1985 in spaceflight

The following is an outline of 1985 in spaceflight.

1985 in spaceflight

National firsts
Space traveller	Mexico  Saudi Arabia
Rockets
Maiden flights	Space Shuttle Atlantis M-3SII
Crewed flights
Orbital	11
Total travellers	63
v t e

1985 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 1984 1986 →

Overview

First Atlantis flight

This section is an excerpt from Space Shuttle Atlantis.[edit]

Atlantis in orbit in 2010, during STS-132

Space Shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle designation: OV‑104) is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States.^[1] Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built.^[2][3] Its maiden flight was STS-51-J made from October 3 to 7, 1985.

Orbital launches

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

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January
7 January 19:26	M-3SII / KM-P		M-3SII-1	Kagoshima LP-M		ISAS
		Sakigake (MS-T5)	ISAS	Heliocentric	1P/Halley comet flyby	8 January 1999	Successful
		Maiden flight of M-3SII. First Japanese deep space probe.
9 January 10:45	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 1616 (Yantar-4K2 №12/Kobalt №12)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
15 January 14:50	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/1
		Kosmos 1617 (Strela-3 №1)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1618 (Strela-3 №2)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1619 (Strela-3 №3)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1620 (Strela-3 №4)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1621 (Strela-3 №5)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1622 (Strela-3 №6)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
16 January	Molniya-M / Blok-ML			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Molniya-3 36L	NPO PM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
16 January	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Kosmos 1623 (Zenit-8 №10/Oblik №10)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
17 January	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1
		Kosmos 1624 (Strela-2M №36)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
18 January	Proton-K / Blok-DM			Baikonur Site 200/39
		Gorizont 11 (Gorizont 21L)		Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
23 January	Tsyklon-2			Baikonur LC-90
		Kosmos 1625 (US-P №20)		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
24 January	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/2
		Kosmos 1626 (Tselina-D №47)		Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
24 January 19:50	Space Shuttle Discovery / IUS			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-C	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	27 January 21:23	Successful
		Orion 1 (USA-8/Magnum 1)	NRO	Geosynchronous	ELINT	In orbit	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February
1 February 19:36	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/2
		Kosmos 1627 (Parus №48)		Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
6 February	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1628 (Zenit-8 №11/Oblik №11)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
6 February	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/1
		Meteor-2 12		Low Earth	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
8 February 06:10	Titan 34B / Agena-D			Vandenberg SLC-4W
		Quasar 6 (SDS 6/USA-9)	NRO	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Successful
8 February 23:22	Ariane 3			Kourou ELA-1		Arianespace
		Arabsat-1A	Arabsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	March 1992	Successful
		Brasilsat-A1	Embratel	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Arabsat 1A failed in March 1992
21 February	Proton-K Blok-DM			Baikonur Site 200/39
		Kosmos 1629 (US-KS №3)		Geosynchronous	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
27 February	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 1630 (Yantar-4K2 №13/Kobalt №13)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
27 February	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1
		Kosmos 1631 (Taifun-1 №18/Vektor №18)		Low Earth	Radar Calibration	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March
1 March	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1632 (Zenit-8 №12/Oblik №12)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
5 March	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/2
		Kosmos 1633 (Tselina-D №48)		Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
13 March 02:00	Atlas E / OIS			Vandenberg SLC-3W
		Geosat	US Navy	Sun-synchronous	Earth observation	In orbit	Successful
		Mission ended in January 1990
14 March	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/2
		Kosmos 1634 (Parus №49)		Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
21 March	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/2
		Kosmos 1635 (Strela-1M №289)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1636 (Strela-1M №290)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1637 (Strela-1M №291)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1638 (Strela-1M №292)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1639 (Strela-1M №293)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1640 (Strela-1M №294)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1641 (Strela-1M №295)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1642 (Strela-1M №296)		Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
22 March	Proton-K Blok-DM			Baikonur Site 200/40
		Ekran 14 (Ekran 28L)	NPO PM	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
22 March 23:55:00	Atlas G / Centaur-D1AR		AC-63	Cape Canaveral LC-36B
		Intelsat VA F-10 (Intelsat 510)	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	July 1999	Successful
25 March	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Kosmos 1643 (Yantar-4KS1 №3/Terilen №3)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → April
3 April	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 1644 (Zenit-8 №13/Oblik №13)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
12 April 13:59	Space Shuttle Discovery / PAM-D			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-D	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	19 April 13:54	Successful
