The year 1967 in spaceflight saw the most orbital launches of the 20th century and more than any other year until 2021, including that of the first Australian satellite, WRESAT, which was launched from the Woomera Test Range atop an American Sparta rocket. The United States National Space Science Data Center catalogued 172 spacecraft placed into orbit by launches which occurred in 1967.[1]

1967 in spaceflight
Apollo 4, the first flight of the Saturn V rocket lifts off.
Orbital launches
FirstIntelsat II F-2
LastCRL AF17.750D
National firsts
SatelliteAustraliaAustralia
Rockets
Maiden flightsSoviet UnionProton-K
United StatesSaturn V
RetirementsSoviet UnionKosmos (63S1)
United StatesRedstone Sparta

The year saw both setbacks and advances for the United States Apollo programme. Three astronauts; Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee, were killed in a fire aboard the AS-204 spacecraft at Cape Kennedy Launch Complex 34 on 27 January whilst rehearsing the launch. On 20 October the Saturn V rocket made its maiden flight.

Orbital Launches

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January

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January launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
11 January
10:55[2]
 Delta E1  LC-17, Cape Canaveral
  Intelsat II F-2 (Canary Bird) Intelsat Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
14 January
21:28[2]
 Thor-Agena D  SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB
 OPS 1664 KH-4A 1038 CIA Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 2 February 1967 Successful
18 January
14:19[2]
 Titan IIIC  SLC-41, Cape Canaveral
 IDCSP 8 US Air Force Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 9 US Air Force Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 10 US Air Force Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 11 US Air Force Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 12 US Air Force Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 13 US Air Force Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 14 US Air Force Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 15 US Air Force Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
19 January
12:39[2]
 Vostok-2  Pu-41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 138 (Zenit-2 #45) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 27 January 1967 Successful
25 January
13:55[2]
 R-36ORB  Pad 164/36, Baikonur
 Kosmos 139 (OGCh #7) Low Earth Orbit Weapon System Test 27 January 1967 Successful
26 January
17:31[2]
 Delta E  SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB
  ESSA-4 ESSA Sun-Synchronous Orbit Meteorology In orbit Successful
31 January
12:45[2]
 Scout B  SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
 OV3-5 US Air Force Low Earth orbit Magnetosphere research satellite 31 January Failure

February

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February launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
2 February
20:00
 Atlas-Agena D  SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
 OPS 4399 KH-7 4036 US Air Force Low Earth orbit Optical Reconnaissance 12 February Successful
5 February
01:17
 Atlas-Agena D  LC-13, Cape Canaveral NASA
  Lunar Orbiter 3 NASA Low Lunar Orbit Lunar surface mapping 9 October Successful
7 February
03:20
 Soyuz  Pad 1/5 (Gagarin's Start), Baikonur
 Kosmos 140 (Soyuz 7K-OK 1) MOM Low Earth Orbit Uncrewed Test Flight 9 February Successful
8 February
08:00
 Thor-Burner 2  SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
 DMSP-4A F2 US Air Force Sun-Synchronous Orbit Meteorology In orbit Successful
8 February
09:39
 Diamant-A  Hammaguir CNES
 Diadème 1 CNES Low Earth Orbit Geodesy In orbit Partial Failure
The third stage underperformed, lower orbit than planned
8 February
10:19
 Voskhod  Pad 41/1, Baikonur
 Kosmos 141 (Zenit-4 #26) GRU Low Earth Orbit Optical reconnaissance 16 February Successful
14 February
10:04
 Kosmos-2  Pad 86/1, Kapustin Yar
 Kosmos 142 (DS-U2-I #2) Yuzhnoye Design Bureau Low Earth Orbit Ionosphere Research 6 July Successful
15 February
10:06
 Diamant-A  Hammaguir CNES
 Diadème 2 CNES Low Earth Orbit Geodesy In orbit Successful
22 February
22:02
 Thor SLV-2A Agena-D  SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
 OPS 4750 KH-4A 1039 US Air Force Low Earth orbit Optical Reconnaissance 11 March Successful
24 February
19:59
 Titan IIIB Agena-D  SLC-4W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
 OPS 4204 KH-8 4304 US Air Force Low Earth orbit Optical Reconnaissance 6 March Successful
27 February
08:45
 Vostok-2  Pad 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 143 (Zenit-2 #46) GRU Low Earth Orbit Optical reconnaissance 7 March Partial Failure
28 February
14:34
 Vostok-2M  Pad 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 144 (Meteor-1 #6) Low Earth Orbit Meteorology 14 September 1982 Successful

