1998 in spaceflight

This article outlines notable events occurring in 1998 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs.

1998 in spaceflight

A Proton-K launches Zarya, the first module of the International Space Station
Orbital launches
First	7 January
Last	30 December
Total	82
Successes	75
Failures	5
Partial failures	2
Catalogued	77
National firsts
Satellite	Egypt  Chile
Space traveller	Spain
Rockets
Maiden flights	Athena II Delta II 7326 Delta II 7420 Delta II 7425 Delta III Shtil'
Retirements	Atlas II Titan IVA
Crewed flights
Orbital	7
Total travellers	39
v t e

1998 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 1997 1999 →

Zarya launch

This paragraph is an excerpt from Zarya (ISS module) § Launch and flight.[edit]

Zarya was launched on 20 November 1998 atop a Russian Proton-K rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81 in Kazakhstan, into a 400-kilometer (250 mi) orbit, with a planned operational lifetime of at least 15 years.

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 02:28	Athena II			Spaceport Florida LC-46		Lockheed Martin
		Lunar Prospector	NASA	Selenocentric	Lunar orbiter	31 July 1999	Successful
		Maiden flight of Athena II, first orbital launch from Spaceport Florida
10 January 00:32	Delta II 7925-9.5			Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		Boeing IDS
		Skynet 4D	MoD	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
22 January 12:56	Shavit			Palmachim		ISA
		Ofeq-4		Intended: Low Earth (retrograde)	Reconnaissance	22 January	Launch Failure
		Second stage failure
23 January 02:48	Space Shuttle Endeavour			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-89	NASA	Low Earth (Mir)	Shuttle-Mir Program	31 January 16:57	Successful
		SpaceHab Logistics Double Module	NASA/SpaceHab	Low Earth (Endeavour)	Logistics
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts
29 January 16:33	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Soyuz TM-27	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Mir EO-25	25 August 05:24	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts
29 January 18:37	Atlas IIA			Cape Canaveral SLC-36A
		USA-137 (SDS-3-1)	NRO	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		NRO Launch 5
February
4 February 23:29	Ariane 4 44LP			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		Brazilsat B3	Embratel	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Inmarsat 3F5	Inmarsat	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Operational
10 February 13:20	Taurus 2210			Vandenberg LC-576E		Orbital Sciences
		GFO	US Navy	Low Earth	Radar altimetry	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm G1	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm G2	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Celestis-02	Celestis	Low Earth	Space burial	In orbit	Successful
14 February 14:34	Delta II 7420-10C			Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		Boeing IDS
		Globalstar 1	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 4	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 2	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 3	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of Delta II 7420
17 February 10:34	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 2349 (Yantar)		Low Earth	Cartography	2 April	Successful
18 February 13:58	Delta II 7920-10C			Vandenberg SLC-2W		Boeing IDS
		Iridium 52	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	5 November 2018[1]	Successful
		Iridium 56	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	11 October 2018[2]	Successful
		Iridium 54	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	11 May 2019[3]	Successful
		Iridium 50	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	23 September 2018[4]	Successful
		Iridium 53	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	30 September 2018[5]	Successful
21 February 07:55	H-II			Tanegashima LA-Y		NASDA
		Kakehashi (COMETS)	NASDA	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: Medium Earth	Communications	In orbit	Partial Failure
		Upper stage failure led to lower orbit than planned
26 February 07:07	Pegasus-XL			Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
		SNOE	NASA/UC Boulder	Low Earth	Nitric Oxide research	13 December 2003	Successful
		Teledesic 1	Teledesic	Low Earth	Communications	9 October 2000	Successful
27 February 22:38	Ariane 4 42P			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		Hot Bird 4	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 February 00:21	Atlas IIAS			Cape Canaveral SLC-36B		International Launch Services
		Intelsat 806	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
March
14 March 22:45	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Progress M-38	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Logistics	15 May	Successful
		VDU 2	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Mir attitude control unit	23 March 2001 05:50	Successful
16 March 21:32	Atlas II			Cape Canaveral SLC-36A
		USA-138 (UHF F/O F8)	US Navy	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Final flight of baseline Atlas II
24 March 01:46	Ariane 4 40			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		SPOT 4	CNES	Sun-synchronous	Earth Imaging	In orbit	Operational