		Anik C1	Telesat Canada	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Leasat 3 (Syncom-4 3)	US Navy	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts including the first sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space (Senator Jake Garn). Anik C1 was retired on 5 May 2003. Leasat 3 failed to maneuver to geosynchronous orbit and was re-captured by mission STS-51-I in August, repaired and subsequently maneuvered to geosynchronous orbit. Discovery suffered extensive brake and tyre damage upon landing at Kennedy Space Center.
13 April	Zenit-2			Baikonur Site 45
		Kosmos (EPN 03.0694 №1)		Low Earth	Vehicle Evaluation	In orbit	Failure
16 April	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1645 (Foton №1)		Low Earth	Microgravity	In orbit	Operational
18 April	Tsyklon-2			Baikonur Site 90
		Kosmos 1646 (US-P №21)	GRU	Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
19 April	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1647 (Yantar-4K2 №14/Kobalt №14)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
25 April	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Kosmos 1648 (Zenit-8 №14/Oblik №14)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
26 April	Molniya-M / Blok-SO-L			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Interkosmos 23 (Prognoz №10)	Interkosmos/NPO Lavochkin	Molniya	Magnetosphere research	In orbit	Operational
29 April 16:02	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-B	NASA	Low Earth	Microgravity research	6 May 16:11	Successful
		Spacelab Long Module 1	NASA/ESRO	Low Earth (Challenger)	Microgravity research		Successful
		GLOMAR		Intended: Low Earth	Getaway Special		Deployment failure
		NUSAT		Low Earth	Getaway Special	15 December	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts; GLOMAR failed to deploy from its GAS canister
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May
8 May 01:15	Ariane 3			Kourou ELA-1		Arianespace
		GStar 1	GTE Spacenet	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Télécom 1B	France Télécom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
15 May	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Kosmos 1649 (Zenit-8 №15/Oblik №15)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
17 May	Proton-K Blok-DM-2			Baikonur Site 200/39
		Kosmos 1650 (GLONASS №10)	NPO PM	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1651 (GLONASS №11)	NPO PM	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1652 (GLONASS-GVM №7)		Medium Earth	Dummy satellite	In orbit	Operational
22 May	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1653 (Resurs-F1 №22)		Low Earth (SSO)	Earth Observation	In orbit	Operational
23 May	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 1654 (Yantar-4K2 №15/Kobalt №15)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
29 May	Molniya-M / Blok-ML			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Molniya-3 39L	NPO PM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
30 May	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1
		Kosmos 1655 (Tsikada №12)	NPO PM	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
30 May	Proton-K Blok-DM-2			Baikonur Site 200/40
		Kosmos 1656 (Tselina-2 №2)		Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June
6 June 06:39	Soyuz-U2			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Soyuz T-13		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EO-4	26 September 09:51	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with two cosmonauts
7 June	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Kosmos 1657 (Resurs-F1 №23)		Low Earth	Earth Observation	In orbit	Operational
11 June	Molniya-M / Blok-2BL			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1658 (US-K №39)		Molniya	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
13 June	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1659 (Zenit-8 №16/Oblik №16)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
14 June	Tsyklon-3			Baikonur Site 32/1
		Kosmos 1660 (Geo-IK №6/Musson №6)	NPO PM	Low Earth	Geodesy	In orbit	Operational
17 June 11:33	Space Shuttle Discovery / PAM-D			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-G	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	24 June 13:11	Successful
		Morelos 1	Morelos	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Arabsat-1B	Arabsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Telstar 303	AT&T	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Spartan 101	NASA	Low Earth	Astronomy	24 June 13:11	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts including the first Saudi Arabian space traveller and member of royalty to fly in space (Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud) Arabsat 1B retired in 1993.
18 June	Molniya-M / Blok-2BL			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1661 (US-K №40)		Molniya	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
19 June	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/2
		Kosmos 1662 (Taifun-2 №20)		Low Earth	Radar calibration	In orbit	Operational
		23 Romb		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
21 June 00:39	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Progress 24		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	15 July 22:33	Successful
21 June	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1663 (Resurs-F1 №24)		Low Earth (SSO)	Earth Observation	In orbit	Operational
21 June	Zenit-2			Baikonur Site 45
		Kosmos (EPN 03.0694 №2)		Low Earth	Vehicle Evaluation	In orbit	Partial Failure
26 June	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Kosmos 1664 (Zenit-8 №17/Oblik №17)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
30 June 00:44	Atlas G / Centaur-D1AR		AC-64	Cape Canaveral LC-36B
		Intelsat VA F-11 (Intelsat 511)	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → July
2 July 11:23	Ariane 1			Kourou ELA-1		Arianespace
		Giotto	ESA	Heliocentric	Flyby of Halley's Comet	In orbit	Successful
		Closest approach of Halley's Comet (596 kilometres (370 mi)) achieved on 13 March 1986 Closest approach of 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup (200 kilometres (120 mi)) achieved on 10 July 1992
3 July	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1665 (Zenit-8 №18/Oblik №18)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
8 July	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/2
		Kosmos 1666 (Tselina-D №49)		Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