March

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March launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
3 March
06:44:58
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar LC-86/1  
 Kosmos 145 (DS-U2 M #2) Low Earth Atomic clock test 8 March 1968 Successful
8 March
16:12:00
 Delta C  Cape Canaveral LC-17B  NASA
 OSO-3 NASA Low Earth Solar research 4 April 1982 Successful
The spacecraft performed normally until the second onboard tape recorder failed in July 1968. The spacecraft was put in standby condition on November 10, 1969, and became inoperable shortly thereafter.
10 March
11:30
 Proton-K / Blok D  Pad 81/23, Baikonur MOM
  Kosmos 146 (L1P 2) MOM Low Earth orbit Test prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P 18 March Successful
Maiden flight of the Proton 8K82K (Proton-K).
13 March
12:10:23
 Vostok-2  Pu-41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 147 (Zenit-2 #47) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 21 March Successful
16 March
17:30
 Kosmos-2  Site 133/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 148 (DS-P1-1 #2) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration 7 May Successful
21 March
10:07
 Kosmos-2I 63SM  Site 86/1 Kapustin Yar Yuzhnoye Design Bureau
 Kosmos 149 (DS-MO #1 / Opticheski #1) Yuzhnoye Design Bureau Low Earth orbit Test, geophysical research 7 April Successful
Aerodynamic skirt stabiliser test
22 March
12:44
  Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 150 (Zenit-4 #27) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 30 March Successful
22 March
14:05
  R-36-O  Site 161/35, Baikonur
  OGCh #8 Low Earth Orbit Weapon System Test 22 March Failure
Second stage explosion at T+455 seconds
23 March
01:30
 Delta E1  LC-17B, Cape Canaveral
  Intelsat II F3 (Lani Bird) Intelsat Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
24 March
11:50
 Kosmos-3  Site 41/15, Baikonur
 Kosmos 151 (Strela-2 #3) Low Earth Orbit Military communications 6 May 1991 Successful
25 March
06:59
 Kosmos-2  Site 133/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 152 (DS-P1-Yu #7) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration 5 August Successful
30 March
18:54
  Thor-SLV-2A Agena-D  SLC-2W, Vandenberg
  OPS 4779 (KH-4A 1040) Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 17 April Successful