25 March 17:01	Long March 2C			Taiyuan LC-1
		Iridium 51	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Iridium 61	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	23 July 2019[6]	Successful
30 March 06:02	Delta II 7920-10C			Vandenberg SLC-2W		Boeing IDS
		Iridium 55	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	31 March 2019[7]	Successful
		Iridium 57	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Iridium 58	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	7 April 2019[8]	Successful
		Iridium 59	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	11 March 2019[9]	Successful
		Iridium 60	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	17 March 2019[10]	Successful
April
2 April 02:42	Pegasus-XL			Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
		TRACE	NASA	Low Earth	Solar research	In orbit	Operational
7 April 02:13	Proton-K/DM2			Baikonur Site 81/23		International Launch Services
		Iridium 62	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	7 November 2018[11]	Successful
		Iridium 63	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Iridium 64	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	1 April 2019[12]	Successful
		Iridium 65	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	19 July 2018[13]	Successful
		Iridium 66	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	23 August 2018[14]	Successful
		Iridium 67	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	2 July 2018[15]	Successful
		Iridium 68	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	6 June 2018[16]	Successful
17 April 18:19	Space Shuttle Columbia			Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
		STS-90	NASA	Low Earth	Microgravity research	3 May 16:09	Successful
		Spacelab LM-2 (Neurolab)	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Life science research
		EDO Pallet	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Cryogenic mission duration extension pallet
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts Final flight of Spacelab Long Module No. 2
24 April 22:38	Delta II 7420-10C			Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		Boeing IDS
		Globalstar 14	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 6	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 15	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Globalstar 8	Globalstar	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 April 22:53	Ariane 4 44P			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		Nilesat 101	Nilesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		BSAT-1B	BSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Nilesat is the first Egyptian satellite
29 April 04:36	Proton-K/DM-2			Baikonur Site 200/39		RVSN
		Kosmos 2350 (Prognoz SPRN)	RVSN	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
May
2 May 09:16	Long March 2C			Taiyuan LC-1
		Iridium 69	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Iridium 71	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
7 May 08:53	Molniya-M			Plesetsk Site 16/2
		Kosmos 2351 (Oko)	MO RF	Molniya	Early Warning	In orbit	Operational
7 May 23:45	Proton-K/DM-2M			Baikonur Site 81/23		International Launch Services
		EchoStar 4	EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 May 01:38	Titan IVB 401/Centaur			Cape Canaveral SLC-40		Lockheed Martin
		USA-139 / Orion 4	NRO	Geosynchronous	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
		NROL-6 mission.
13 May 15:52	Titan 23G			Vandenberg SLC-4W		Lockheed Martin
		NOAA-15 (NOAA-K)	NOAA	Sun-synchronous	Weather satellite	In orbit	Operational
14 May 22:12	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Progress M-39	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Logistics	29 October 04:14	Successful
17 May 21:16	Delta II 7920-10C			Vandenberg SLC-2W		Boeing IDS
		Iridium 70	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	11 October 2018[17]	Successful
		Iridium 72	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	14 May 2018[18]	Successful
		Iridium 73	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Iridium 74	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	11 June 2017[19]	Successful
		Iridium 75	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	10 July 2018[20]	Successful
30 May 10:00	Long March 3B			Xichang LC-2
		Zhongwei 1 (ChinaStar 1)	COTSC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
June
2 June 22:06	Space Shuttle Discovery			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-91	NASA	Low Earth (Mir)	Shuttle-Mir flight	12 June 18:00	Successful
		SpaceHab Logistics Double Module	NASA/SpaceHab	Low Earth (Discovery)	Logistics
		AMS-01	ESA	Low Earth (Discovery)	Particle physics
		Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts, landing with seven Final Shuttle-Mir flight and first shuttle flight with Super-lightweight Aluminium/Lithium ET
10 June 00:35	Delta II 7925-9.5			Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		Boeing IDS
		Thor 3	Telenor	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
15 June 22:58	Tsyklon-3			Plesetsk Site 32
		Kosmos 2352 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Intended: Medium Earth Actual: Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Partial Failure
