1984 in spaceflight

The following is an outline of 1984 in spaceflight.

1984 in spaceflight

Orbital launches
First	5 Jan
Last	22 Dec
Total	129
Successes	128
Failures	1
National firsts
Space traveller	Canada  India
Rockets
Maiden flights	Ariane 3 Atlas G Long March 3 Space Shuttle Discovery
Retirements	M-3S Titan 24B
Crewed flights
Orbital	8
Total travellers	37
v t e

1984 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 1983 1985 →

Launches

← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January
23 January 07:58	N-II/Star-37E		N-12	Tanegashima Space Center, LP-N		Mitsubishi Heavy Industry (MHI)
		Yuri 2a (BS-2a)	NHK	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Successful
29 January 12:25	Long March 3		Y1	Xichang Satellite Launch Center, LC-3		MASI
		DFH-2 1 (STTW T1)		Intended: Geostationary (GEO) Achieved: elliptical orbit	Communications, technology test	In orbit	Partial failure
		Third stage failed after restart, payload left in elliptical orbit much lower than planned geostationary transfer orbit.[1] Many planned tests were still carried out.
31 January 03:08	Titan 34D/Transtage			Cape Canaveral LC-40
		OPS-0441 (Vortex 4)	NRO	High Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
February
3 February 13:00	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-41-B	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	11 February 12:15	Successful
		Westar 6	Western Union	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: Low Earth	Communications	16 November 11:59	Deployment failure
		Palapa B2	Telkom Indonesia	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: Low Earth	Communications	16 November 11:59	Deployment failure
		SPAS-1A	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Microgravity research	11 February 12:15	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts; first use of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and the first Space Shuttle landing at the Kennedy Space Center. PAM failures led to Westar 6 and Palapa B2 being stranded in Low Earth orbit. The satellites were subsequently retrieved by Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-51-A in November and were returned to Earth for refurbishment. Westar 6 was sold to AsiaSat and renamed AsiaSat 1, and launched by a Chinese Long March 3 carrier rocket on 7 April 1990. Palapa B2 was renamed Palapa B2R and was launched by an American Delta II 6925-8 carrier rocket on 13 April 1990.
5 February 18:44	Atlas H			Vandenberg SLC-3E
		OPS-8737 (NOSS 7)	US Navy	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
8 February 12:07	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Soyuz T-10		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EO-3	11 April 10:48	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts
14 February 08:00	M-3S		4	Kagoshima Space Center, LP-M		ISAS
		EXOS C (Ohzora)	ISAS	Low Earth	Upper atmosphere and ionosphere research	26 December 1988	Successful
		Final flight of M-3S
21 February 06:46	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Progress 19		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	1 April 18:18	Successful
March
5 March 00:50	Ariane 1			Kourou ELA		CNES
		Intelsat 508	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
April
3 April 13:08	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Soyuz T-11		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EP-3	2 October 10:57	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts including the first Indian space traveller
6 April 13:58	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-41-C	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment and repair	13 April 13:38	Successful
		LDEF	NASA	Low Earth	Material science	20 January 1990 06:35	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts; Solar Max repair mission LDEF retrieved by Space Shuttle Columbia during mission STS-32 in January 1990.
8 April 11:20	Long March 3		Y2	Xichang SLC, LC-3		MASI
		DFH-2 2 (STTW T2)		Geostationary	Communications, technology test	In orbit	Successful
		First successful Chinese communications satellite on the geostationary orbit
14 April 16:52	Titan 34D/Transtage			Cape Canaveral LC-40
		OPS-7641 (DSP-12)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Early warning	In orbit	Successful
15 April 08:12	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Progress 20		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	7 May 00:32	Successful
17 April 18:45	Titan 24B			Vandenberg SLC-4W
		OPS-8424 (KH-8-54)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	13 August	Successful
		Final flight of Titan 24B and the final KH-8 spacecraft
May
7 May 22:47	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Progress 21		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	26 May 15:00	Successful
23 May 01:33	Ariane 1			Kourou ELA		Arianespace
		Spacenet F1	Spacenet	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