April

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April launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
4 April
14:00
 Vostok-2  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 153 (Zenit-2 #48) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 12 April Successful
6 April
03:23
 Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D  LC-12, Cape Canaveral
  ATS-2 NASA Medium Earth orbit (planned)
Highly elliptical low Earth orbit (achieved)
Communications/ Meteorology 2 September 1969 Partial failure
  Research Payload Module 481 LANL Highly elliptical low Earth orbit Technology Demonstration 29 June 1968 Success
Agena failed to restart, the satellite placed into unplanned highly elliptical orbit. Research Payload Module 481, attached to Agena, tested heat pipes in the space environment
8 April
09:00
 Proton-K / Blok D  Pad 81/23, Baikonur MOM
 Kosmos 154 (L1P 3) MOM Low Earth orbit Test prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P 10 April Partial failure
Block D (4th stage) failed to re-ignite
12 April
10:51
 Voskhod  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 155 (Zenit-4 #28) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 20 April Successful
13 April
02:40
 Lambda 4S   Kagoshima
  Ohsumi ISAS Low Earth Orbit Technology demonstration 13 April Failure
Third attempt to launch the first Japanese satellite. The fourth stage failed to ignite
14 April
03:25
 Scout A  SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
OPS 0100 Transit 15 US Navy Low Earth Orbit Navigation Satellite In orbit Successful
17 April
07:05
 Atlas-SLV3 Centaur-D AC-12  Cape Canaveral LC-36B
 Surveyor 3 NASA Translunar injection Lunar lander 20 April (on the Moon) Successful
20 April  Delta E  Vandenberg SLC-2E
  ESSA-5 ESSA Low Earth Orbit Meteorology In orbit Successful
23 April
00:35
 Soyuz  Site 1/5, Baikonur MOM
 Soyuz 1 MOM Low Earth Orbit Crewed test of Soyuz spacecraft 24 April
03:22:52
Spacecraft failure
Solar panels jammed, bad weather prevented Soyuz 2 launch, parachute failure during descent resulted in loss of crew
26 April
10:06
 Scout B  San Marco platform, Formosa Bay, Kenya CRS
  San Marco 2 CRS Low Earth Orbit Atmospheric Research 14 October Successful
26 April  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
  OPS 4243 KH-8 4305 USAF Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 26 April Failure
27 April
12:50
 Vostok-2M  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 156 (Meteor-1 #7) Low Earth Orbit Meteorology 23 October 1989 Successful
28 April
10:01
 Titan IIIC   Cape Canaveral LC-41
 OPS 6638 Vela 7 USAF Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
 OPS 6679 Vela 8 USAF Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
 ERS-18 ORS-4 USAF Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
 ERS-20 OV5-3 USAF Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
 ERS-27 OV5-1 USAF Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
May launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
4 May
22:25
  Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D  Cape Canaveral LC-13
 Lunar Orbiter 4 NASA Selenocentric Lunar orbiter 6 October Successful
5 May
16:00
 Scout A  SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
  Ariel 3 UK Science Research Council, NASA Low Earth Orbit Atmospheric Research 14 December 1970 Successful
9 May
21:50
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1E
  OPS 4696 KH-4A 1041 CIA Low Earth Reconnaissance 13 July Partial failure
  OPS 1967 Fanion 3 USAF Low Earth SIGINT 14 March 1993 Successful
Failure of the booster cut-off switch, the satellite went into a highly eccentric orbit
12 May
10:30
 Vostok-2  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 157 (Zenit-2 #49) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 20 May Successful
15 May
11:00
 Kosmos-3M  Site 132/2, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 158 (Zaliv-GVM #1) Low Earth Orbit Boilerplate In orbit Successful
Maiden flight of Kosmos-3M
16 May
21:44
 Molniya-M / Blok L  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 159 (Ye-6LS No 111) High Earth orbit (planned)
Highly elliptical orbit (achieved)
Test spacecraft 11 November Partial success
Blok L cut off too early, the spacecraft placed into much lower orbit than planned, planned mission was accomplished
17 May
16:05
 R-36-O  Site 41/1, Baikonur
 Kosmos 160 (OGCh #9) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 18 May Successful
18 May
09:05
 Scout A  SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
  OPS 7218 Transit 16 US Navy Low Earth Orbit Navigation In orbit Successful
22 May
14:00
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 161 (Zenit-4 #29) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 30 May Successful
22 May
18:30
  Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D   Vandenberg SLC-4E
  OPS 4321 KH-7 4037 USAF Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 30 May Successful
  OPS 5557 LOGACS USAF Low Earth Orbit Technology Demonstration 27 May Successful
24 May
14:05
  Delta E1  Vandenberg SLC-2E
  Explorer 34 (IMP F) NASA Highly elliptical orbit Cislunar space research 3 May 1969 Successful
24 May
22:50
 Molniya-M  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Molniya-1 05 Molniya Communications 26 November 1971 Successful
30 May
02:06
 Scout B  SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
  ESRO 2A ESRO Low Earth Orbit X-Ray Astronomy and Radiation Measurements 30 May Failure
Third stage Failure
31 May
09:30
  Thor DM-21 Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-2W
  Poppy 5A US Navy ELINT In orbit Successful
  Poppy 5B US Navy ELINT In orbit Successful
  Poppy 5C US Navy ELINT In orbit Successful
  Poppy 5D US Navy ELINT In orbit Successful
  Timation 1 Naval Research Laboratory Navigation In orbit Successful
  Calsphere 3 Naval Research Laboratory Radar calibration In orbit Successful
  Calsphere 4 Naval Research Laboratory Radar calibration In orbit Successful
  NRL-PL 150B Naval Research Laboratory Radar calibration In orbit Successful
  ORS 5712 USAF Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful

June

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June launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
1 June
10:40
 Voskhod  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 162 (Zenit-4 #30) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 9 June Successful
4 June
18:07
  Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4E
 OPS 4360 KH-7 4038 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance 12 June Successful
5 June
05:03
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar
 Kosmos 163 (DS-U2-MP #2) Low Earth Orbit Micrometeoroid research 11 October Successful
8 June
13:00
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 164 (Zenit-2 #50) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 14 June Successful
12 June
02:39
 Molniya-M / Blok VL  Site 1/5, Baikonur
  Venera 4 Heliocentric Venus lander In orbit Successful
12 June
18:06
 Kosmos-2  Site 133/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 165 (DS-P1-Yu #8) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration 15 January 1968 Successful
14 June
06:01
 Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D  Cape Canaveral LC-12
 Mariner 5 NASA Heliocentric Venus flyby In orbit Successful
16 June
04:43
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar
 Kosmos 166 (DS-U3-S #1) Low Earth Orbit Solar astronomy 25 October Successful
16 June
21:35
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1W
 OPS 3559 KH-4A 1042 CIA Low Earth Reconnaissance 20 July Successful
 OPS 1873 Savant 1 USAF Low Earth Signal intelligence 22 October 1968 Successful
17 June
02:36
 Molniya-M / Blok VL  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 167 (Venera 5a) Heliocentric (planned)
Low Earth orbit (achieved)
Venus lander 25 June Failure
Blok VL failed to fire, leaving the spacecraft in the low Earth orbit
20 June
11:00
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Zenit-4 #31 GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 20 June Failure
20 June
16:15
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 4282 KH-8 4306 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance 30 June Successful
26 June
04:30
 Kosmos-3M  Site 132/2, Plesetsk
 Tselina-O-GVM #1 Low Earth Orbit Dummy Satellite 26 June Failure
29 June
21:01
  Thor-LV2F Burner-2 Star-13A  Vandenberg
 Aurora 1 USAF Low Earth Auroral research In orbit Successful
 SECOR 9 US Army Low Earth Geodesy In orbit Successful