		Kosmos 2353 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Intended: Medium Earth Actual: Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Partial Failure
		Kosmos 2354 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Intended: Medium Earth Actual: Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Partial Failure
		Kosmos 2355 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Intended: Medium Earth Actual: Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Partial Failure
		Kosmos 2356 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Intended: Medium Earth Actual: Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Partial Failure
		Kosmos 2357 (Strela-3)	MO RF	Intended: Medium Earth Actual: Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Partial Failure
		Third stage failure left satellites in lower orbit than planned
18 June 22:48	Atlas IIAS			Cape Canaveral SLC-36A		International Launch Services
		Intelsat 805	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
24 June 18:29	Soyuz-U			Plesetsk Site 43/3
		Kosmos 2358 (Yantar)	MO RF	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	22 October	Successful
25 June 14:00	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6
		Kosmos 2359 (Yantar)	MO RF	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	12 July 1999	Successful
July
1 July 00:48	Molniya-M			Plesetsk Site 43/3
		Molniya 3–49	MOM	Molniya	Communications	2 February 2011	Successful
3 July 18:12	M-V			Uchinoura		ISAS
		Nozomi (PLANET-B)	ISAS	Intended: Areocentric Actual: Heliocentric	Mars orbiter	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		Gravity assist produced less velocity than expected, spacecraft ran out of fuel trying to compensate
7 July 03:15	Shtil'			Novomoskovsk (K-407), Barents Sea
		Tubsat-N	TUB	Low Earth	Communications	23 April 2002	Successful
		Tubsat-N1	TUB	Low Earth	Communications	21 October 2000	Successful
		Shtil 1	Makeev	Low Earth	Measure carrier rocket performance	8 May 2014	Successful
		Maiden flight of Shtil' and first orbital launch from a submarine
10 July 06:30	Zenit-2			Baikonur Site 45/1
		Resurs-O1 4		Low Earth	Remote sensing	In orbit	Operational
		Fasat-Bravo	FACh	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		TMSAT		Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Gurwin Techsat 1B	Technion	Low Earth	Technology development	In orbit	Operational
		WESTPAC	WPLTN	Low Earth	Laser tracking	In orbit	Operational
		SAFIR-2	DLR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Fasat-Bravo is the first successful Chilean satellite
18 July 09:20	Long March 3B			Xichang LC-2
		Sinosat-1	SinoSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 July 09:15	Zenit-2			Baikonur Site 45/1
		Kosmos 2360 (Tselina-2)	MO RF	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
August
2 August 16:24	Pegasus-XL/HAPS			Stargazer, Wallops Flight Facility		Orbital Sciences
		Orbcomm B5	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm B6	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm B7	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm B8	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm B4	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	22 December 2018 07:12	Successful
		Orbcomm B3	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm B2	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm B1	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		The decommissioned Orbcomm B4 satellite disintegrated into 34 pieces in 2018; the cause is under investigation as of January 2019[21]
12 August 11:30	Titan IVA 401/Centaur			Cape Canaveral SLC-41		Lockheed Martin
		Mercury-3		Intended: Geosynchronous	ELINT	12 August T+40 seconds	Launch Failure
		Final flight of Titan IVA Control lost after guidance system malfunction; Range Safety self-destruct
13 August 09:43	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Soyuz TM-28	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Mir EO-26	28 February 1999 02:14	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts
19 August 23:01	Long March 2C			Taiyuan LC-1
		Iridium 3	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	8 February 2018[22]	Successful
		Iridium 76	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	28 August 2018[23]	Successful
25 August 23:07	Ariane 4 44P			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		ST-1	Singapore Telecom/Chunghwa Telecom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
27 August 01:17	Delta III 8930			Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		Boeing IDS
		Galaxy 10	PanAmSat	Intended: Geosynchronous	Communications	27 August T+75 seconds	Launch Failure
		Maiden flight of Delta III Hydraulic failure in thrust vectoring system led to range safety self-destruct
30 August 00:31	Proton-K/DM-2M			Baikonur Site 81/23		International Launch Services
		Astra 2A	SES	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
31 August 03:07	Paektusan-1			Musudan-ri
		Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1	KCST	Intended: Low Earth	Communications	31 August	Launch failure
		First North Korean orbital launch attempt, never achieved orbit due to a suspected third stage failure. North Korea considered the launch as successful.