10 July	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1667 (Bion №7)		Low Earth	Life Science	In orbit	Operational
15 July	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 1668 (Zenit-8 №19/Oblik №19)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
17 July	Molniya-M / Blok-ML			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Molniya-3 37L	NPO PM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
19 July 13:05	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Kosmos 1669 (Progress)		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	30 August 01:20	Successful
29 July 21:00	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-F	NASA	Low Earth	Astronomical experiments	6 August 19:45	Successful
		PDP	NASA	Low Earth	Plasma research		Successful
		Spacelab 2 (three pallets)	NASA/ESRO	Low Earth (Challenger)	Astronomy		Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts; A main engine shut-down during ascent caused an Abort to Orbit, the first (and only) abort of the Space Shuttle program.
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August
1 August	Tsyklon-2			Baikonur Site 90
		Kosmos 1670 (US-A №26)		Low Earth	Ocean Surveillance	In orbit	Operational
2 August	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1671 (Zenit-8 №20/Oblik №20)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
3 August	Scout-G 1			Vandenberg SLC-5
		Transit-O 24	US Navy	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Transit-O 30	US Navy	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
7 August	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Kosmos 1672 (Resurs-F1 №25)		Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
8 August	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Kosmos 1673 (Yantar-1KFT №5/Kometa №5)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
8 August	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/1
		Kosmos 1674 (Tselina-D №50)		Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
8 August	Proton-K Blok-DM			Baikonur Site 200/39
		Raduga 16 (Gran 26L)	NPO PM	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 August	Molniya-M / Blok-2BL			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1675 (US-K №41)		Molniya	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
16 August	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1676 (Yantar-4K2 №16/Kobalt №16)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
18 August 23:33	M-3SII / KM-P		M-3SII-2	Kagoshima LP-M		ISAS
		Suisei (Planet A)	ISAS	Heliocentric	1P/Halley comet flyby	22 February 1991	Successful
22 August	Molniya-M / Blok-ML			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Molniya-1T 64 (Molniya-1T 74L)	NPO PM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
23 August	Tsyklon-2			Baikonur Site 90
		Kosmos 1677 (US-A №27)		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
27 August 10:58	Space Shuttle Discovery / PAM-D			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-I	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment and repair	3 September 13:15	Successful
		Aussat A1	Aussat Pty Ltd	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		ASC-1	ASC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Leasat 4 (Syncom-4 4)	US Navy	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts Leasat 4 failed in orbit after becoming operational for a short period Retrieved Leasat 3, deployed by STS-51-D in April and repaired the malfunctioning perigee motor to allow the satellite to reach geosynchronous orbit.
28 August 21:20	Titan 34D			Vandenberg SLC-4E
		KH-11 7 (Crystal 7)	NRO	Intended: Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	28 August	Launch Failure
		First stage propellant feed malfunction
29 August	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1678 (Resurs-F1 №26)		Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
29 August	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 1679 (Yantar-4K2 №17/Kobalt №17)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September
4 September	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1
		Kosmos 1680 (Strela-2M №27)	NPO PM	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
6 September	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1681 (Zenit-4MKT №27/Fram №27)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
12 September 23:26	Ariane 3			Kourou ELA		Arianespace
		Eutelsat I F-3 (ECS-3)	Eutelsat	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communications	12 September	Launch Failure
		Spacenet F3	Spacenet	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communications
		Third stage failed to ignite
17 September 12:38	Soyuz-U2			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Soyuz T-14		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EP-5	21 November 10:31	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts
19 September	Tsyklon-2			Baikonur Site 90
		Kosmos 1682 (US-P №22)		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
19 September	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1683 (Zenit-8 №21/Oblik №21)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
24 September	Molniya-M / Blok-2BL			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Kosmos 1684 (US-K №42)		Molniya	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
26 September	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1685 (Zenit-8 №22/Oblik №22)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
27 September 08:41	Proton-K			Baikonur Site 200/39
		Kosmos 1686 (TKS-M №1)		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	7 February 1991	Successful
		TKS-4; remained docked with Salyut 7 through that station's re-entry
28 September 23:17	Atlas G			Cape Canaveral LC-36B
		Intelsat VA F-11 (Intelsat 512)	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
30 September	Molniya-M / Blok-2BL			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1687 (US-K №43)		Molniya	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → October
2 October	Kosmos-3M			Kapustin Yar Site 107
		Kosmos 1688 (Taifun-2 №21)		Low Earth	Radar calibration	In orbit	Operational
		O Romb		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
3 October	Vostok-2M			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 1689 (Resurs-O1 №1)	NPO Planeta	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
