Contents

1996 in spaceflight

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
v t e

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

Intelsat 708 launch failure[edit]

Launches[edit]

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January[edit]
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[edit]
1 February 01:15	Atlas IIAS			Cape Canaveral LC-36B		International Launch Services
		Palapa C1	Telkom Indonesia	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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	Space tether experiment	In orbit	Operational
		USA-124 (TiPS)	NRL	Low Earth	Space tether experiment	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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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