September
8 September 21:13	Delta II 7920-10C			Vandenberg SLC-2W		Boeing IDS
		Iridium 82	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Iridium 81	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	17 July 2018[24]	Successful
		Iridium 80	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	12 August 2018[25]	Successful
		Iridium 79	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	29 November 2000	Spacecraft Failure
		Iridium 77	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	22 September 2017[26]	Spacecraft Failure
9 September 20:29	Zenit-2			Baikonur Site 45/1
		Globalstar 5	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications	9 September	Launch Failure
		Globalstar 7	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 9	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 10	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 11	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 12	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 13	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 16	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 17	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 18	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 20	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Globalstar 21	Globalstar	Intended: Low Earth	Communications
		Computer error caused premature second stage cutout
16 September 06:31	Ariane 4 44LP			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		PanAmSat 7	PanAmSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
23 September 05:06	Pegasus-XL/HAPS			Stargazer, Wallops Island		Orbital Sciences
		Orbcomm C1	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm C2	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm C3	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm C4	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm C5	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm C6	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm C7	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Orbcomm C8	Orbcomm	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 September 23:41	Molniya-M			Plesetsk Site 43/3
		Molniya-1T	MOM	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
October
3 October 10:04	Taurus 1110			Vandenberg LC-576E		Orbital Sciences
		STEX	NRO	Low Earth	Technology research	In orbit	Partial satellite failure
		USA-141 (ATeX)	NRO	Low Earth	Technology research	In orbit	Satellite failure
		ATeX failed to deploy fully and was jettisoned from STEX on 16 January 1999 to protect the main spacecraft
5 October 22:51	Ariane 4 44L			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		Eutelsat W2	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Sirius 3	NSAB	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 October 22:50	Atlas IIA			Cape Canaveral SLC-36B		International Launch Services
		Hot Bird 5	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
20 October 07:19	Atlas IIA			Cape Canaveral SLC-36A
		USA-140 (UHF F/O F9)	US Navy	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 October 16:37	Ariane 5G			Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
		Maqsat 3	ESA	Geosynchronous transfer	Monitor rocket performance	In orbit	Successful
		ARD	ESA	Suborbital	Spacecraft recovery demonstration	21 October	Successful
		ARD recovered in Pacific Ocean by French Navy
23 October 00:02	Pegasus-H			Stargazer, Cape Canaveral		Orbital Sciences
		SCD-2	INPE	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
24 October 21:13	Delta II 7326-9.5			Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		Boeing IDS
		Deep Space 1	NASA	Heliocentric	Asteroid/Comet probe	In orbit	Successful
		SEDSAT-1	Alabama	Low Earth	Amateur radio	In orbit	Operational
		Maiden flight of Delta II 7326 Deep Space 1 performed flybys of 1992 KD and 19P/Borrelly
25 October 04:14	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
		Progress M-40	Roskosmos	Low Earth (Mir)	Logistics	5 February 1999 11:10	Successful
		Sputnik-41	ACF/AMSAT/RuAF	Low Earth	Amateur radio	11 January 1999	Successful
		Sputnik-41 deployed from Mir during an EVA on 10 November
28 October 22:15	Ariane 4 44L			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		AfriStar	1worldspace	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		GE 5	GE Americom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
29 October 19:19	Space Shuttle Discovery			Kennedy LC-39B		United Space Alliance
		STS-95	NASA	Low Earth	Microgravity research	7 November 17:03	Successful