28 May 14:12	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Progress 22		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	15 July 18:52	Successful
June
9 June 23:03	Atlas G			Cape Canaveral LC-36B
		Intelsat 509	Intelsat	Intended: Geosynchronous Achieved: Low Earth	Communications	24 October	Launch Failure
		Maiden flight of Atlas G Upper stage malfunction left payload in a useless orbit
13 June 11:37	Atlas E/SGS-2			Vandenberg SLC-3W
		USA-1 (GPS-9)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
25 June 18:47	Titan 34D			Vandenberg SLC-4E
		USA-2 (KH-9-19)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	18 October	Successful
		USA-3 (SSF-D-5)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	ELINT	In orbit	Successful
July
17 July 17:40	Soyuz-U2			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Soyuz T-12		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EP-4	29 July 12:55	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts First crewed flight of Soyuz-U2
26 July 18:05	Sonda III			Barreira do Inferno Launch Center		IAE
			IAE	Suborbital	Engineering test	26 July	Successful
		688 km downrange. 565 km apogee. 12 min 40 s flight duration. 17th Sonda III launch.[2]
August
2 August 20:30	N-II/Star 37E		N-13	Tanegashima Space Center, LP-N		MHI
		Himawari 3 (GMS-3)	JMA	Geostationary	Meteorology	In orbit	Successful
4 August 13:32	Ariane 3			Kourou ELA		Arianespace
		Eutelsat 1F2	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Telecom 1A	France Télécom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Maiden flight of Ariane 3 Eutelsat 1F2 retired in 1993
14 August 06:28	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Progress 23		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	28 August 01:28	Successful
28 August 18:03	Titan 34B			Vandenberg SLC-4W
		USA-4 (SDS-1-5)	US Air Force	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Successful
30 August 12:41	Space Shuttle Discovery			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-41-D	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	5 September 15:37	Successful
		SBS-4	SBS	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Telstar 302	AT&T	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Leasat 2	US Navy	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		OAST-1	NASA	Low Earth (Discovery)	Solar array R&D	5 September 15:37	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts Maiden flight of Space Shuttle Discovery
September
8 September 21:41	Atlas E/SGS-2			Vandenberg SLC-3W
		USA-5 (GPS-10)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
12 September 05:44	Long March 2C		Y3	Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, LA-2B (Site 138)		MASI
		FSW-0 6		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	29 September	Successful
October
5 October 11:03	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-41-G	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	13 October 16:26	Successful
		ERBS	NASA	Low Earth	Radiation budget observation	9 January 2023 04:04[3]	Successful
		OSTA-3	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Earth imaging	13 October 16:26	Successful
		ORS	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Satellite refuelling demonstration	13 October 16:26	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts including the first Canadian space traveller Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) ERBS retired on 14 October 2005
November
8 November 12:15	Space Shuttle Discovery			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-A	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment and retrieval	16 November 11:59	Successful
		Anik D2	Telesat Canada	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Leasat 1	US Navy	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts Anik D2 retired on 31 January 1995 Retrieved Westar 6 and Palapa B2 satellites which were stranded in Low Earth orbit after PAM failures during deployment from Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-41-B in February.
10 November 01:14	Ariane 3			Kourou ELA		Arianespace
		Spacenet F2	Spacenet	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		MARECS 2	ESA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
21 November	Sonda IV			Barreira do Inferno Launch Center		CTA
			CTA	Suborbital	Engineering test	21 November	Successful
		600 km apogee. 1st Sonda IV launch.[4]
December
4 December 18:03	Titan 34D			Vandenberg SLC-4E
		USA-6 (KH-11-6)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Successful
12 December 10:42	Atlas E/Star-37S-ISS			Vandenberg SLC-3W
		NOAA 9 (NOAA-F)	NOAA	Sun-synchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Successful
22 December 00:02	Titan 34D/Transtage			Cape Canaveral LC-40
		USA-7 (DSP-12)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Early warning	In orbit	Successful

← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

Suborbital launches

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January-March
April-June
9 April[5]	Hwasong-5			Tonghae		Korean People's Army Strategic Force
			Korean People's Army Strategic Force	Suborbital	Missile test	9 April	Successful?
		Apogee: 200 kilometres (120 mi).
10 June	Minuteman 1B			Vandenberg AFB, LF-06		US Air Force
		Reentry vehicle	USAF	Suborbital	ABM target	10 June	Intercepted
		Target for HOE 4, modified for increased visibility, successfully intercepted.
10 June	HOE		HOE 4	Meck Island, Kwajalein Missile Range		US Air Force
		HOE 4	USAF	Suborbital	ABM test	10 June	Successful
		Successfully intercepted the target.
July-September
September (exact date unknown)[5]	Hwasong-5			Tonghae		Korean People's Army Strategic Force
			Korean People's Army Strategic Force	Suborbital	Missile test	September (exact date unknown)	Failure?
		Apogee: 200 kilometres (120 mi).
September (exact date unknown)[5]	Hwasong-5			Tonghae		Korean People's Army Strategic Force
			Korean People's Army Strategic Force	Suborbital	Missile test	September (exact date unknown)	Failure?
		Apogee: 200 kilometres (120 mi).
October-December

Deep-space rendezvous

There were no deep-space rendezvous in 1984.

EVAs

Start date/time	Duration	End time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
7 February	5 hours 55 minutes		STS-41-B Challenger	Bruce McCandless II Robert L. Stewart	McCandless and Stewart rode on the Crewed Maneuvering Unit (MMUs) during the first untethered EVAs in history. Both astronauts practiced using tools and procedures for the planned capture and repair of the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite to be performed in a subsequent flight.[6]
9 February	6 hours 17 minutes		STS-41-B Challenger	Bruce McCandless II Robert L. Stewart	Continued testing the MMUs and practice with tools and procedures to be used with recovery and repair of the SMM satellite.[6]
8 April 14:18	2 hours 38 minutes	16:56	STS-41-C Challenger	George Nelson James van Hoften	Nelson rode the MMU to the SMM satellite. Van Hoften stood by in the payload bay to provide any needed assistance. After three unsuccessful attempts to capture the SMM with the Trunnion Pin Acquisition Device (TPAD) tool and one attempt to grab the satellite by hand, the spacewalkers returned to Challenger. The SMM was recovered the next day with the RMS.[7]
11 April 08:58	6 hours 44 minutes	15:42	STS-41-C Challenger	George Nelson James van Hoften	Completed repair of the SMM satellite and then continued testing of the MMU.[8]
23 April 04:31	4 hours 20 minutes	08:46	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Installed a new ladder to reach the ruptured Main Oxidizer Line on Salyut 7. First of five EVAs to conduct the repair.
26 April 02:40	4 hours 56 minutes	07:40	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Removed installation and installed a valve in the spare oxidizer line. Second of five EVAs to repair the Main Oxidizer Line on the station.
29 April 01:35	2 hours 45 minutes	04:20	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Installed a bypass line around the damaged section of the Main Oxidizer Line on the station. Third of five repair EVAs.
3 May 23:15	2 hours 45 minutes	4 May 02:00	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Installed a second bypass line and replaced thermal insulation at the Main Oxidizer Line of the station. Fourth of five repair EVAs.
18 May 17:52	3 hours 5 minutes	20:57	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Installed two new solar arrays onto the space station.
25 July 14:55	3 hours 35 minutes	18:29	Salyut 7 EP-4	Vladimir Dzhanibekov Svetlana Savitskaya	Tested the URI multi-purpose tool with several metal samples. Savitskaya became the first women in history to perform an EVA.
8 August 08:46	5 hours	13:46	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Using a pneumatic press tool delivered by Soyuz T-12, the cosmonauts completed the fifth and final EVA to repair the damaged Main Oxidizer Line of the station by crimping the ends of the ruptured pipe.
11 October 15:38	3 hours 29 minutes	19:05	STS-41-G Challenger	David Leestma Kathryn Sullivan	Demonstrated the use of the Orbital Refueling System, including the installation of an ORS valve maintenance kit.[9] Sullivan was the first American women and the second women in history to conduct an EVA.[10]
12 November 13:25	6 hours	19:25	STS-51-A Discovery	Joseph P. Allen Dale Gardner	Allen rode the MMU to the Palapa B2 satellite and retrieved it into the payload bay. Gardner and Allen then secured the satellite in the payload bay for return to Earth.[11]
14 November 11:09	5 hours 42 minutes	16:51	STS-51-A Discovery	Joseph P. Allen Dale Gardner	Gardner rode the MMU to the Westar 6 satellite and retrieved it into the payload bay. Allen and Gardner then secured the satellite in the payload bay for return to Earth.[11]