3 October	Molniya-M / Blok-ML			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Molniya-3 38L	NPO PM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
3 October 15:15	Space Shuttle Atlantis / IUS			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-J	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	7 October 17:00	Successful
		DSCS-III 2 (USA-11)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		DSCS-III 3 (USA-12)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts; Maiden flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis
9 October 02:53	Atlas E/SGS-2			Vandenberg SLC-3W
		GPS-11 (USA-10)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
9 October	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/1
		Kosmos 1690 (Strela-3 №7)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1691 (Strela-3 №8)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1692 (Strela-3 №9)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1693 (Strela-3 №10)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1694 (Strela-3 №11)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1695 (Strela-3 №12)	VKS	Low Earth	Military communications	In orbit	Operational
16 October	Soyuz U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 1696 (Zenit-8 №23/Oblik №23)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
21 October	Long March 2C		2C-Y4	Jiuquan LA-2B		CASC
		FSW-0 7	CAST	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
22 October	Zenit-2			Baikonur Site 45/1
		Kosmos 1697 (EPN 03.0694 №3)		Low Earth	Vehicle Evaluation	In orbit	Operational
22 October	Molniya-M / Blok-2BL			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Kosmos 1698 (US-K №44)		Molniya	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
23 October	Molniya-M / Blok-ML			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Molniya-1T 65 (Molniya-1T 73L)	NPO PM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
23 October	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 133/3
		Kosmos (Parus №50)	NPO PM	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Failure
24 October	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/1
		Meteor-3 1	VNIEM	Low Earth	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
25 October	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1699 (Yantar-4K2 №18/Kobalt №18)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
25 October	Proton-K / Blok-DM-2			Baikonur Site 200/40
		Kosmos 1700 (Luch №1/Altair 11L)	NPO PM	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 October	Molniya-M / Blok-ML			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Molniya-1T 66 (Molniya-1T 76L)	NPO PM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
30 October 17:00	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-61-A	NASA	Low Earth	Microgravity research	6 November 17:44	Successful
		Spacelab Long Module 2	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Spacelab D1		Successful
		GLOMAR	DLR	Low Earth	Getaway Special	26 December 1986	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with eight astronauts Maiden flight of Spacelab Long Module #2
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → November
9 November	Molniya-M / Blok-2BL			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1701 (US-K №45)	NPO PM	Molniya	Early warning	In orbit	Operational
13 November	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1702 (Zenit-8 №24/Oblik №24)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
15 November	Proton-K / Blok-DM			Baikonur Site 200/39
		Raduga 17 (Gran 28L)	NPO PM	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
22 November	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/2
		Kosmos 1703 (Tselina-D №51)	Yuzhnoye	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
27 November 00:29	Space Shuttle Atlantis / IUS			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-61-B	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	2 December 21:33	Successful
		Morelos 2	Morelos	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Aussat A2	Aussat Pty Ltd	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Satcom K2	RCA Americom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		OEX Target	NASA	Low Earth		2 March 1987	Successful
		EASE/ACCESS	NASA	Low Earth (Atlantis)	Structure assembly experiment	2 December 21:33	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts including the first Mexican space traveller.
28 November	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 133/3
		Kosmos 1704 (Parus №51)	NPO PM	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → December
3 December	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1705 (Zenit-8 №25/Oblik №25)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
11 December	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1706 (Yantar-4K2 №19/Kobalt №19)	GRU	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Operational
12 December	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/1
		Kosmos 1707 (Tselina-D №52)	Yuzhnoye	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
13 December	Scout-G 1			Wallops LA-3
		ITV 1 (USA-13)	USAF	Low Earth	ASAT Target	In orbit	Operational
		ITV 2 (USA-14)	USAF	Low Earth	ASAT Target	In orbit	Operational
13 December	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Kosmos 1708 (Resurs-F1 №)		Low Earth (SSO)	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
19 December	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1
		Kosmos 1709 (Parus №52)	NPO PM	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
24 December	Molniya-M / Blok-ML			Plesetsk Site 43/4
		Molniya-3 40L	NPO PM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
24 December	Proton-K / Blok-DM-2			Baikonur Site 200/39
		Kosmos 1710 (GLONASS №12)	NPO PM	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1711 (GLONASS №13)	NPO PM	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 1712 (GLONASS-GVM №8)		Medium Earth	Dummy Satellite	In orbit	Operational
26 December	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32/1
		Meteor-2 13	VNIEM	Low Earth	Meteorology	In orbit	Operational
27 December	Soyuz U			Plesetsk Site 41/1
		Kosmos 1713 (Efir №2)		Low Earth	Cosmic radiation	In orbit	Operational
28 December	Zenit-2			Baikonur Site 45
		Kosmos 1714 (Tselina-2 №3)	Yuzhnoye	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Partial Failure
← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