		SpaceHab Single Module	NASA/SpaceHab	Low Earth (Discovery)	Scientific research
		SPARTAN-201	NASA	Low Earth	Solar observation
		PANSAT (PO-34)	US Navy	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts including the first Spanish space traveller (Pedro Duque) and the oldest person to fly in space (John Glenn) PANSAT deployed on 30 October; SPARTAN deployed on 1 November and retrieved on 3 November
November
4 November 05:12	Proton-K/DM-2M			Baikonur Site 81/23		International Launch services
		PanAmSat 8	PanAmSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
6 November 13:37	Delta II 7920-10C			Vandenberg SLC-2W		Boeing IDS
		Iridium 2	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		Iridium 86	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	5 October 2018[27]	Successful
		Iridium 85	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	30 December 2000	Spacecraft failure
		Iridium 84	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	4 November 2018[28]	Successful
		Iridium 83	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	5 November 2018[29]	Successful
20 November 05:12	Proton-K			Baikonur Site 81/23		Roskosmos
		Zarya	NASA/Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS module	In orbit	Operational
		First launch of the International Space Station programme
22 November 23:54	Delta II 7925-9.5			Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		Boeing IDS
		BONUM-1	Telenor	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
December
4 December 08:35	Space Shuttle Endeavour			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance
		STS-88	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS assembly	16 December 04:53	Successful
		Unity (Node 1)	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS module	In orbit	Operational
		PMA-1	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS component	In orbit	Operational
		PMA-2	NASA	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS component	In orbit	Operational
		SAC-A	CONAE	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	25 October 1999	Successful
		MightySat 1	US Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	21 November 1999	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts First crewed flight to the International Space Station SAC-A deployed on 14 December and MightySat on 15 December
6 December 00:43	Ariane 4 42L			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		Satmex 5	Satmex	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
6 December 00:57	Pegasus-XL			Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
		SWAS	NASA	Low Earth	Astronomy	In orbit	Operational
10 December 11:57	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1
		Nadezhda 5	MO RF	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Astrid-2	SSC	Low Earth	Aurora research	In orbit	Operational
11 December 18:45	Delta II 7425-9.5			Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		Boeing IDS
		Mars Climate Orbiter	NASA	Intended: Areocentric Actual: Heliocentric	Mars orbiter	23 September 1999	Spacecraft failure
		Maiden flight of Delta II 7425 MCO crashed into Mars during orbital inserition due to error in unit conversions between Metric and Imperial
19 December 11:39	Long March 2C			Taiyuan LC-1
		Iridium 20	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	22 October 2018[30]	Successful
		Iridium 11	Iridium	Low Earth	Communications	22 October 2018[31]	Successful
22 December 01:08	Ariane 4 42L			Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
		PAS-6B	PanAmSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
24 December 20:02	Kosmos-3M			Plesetsk Site 132/1
		Kosmos 2361 (Parus)	MO RF	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
30 December 18:35	Proton-K/DM-2			Baikonur Site 200/39
		Kosmos 2362 (GLONASS)	MOM	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2363 (GLONASS)	MOM	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
		Kosmos 2364 (GLONASS)	MOM	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational

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

Suborbital 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
16 January 03:25	Minuteman II			Vandenberg LF-03		US Air Force
		MSLS IFT-2	US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM target	16 January	Successful
16 January 03:46	Payload Launch Vehicle			Meck Island		US Air Force/Orbital Sciences
		EKV	US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM interceptor	16 January	Successful
25 January 08:35	S-310			Uchinoura Pad K		ISAS
