1986 in spaceflight

The year 1986 saw the destruction of Space Shuttle Challenger shortly after lift-off, killing all seven aboard,^[1] the first in-flight deaths of American astronauts. This accident followed the successful flight of Columbia just weeks earlier,^[2] and dealt a major setback to the U.S. crewed space program, suspending the Shuttle program for 32 months.^[3]

1986 in spaceflight

Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates during the launch of STS-51-L, killing all seven astronauts
National firsts
Satellite	Sweden
Rockets
Maiden flights	Ariane 2
Retirements	Ariane 1 Space Shuttle Challenger
Crewed flights
Orbital	2
Total travellers	9
v t e

1986 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 1985 1987 →

The year also saw numerous fly-bys of Halley's Comet as well as other successes.

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
12 January 11:55	Space Shuttle Columbia			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-61-C	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	18 January 13:58	Successful
		Satcom K1	RCA Americom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		MSL-2	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Microgravity experiments	18 January 13:58	Successful
		Getaway Special Bridge	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Getaway Special carrier	18 January 13:58	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts; Maiden flight of the Getaway Special Bridge
28 January 16:38	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
		STS-51-L	NASA	Intended: Low Earth	Satellite deployment	+ 73 seconds	Launch failure
		TDRS-B	NASA	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communications
		SPARTAN 203	NASA	Intended: Low Earth	Examine Halley's Comet
		Space Shuttle Challenger disaster; Vehicle disintegrated at + 73 seconds from an O-ring failure in the right SRB. All seven astronauts were killed, including Christa McAuliffe, the intended first Teacher in Space. First Shuttle launch from LC-39B.
February
9 February 10:06	Atlas H			Vandenberg SLC-3E
		USA-15 (NOSS-8)	US Navy	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
		USA-16 (NOSS)	US Navy	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
		USA-17 (NOSS)	US Navy	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
		USA-18 (NOSS)	US Navy	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
19 February 21:28	Proton-K			Baikonur Site 200/39
		DOS-7 (Mir Core)		Low Earth (Mir)	Space station	23 March 2001 05:07	Successful
		Core module of the Mir space station
22 February 01:44	Ariane 1			Kourou ELA		Arianespace
		SPOT 1	CNES	Sun-synchronous	Earth observation	In orbit	Successful
		Viking	SSC	Sun-synchronous	Plasma research	In orbit	Successful
		Final flight of Ariane 1 SPOT 1 retired on 31 December 1990 and orbit was lowered to a disposal orbit in 2003 Viking is the first Swedish satellite, and operations concluded on 12 May 1987
March
13 March 12:33	Soyuz-U2			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Soyuz T-15		Low Earth (Salyut 7 and Mir)	Salyut 7 EO-5 Mir EO-1	16 July 12:34	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with two cosmonauts; Final crewed spaceflight to Salyut 7 and the first to Mir. Final flight of the Soyuz-T spacecraft. Only spacecraft to dock with two space stations during one flight.
19 March 10:08	Soyuz-U2			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Progress 25		Low Earth (Mir)	Logistics	21 April 00:48	Successful
28 March 23:30	Ariane 3			Kourou ELA		Arianespace
		GStar 2	GTE Spacenet	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Brasilsat-A2	Embratel	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Brasilsat-A2 was retired on 6 March 2004 and moved 200 kilometres (120 mi) higher to a graveyard orbit
April
18 April 17:45	Titan 34D			Vandenberg SLC-4E
		KH-9-20	NRO	Intended: Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	+ 8.5 seconds	Launch Failure
		SSF-D-6	NRO	Intended: Sun-synchronous	ELINT
		SRM burnthrough, exploded 8.5 seconds after launch Final flight of the KH-9 spacecraft
23 April 19:40	Soyuz-U2			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Progress 26		Low Earth (Mir)	Logistics	23 June 18:41	Successful
May
3 May 22:18	Delta 3914			Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17A		McDonnell Douglas
		GOES-G	NOAA, NASA	Geostationary	Weather satellite	3 May	Launch Failure
		Rocket destroyed 71 sec. after liftoff due to engine shutdown; First launch from CCAFS after Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
21 May 08:21	Soyuz-U2			Baikonur Site 1/5
		Soyuz TM-1		Low Earth (Mir)	Test flight	30 May 04:26	Successful
		Maiden flight of Soyuz-TM spacecraft; Uncrewed test flight
31 May 00:53	Ariane 2			Kourou ELA		Arianespace
		Intelsat 514	Intelsat	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communications	31 May	Launch Failure
		Maiden flight of Ariane 2; Third stage failed to ignite
August
28 August 08:02	Molniya-M/2BL			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 1774 (Oko)		Molniya	Missile defence	2 November 2010 15:14	Successful
September
5 September 15:08	Delta 3920			Cape Canaveral LC-17B		NASA
		USA-19 (Delta 180)	SDIO	LEO	Sensor development	28 October 1986	Successful
		Satellite impactor test for the Strategic Defense Initiative.
17 September 15:52	Atlas E/Star-37S-ISS			Vandenberg SLC-3W
		NOAA-10 (NOAA-G)	NOAA	Sun-synchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Successful
November
14 November 00:23	Scout G-1			Vandenberg SLC-5		US Air Force
		Polar BEAR P87-1	US Air Force/STP	Low Earth (Polar)		In orbit	Successful
December
5 December 02:30	Atlas G			Cape Canaveral LC-36B
		USA-20 (FLTSATCOM 7)	US Navy	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful

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

Deep space rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
24 January	Voyager 2	Flyby of Uranus	Closest approach: 71,000 kilometres (44,000 mi)
6 March	Vega 1	Flyby of Halley's Comet	Closest approach: 8,890 kilometres (5,520 mi)
8 March	Suisei	Flyby of Halley's Comet	Closest approach: 151,000 kilometres (94,000 mi)
9 March	Vega 2	Flyby of Halley's Comet	Closest approach: 8,030 kilometres (4,990 mi)
11 March	Sakigake	Distant flyby of Halley's Comet	Closest approach: 6,990,000 kilometres (4,340,000 mi)
14 March	Giotto	Flyby of Halley's Comet	Closest approach: 595 kilometres (370 mi)

EVAs

Start date/time	Duration	End time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
28 May 05:43	3 hours 50 minutes	09:33	Salyut 7 EO-5	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Retrieved test panels from the outside of Salyut 7 and assembled a test "girder-constructor" apparatus in preparation for work on Mir.
31 May 04:57	5 hours	09:57	Salyut 7 EO-5	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Conducted additional tests on the experimental construction equipment, including the welding of several girders joints.