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

Suborbital flights

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
13 September	ASM-135 ASAT			Celestial Eagle, Vandenberg		US Air Force
			US Air Force	Suborbital	Anti-satellite weapon	13 September	Successful
		Successful intercept and destruction of Solwind P78-1.

Deep Space Rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
11 June	Vega 1	delivered lander and balloon on Venus
15 June	Vega 2	delivered lander and balloon on Venus
11 September	ISEE-3/ICE	Flyby of 21P/Giacobini-Zinner

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
16 April	3 hours 6 minutes		STS-51-D Discovery	Jeffrey A. Hoffman S. David Griggs	Installed an improvised switch-pulling tool, called the Flyswatter, on the RMS robotic arm. The Flyswatter was used in an effort to push the sequencer start lever on the Leasat-3 in the proper position for deployment.[4] This attempted repair was the first unplanned spacewalk in NASA history.[5]
2 August 07:15	5 hours	12:15	Salyut 7 EO-4	Vladimir Dzhanibekov Viktor Savinykh	Installed a third pair of solar arrays on exterior of Salyut 7.
31 August	7 hours 20 minutes		STS-51-I Discovery	William Fisher James van Hoften	Van Hoften rode the RMS to capture the Leasat 3 satellite and pulled it into payload bay. Fisher and Van Hoften secured and started repairs on the satellite in the payload bay. The retrieval was complicated by a malfunction of the RMS that made operation of the arm more complicated.[6]
1 September	4 hours 26 minutes		STS-51-I Discovery	William Fisher James van Hoften	Completed repairs on the Leasat 3 satellite. Then Van Hoften, riding the RMS, heaved the satellite out of the payload bay, imparting the required spin needed to fire the perigee motor.[6]
29 November	5 hours 32 minutes		STS-61-B Atlantis	Jerry L. Ross Sherwood C. Spring	Practiced construction techniques in the payload bay and assembled and disassembled the two experimental EASE/ACCESS structures.[7]
1 December	6 hours 41 minutes		STS-61-B Atlantis	Jerry L. Ross Sherwood C. Spring	Conducted supplementary experiments on the EASE and ACCESS structures, including a test of the RMS to aid in the construction experiments.[7]