		SEEK	ISAS	Suborbital	Ozone/Aeronomy research	25 January	Successful
26 January 12:26	Nike Orion			Esrange		SSC
		MERMAID	SSC/DLR	Suborbital	Microgravity research	26 January	Successful
31 January 04:30	S-520			Uchinoura Pad K		ISAS
		XUV Doppler Telescope	ISAS	Suborbital	Solar observation	31 January	Successful
31 January 23:43	VS-30			Andøya		INPE
		AL-VS30-229	DLR	Suborbital	Aeronomy research	31 January	Successful
February
5 February 08:30	S-520			Uchinoura Pad K		ISAS
			ISAS	Suborbital	Plasma research	5 February	Successful
7 February 07:40	Skylark VII			Esrange Pad S		SSC
		TEXUS 36	SSC	Suborbital	Microgravity research	7 February	Successful
10 February	Trident C-4			Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	10 February	Successful
10 February	Trident C-4			Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	10 February	Successful
10 February	Trident C-4			Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	10 February	Successful
10 February	Trident C-4			Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	10 February	Successful
11 February 09:42	Nike-Orion			Esrange		DLR
		Texus-5	DLR	Suborbital	Microgravity research	11 February	Successful
19 February	R-29			Submarine, Barents Sea		Russian Navy
			Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	19 February	Successful
19 February	R-29			Submarine, Barents Sea		Russian Navy
			Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	19 February	Successful
20 February 00:09	Black Brant VC			Arecibo		NASA
		Coqui Dos SAL	NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	20 February	Successful
20 February 00:37	Black Brant VC			Arecibo		NASA
		Coqui Dos	NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	20 February	Successful
20 February 08:23	Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-04		US Air Force
		FOT GT166GM	US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	20 February	Failure
25 February 03:17	Black Brant VC			Arecibo		NASA
		Coqui Dos	NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	25 February	Successful
25 February 07:43	Taurus-Orion			Arecibo		NASA
			NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	25 February	Successful
25 February 07:50	Terrier-Orion			Arecibo		NASA
		EDDY	NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	25 February	Successful
March
3 March 22:33	Nike-Orion			Esrange		SSC
		NLTE-1 Atomic 2A	SSC	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	3 March	Successful
6 March 21:26	Nike-Orion			Esrange		SSC
		NLTE-2 Atomic 2B	SSC	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	3 March	Successful
7 March 01:33	Black Brant VC			Arecibo		NASA
		Coqui Dos	NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	7 March	Successful
7 March	Trident D-5			Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	7 March	Successful
7 March	Trident D-5			Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	7 March	Successful
10 March	Trident D-5			Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	10 March	Successful
10 March	Trident D-5			Submarine, Eastern Range		US Navy
			US Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	10 March	Successful
11 March 23:39	Black Brant IX			Arecibo		NASA
		Coqui Dos LaTuR	NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	11 March	Successful
21 March	VS-40			Alcântara		INPE
			INPE	Suborbital	Test sounding rocket	21 March	Successful
25 March 01:45	Black Brant VC			Arecibo		NASA
		Coqui Dos	NASA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	25 March	Successful
April
6 April	Ghauri			Tilla		PAF
			PAF	Suborbital	Missile test	6 April	Successful
		Maiden flight of Ghauri
6 April	RH-560/200 MK II			Sriharikota		ISRO
			ISRO	Suborbital	Aeronomy research	6 April	Successful
15 April	R-36M2			Baikonur		RVSN
			RVSN/ISC Kosmotras	Suborbital	Missile test	15 April	Successful
		Part of Dnepr development programme
17 April 18:05	Strypi			Pacific Missile Range		Sandia
		Red Crow	BMDO	Suborbital	Technology development	17 April	Successful
18 April 04:00	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
			NASA	Suborbital	Ultraviolet astronomy	18 April	Successful
18 April 07:30	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
			NASA	Suborbital	Ultraviolet astronomy	18 April	Successful
28 April 12:10	Black Brant IXB			SpacePort Canada		Akjuit Aerospace
		ACTIVE	CSA	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	28 April	Successful
		First and only launch conducted by Akjuit Aerospace. Final launch from the SpacePort Canada (Churchill Rocket Research Range) site.
