06 USSRTsyklon-2 USSRBaikonur Site 90/19 USSRKosmos 860 (US-A 12) Low Earth Radar ocean surveillance Successful 1 21 October 16:53 USSRTsyklon-2 USSRBaikonur Site 90/19 USSRKosmos 861 (US-A 13) Low Earth Radar ocean surveillance Successful 1 22 October 09:11 USSRMolniya-M/Blok 2BL USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRKosmos 862 (US-K 5) Molniya Missile early warning Successful 1 25 October 14:30 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRKosmos 863 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 69) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 5 November Successful 1 26 October 14:50 USSRProton-K/Blok DM USSRBaikonur Site 81/24 USSREkran 1 (Ekran 11L) Geostationary Communications Successful 1 29 October 12:39 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 USSRKosmos 864 (Parus 6) Low Earth Navigation Successful |colspan=8| November |- 1 1 November 11:20 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRKosmos 865 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 72) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 13 November Successful 1 10 November 09:05 PRCFeng Bao 1 PRCJiuquan LA-2B (Site 138) Engine on the second stage malfunctioned, reducing thrust. PRCJSSW Low Earth Unknown 10 November Failure 1 11 November 10:45 USSRSoyuz-U USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 866 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 70) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 23 November Successful 1 23 November 16:27 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRKosmos 867 (Zenit-6U/Argon 1) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 6 December Successful 1 25 November 03:59 USSRMolniya-M/Blok SO-L USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRPrognoz 5 Highly elliptical Magnetoshpere and solar research 12 July 1979 Successful 1 26 November 14:30 USSRTsyklon-2 USSRBaikonur Site 90/20 USSRKosmos 868 (US-P 4) Low Earth Ocean surveillance, ELINT 8 July 1978 Successful 1 29 November 16:04 USSRSoyuz-U USSRBaikonur Site 1/5 USSRKosmos 869 (Soyuz-T Test 3) Low Earth Uncrewed test of Soyuz-T spacecraft 17 December 10:31 Successful |colspan=8| December |- 1 2 December 00:17 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 USSRKosmos 870 (Tselina-O 33) Low Earth SIGINT 20 December 1980 Successful 1 2 December 02:44 USSRMolniya-M/Blok ML USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRMolniya-2 16 Molniya Communications 18 January 1991 Successful 1 7 December 04:38 PRCLong March 2A PRCJiquan LA-2B (Site 138) Re-entry capsule recovered on 9 December PRCFSW-0 2 Low Earth Reconnaissance 2 December Successful 8 7 December 10:23 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 871 (Strela-1M 121) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 872 (Strela-1M 122) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 873 (Strela-1M 123) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 874 (Strela-1M 124) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 875 (Strela-1M 125) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 876 (Strela-1M 126) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 877 (Strela-1M 127) Low Earth Communications Successful USSRKosmos 878 (Strela-1M 128) Low Earth Communications Successful 1 9 December 10:00 USSRSoyuz-U USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRKosmos 879 (Zenit-2M/Gektor 73) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 22 December Successful 1 9 December 20:00 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 Target for Kosmos 886 USSRKosmos 880 (DS-P1-M 10) Low Earth ASAT target 31 August 1991 Successful 2 15 December 01:30 USSRProton-K USSRBaikonur Site 81/24 Test flight of two VA capsules without FGB service modules USSRKosmos 881 (TKS-VA 1) Low Earth Uncrewed test of TKS-VA spacecraft 15 December Successful USSRKosmos 882 (TKS-VA 2) Low Earth Uncrewed test of TKS-VA spacecraft 15 December Successful 1 15 December 13:59 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 883 (Tsikada 1) Low Earth Navigation Successful 1 17 December 09:30 USSRSoyuz-U USSRBaikonur Site 31/6 USSRKosmos 884 (Zenit-4MK/Germes 71) GRU Low Earth Reconnaissance 29 December Successful 2 17 December 12:00 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/2 USSRKosmos 885 (Taifun-2 2) Low Earth Radar calibration 14 October 1979 Successful 2USSR17 Romb subsatellites Low Earth Radar calibration 1977-1978 Successful inherit 1 19 December 18:19 USATitan IIID USAVandenberg SLC-4E USAUS Air Force USAKH-11 1 (Kennen, OPS 5705) NRO Low Earth Reconnaissance 28 January 1979 Successful 1 27 December 12:05 USSRTsyklon-2 USSRBaikonur Site 90/19 USSRKosmos 886 (IS-A 4) Low Earth ASAT test Successful 1 28 December 06:38 USSRMolniya-M/Blok BL USSRPlesetsk Site 43/4 USSRMolniya-3 17L Molniya Communications 19 March 1990 Successful 1 28 December 07:49 USSRKosmos-3M USSRPlesetsk Site 132/1 USSRKosmos 887 (Parus 7) Low Earth Navigation Successful |} Launches from the Moon 1 19 August 5:25 USSR Luna 24 Ascent stage Mare Crisium (Luna) Third uncrewed lunar sample return mission USSR Luna 24 Return capsule USSR Highly elliptical Sample return 22 August 1976 Successful |} Deep space rendezvous DateSpacecraftEventRemarks 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 g 3 September Viking 2 Lander landed in Utopia Planitia References Footnotes 1976 on expanded Category:Spaceflight by year