May
7 May 10:30	Peacekeeper			Vandenberg LF-05		US Air Force
			US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	7 May	Successful
12 May 11:22	Hera			White Sands LC-94		US Air Force
			US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM Target	12 May	Successful
12 May 11:25	THAAD			White Sands		US Air Force
			US Air Force	Suborbital	ABM Interceptor	12 May	Failure
22 May 06:22	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		NITE	NASA	Suborbital	Infrared astronomy	22 May	Successful
June
3 June 19:57	Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-26		US Air Force
		FOT GT167GB	US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	3 June	Successful
11 June 01:00	KSR-II			Anhueng		KARI
			KARI	Suborbital	Ionosphere research X-ray astronomy	11 June	Successful
16 June 14:19	Nike-Orion			Wallops Island		NASA
			NASA	Suborbital	Test sounding rocket	16 June	Successful
24 June 08:01	Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-09		US Air Force
		GRP-IDF-1	US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	24 June	Successful
24 June 12:46	Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-10		US Air Force
		FOT GT168GM	US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	24 June	Successful
July
22 July	Shahab-3			Emamshahr
				Suborbital	Missile test	22 July	Failure
		Maiden flight of Shahab-3
August
15 August 05:30	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		EEV CCD	NASA	Suborbital	X-ray astronomy	15 August	Successful
21 August	R-29			Submarine, Barents Sea		Russian Navy
			Russian Navy	Suborbital	Missile test	21 August	Successful
September
16 September 11:10	Topol			Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	16 September	Successful
18 September 08:01	Minuteman III			Vandenberg LF-26		US Air Force
		GRP-IDF-2	US Air Force	Suborbital	Missile test	18 September	Successful
18 September 15:00	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		SOAREX-1	NASA	Suborbital	Hypersonic dynamics test	18 September	Successful
21 September 14:51	RH-560/300 MK II			Sriharikota		ISRO
		DEOS F06	ISRO/DLR	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	21 September	Successful
24 September 12:50	Storm-2			White Sands LC-32		Orbital Sciences
		MTTV	US Air Force	Suborbital	Target	24 September	Successful
		MTD-3	US Air Force	Suborbital	Weapons test	24 September	Successful
28 September 15:11	RH-560/300 MK II			Sriharikota		ISRO
		DEOS F07	ISRO/DLR	Suborbital	Ionosphere research	28 September	Successful
October
7 October 12:00	UR-100NU			Baikonur		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	7 October	Successful
22 October 12:53	Topol			Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	22 October	Failure
		Self-destruct activated after rocket went off course
November
2 November 18:20	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
		SOPHIE (NCAR/CU-7)	NASA	Suborbital	Ultraviolet solar observation	2 November	Successful
6 November 01:32	AIT-1			Kodiak Island		Orbital Sciences
			US Air Force	Suborbital	Rocket test	6 November	Successful
		First launch from Kodiak Island
18 November 15:40	Black Brant IX			White Sands		NASA
			NASA	Suborbital	Microgravity research	18 November	Successful
18 November 23:00	TR-1			Tanegashima LA-T		NASDA
			NASDA	Suborbital	Microgravity research	18 November	Successful
20 November	Aries			Pacific Missile Range		US Air Force
		TTV-1	US Air Force	Suborbital	Target vehicle	20 November	Successful
24 November 09:53	Maxus			Esrange		SSC
			ESA	Suborbital	Scientific research	24 November	Successful
December
3 December 11:04	Nike-Orion			Esrange		DLR
		Mini-Texus 6	DLR	Suborbital	Microgravity research	3 December	Successful
8 December 11:25	Topol			Plesetsk Site 158		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	8 December	Successful
9 December 10:20	RT-23			Plesetsk		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Test flight	9 December	Successful
10 December	UR-100NU			Baikonur		RVSN
			RVSN	Suborbital	Missile test	10 December	Successful
15 December	Taiwan Sounding Rocket		Sounding Rocket I	Jiu Peng Air Base		NSPO
			NSPO	Suborbital	Test flight	15 December	Successful
		Apogee: ~280 km (174 mi)

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

Deep-space rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
11 January	Lunar Prospector	Selenocentric orbit injection
23 January	NEAR	Flyby of the Earth	Closest approach: 540 kilometres (340 mi)
10 February	Galileo	5th flyby of Europa
29 March	Galileo	6th flyby of Europa
26 April	Cassini	1st flyby of Venus	Gravity assist
13 May	AsiaSat 3/HGS 1 comsat	1st flyby of the Moon	First use of moon's gravity for a recovery mission; Closest approach: 6,200 kilometres (3,900 mi)
31 May	Galileo	7th flyby of Europa
1 June	AsiaSat 3/HGS 1	2nd flyby of the Moon	Closest approach: 34,300 kilometres (21,300 mi)
21 July	Galileo	8th flyby of Europa
26 September	Galileo	9th flyby of Europa
22 November	Galileo	10th flyby of Europa
20 December	Nozomi	1st flyby of the Earth
23 December	NEAR	Flyby of 433 Eros	Closest approach: 3,827 kilometres (2,378 mi)

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Function	Remarks
8 January 23:08	3 hours 6 minutes	9 January 02:14	Mir EO-24	Anatoly Solovyev Pavel Vinogradov	Repaired the damaged airlock sealing system, used the Strela boom to move across Mir and recover an American optical monitoring experiment. Checked the integrity of cable connects to several antennas.[32]
14 January 21:12	3 hours 52 minutes	15 January 01:04	Mir EO-24	Anatoly Solovyev David Wolf	Continued to make more repairs to the airlock hatch on Kvant-2 and used a handheld photo-reflectometer to inspect the exterior surface of the station.[33]
1 April 13:35	6 hours 40 minutes	20:15	Mir EO-25	Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin	Installed a set of handrails and one of two-foot restraints on the outside of the Spektr module in preparation for the repair of the damaged solar array.[34]
6 April 13:35	4 hours 15 minutes	17:50	Mir EO-25	Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin	Begin repair of the damaged Spektr solar panel. After installing a splint on the frayed panel, the spacewalkers had to quickly return to the airlock to handle a problem with station attitude control.[35]
11 April 09:55	6 Hours 25 minutes	16:20	Mir EO-25	Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin	Jettisoned the external thruster engine (VDU) that had been located at the top of the Sofora boom and recover an experiment from the Rapana structure.[36]	Dismantling of the Rapana structure was not completed.[37]
17 April 07:40	6 Hours 33 minutes	14:13	Mir EO-25	Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin	Removed two structures and secured them to exterior surfaces and repositioned the new thrust engine (VDU) for future use.[37]
22 April 05:34	6 Hours 21 minutes	11:55	Mir EO-25	Talgat Musabayev Nikolai Budarin	Completed installation of the new VDU thruster unit on top of the Sofora boom.[38]
15 September 20:00	30 minutes	20:30	Mir EO-26	Gennady Padalka Sergei Avdeyev	Internal spacewalk in the depressurised Spektr module to connect electrical and control cables to the solar array servo motor.[39]
10 November 19:24	5 hours 54 minutes	11 November 01:18	Mir EO-26	Gennady Padalka Sergei Avdeyev	Deployed Sputnik-41, deployed a French "meteorite trap" intended to catch some dust from the upcoming Leonids meteor shower.[40]
7 December 22:10	7 hours 21 minutes	8 December 05:31	STS-88 ISS Endeavour	Jerry L. Ross James H. Newman	Connected computer and electrical cables between the Unity node, the two mating adapters attached to either end of Unity, and the Zarya Functional Cargo Block (FGB).[41]	First ISS assembly EVA
9 December 20:33	7 hours 2 minutes	10 December 03:35	STS-88 ISS Endeavour	Jerry L. Ross James H. Newman	Installed two box-like antennas on the outside of the Unity module that are part of the S-band early communications system.[42]
12 December 20:33	6 hours 59 minutes	13 December 03:32	STS-88 ISS Endeavour	Jerry L. Ross James H. Newman	Checked on an insulation cover on a cable connection on the lower Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA-2) to make sure it was fully installed, attached EVA tools on the side of Unity's upper mating adapter (PMA-1) in preparation for future EVAs, and inspected Orbiter Space Vision System targets on Unity.[43]