July

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July launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
1 July
13:15
 Titan IIIC  SLC-41, Cape Canaveral US Air Force
 DODGE US Air Force Geosynchronous Orbit Triaxial Gravity Gradient Stabilization, Magnetic Field Measurements, and Earth Imagery In orbit Successful
 LES 5 USAF Geosynchronous Orbit Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 16 (OPS 9331) US Air Force Geosynchronous Orbit Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 17 (OPS 9332) US Air Force Geosynchronous Orbit Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 18 (OPS 9333) US Air Force Geosynchronous Orbit Communications In orbit Successful
 IDCSP 19-DATS (OPS 9334) US Air Force Geosynchronous Orbit Communications In orbit Successful
4 July
05:59
 Voskhod  Site 31/6, Baikonur
 Kosmos 168 (Zenit-2 #51) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 12 July Successful
14 July
11:53:29
  Atlas-SLV3 Centaur-D AC-11  Cape Canaveral LC-36A
 Surveyor 4 NASA Translunar injection Lunar lander July 17, 1967 Spacecraft failure
Radio signals from the spacecraft ceased 2.5 minutes before landing on the Moon
17 July
16:45
 R-36-O  Site 162/36, Baikonur
 Kosmos 169 (OGCh #10) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 17 July Successful
19 July
14:19
  Delta E1  Cape Canaveral LC-17B
 Explorer 35 (IMP E) NASA Selenolentric Lunar orbiter Unknown Successful
21 July
06:00
 Voskhod  Site 31/6, Baikonur
 Zenit-4 #32 GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 21 July Failure
25 July
03:48
  Thor SLV-2A Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-2W
 OPS 1879 (Multigroup 2&Setter 1B) USAF Low Earth Signal intelligence 12 June 1969 Successful
27 July
19:00
  Atlas D OV1  Vandenberg
 OV1-11 USAF Low Earth Upper atmosphere research 27 July Failure
 OV1-12 USAF Low Earth Solar flare research 22 July 1980 Successful
 OV1-86 USAF Low Earth Geophysics, cosmic rays research 22 February 1972 Successful
OV1-11 failed to separate from the launch vehicle
28 July
14:21
  Thor SLV-2A Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-2E
 OGO 4 (POGO 2) NASA Low Earth orbit Geophysics research 16 August 1972 Successful
31 July
16:45
 R-36-O  Site 161/35, Baikonur
 Kosmos 170 (OGCh #11) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 31 July Successful

August

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August launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
1 August
22:32
  Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D  Cape Canaveral LC-13
 Lunar Orbiter 5 NASA Selenocentric Lunar orbiter 31 January 1968 Successful
7 August
21:44
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1E
 OPS 4827 KH-4A CIA Low Earth orbit Reconnaissance 1 September Successful
8 August
16:05
 R-36-O  Site 162/36, Baikonur
 Kosmos 171 (OGCh #12) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 8 August Successful
9 August
05:45
 Voskhod  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 172 (Zenit-4 #33) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 17 August Successful
16 August
17:07
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 4886 KH-8 4307 CIA Low Earth orbit Reconnaissance 28 August Successful
23 August
04:41
  Thor LV-2F Burner 2  Vandenberg
 OPS 7202 DSMP-4A F3 USAF Low Earth orbit Meteorology In orbit Successful
24 August
04:59
 Kosmos-2  Site 133/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 173 (DS-P1-Yu #9) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration 17 December Successful
31 August
08:00
 Molniya (M)  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 174 (Molniya 1Yu 11L) Highly elliptical orbit Deep space tracking system test 30 December 1968 Successful

September

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September launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
1 September
10:30
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Zenit-2 #52 GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 1 September Failure
7 September
22:04:26
 Delta G  SLC-17B, Cape Canaveral NASA
  Biosatellite 2 (Bios 2) NASA Low Earth Orbit Biological experiments 9 September 1967 Successful
8 September
07:57
 Atlas-SLV3 Centaur-D AC-13  SLC-36B, Cape Canaveral NASA
 Surveyor 5 NASA Translunar injection Lunar lander 11 September (on the Moon) Successful
11 September
10:30
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 175 (Zenit-4 #34) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 19 September Successful
12 September
17:00
 Kosmos-2  Site 133/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 176 (DS-P1-Yu #10) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration 3 March 1968 Successful
15 September
19:41
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1W
 OPS 5089 KH-4B 1101 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance 4 October Successful
16 September
06:06
 Voskhod  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 177 (Zenit-2 #53) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 24 October Successful
19 September
14:45
 R-36-O  Site 161/35, Baikonur
 Kosmos 178 (OGCh #13) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 19 September Successful
19 September
18:37
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 4941 KH-8 4308 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance 30 September Successful
22 September
14:05
 R-36-O  Site 162/36, Baikonur
 Kosmos 179 (OGCh #14) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 22 September Successful
25 September
08:25
 Scout A  SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
  OPS 4947 Transit 17 US Navy Low Earth Orbit Navigation Satellite In orbit Successful
26 September
10:20
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 180 (Zenit-2 #54) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 4 October Successful
27 September
11:00
 Kosmos-3M  Site 132/2, Plesetsk
  Zaliv-GVM #2 Low Earth Orbit Dummy payload 27 September Failure
27 September
22:11
 Proton-K / Blok D 8K82K (11S824)  Pad 81/23, Baikonur MOM
 Zond 4a (L1 4) MOM Lunar free-return Prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P/Zond T+100 s Failure
First stage failure
28 September
00:45
  Delta E1  Cape Canaveral LC-17B
 Intelsat II F4 (Pacific-2) Intelsat Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful

October

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October launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
3 October
05:00
 Molniya (M)  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Molniya-1 06 Molniya Communications 4 March 1969 Successful
11 October
07:57
  Thor LV-2F Burner 2  Vandenberg
 OPS 1264 DSAP-4A F4 USAF Sun-synchronous orbit Meteorology In orbit Successful
11 October
11:30
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 181 (Zenit-2 #55) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 19 October Successful
16 October
08:00
 Voskhod  Site 31/6, Baikonur
 Kosmos 182 (Zenit-4 #35) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 24 October Successful
18 October
13:30
 R-36-O  Site 161/35, Baikonur
 Kosmos 183 (OGCh #15) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 18 October Successful
18 October
15:58
  Delta C  Cape Canaveral LC-17B
 OSO 4 NASA Low Earth Solar astronomy 15 June 1982 Successful
22 October
08:40
 Molniya (M)  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Molniya-1 07 Molniya Communications 31 December 1969 Successful
24 October
22:49
 Vostok-2M  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 184 (Meteor-1 #8) Low Earth Orbit Meteorology 2 April 1989 Successful
25 October
19:15
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 4995 KH-8 4309 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance 5 November Successful
27 October
02:21
 Tsyklon-2A  Site 90/19, Baikonur
 Kosmos 185 (I2-BM #1) Low Earth Orbit Test spacecraft 14 January 1969 Successful
27 October
09:29
 Soyuz  Site 31/6, Baikonur
 Kosmos 186 (Soyuz Test #3) Low Earth Orbit Uncrewed test of Soyuz spacecraft 31 October Successful
28 October
13:15
 R-36-O  Site 162/36, Baikonur
 Kosmos 187 (OGCh #16) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 28 October Successful
30 October
08:12
 Soyuz  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 188 (Soyuz Test #4) Low Earth Orbit Uncrewed test of Soyuz spacecraft 2 November Successful
30 October
17:59
 Kosmos-3M  Site 132/2, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 189 (Tselina-O #1) Low Earth Orbit SIGINT 8 June 1978 Successful

November

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November launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
2 November
21:31
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1E
 OPS 0562 KH-4A 1044 CIA Low Earth Reconnaissance 2 December Successful
 Facade USAF Low Earth SIGINT 28 March 1969 Successful
3 November
11:20
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 190 (Zenit-4 #36) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 11 November Successful
5 November
23:37
  Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D  Cape Canaveral LC-12
  ATS-3 NASA Geosynchronous Communications / Meteorology In orbit Successful
7 November
07:39:01
  Atlas-SLV3 Centaur-D AC-14  Cape Canaveral LC-36B
  Surveyor 6 NASA Translunar injection Lunar lander 10 November
01:01:06
Successful
9 November
12:00
 Saturn V  LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center NASA
  Apollo 4 NASA Highly elliptical orbit Test Saturn V and Apollo Command Module reentry 9 November
20:37
Successful
 LTA-10R NASA Highly elliptical orbit Instrumented dynamic Simulation payload 9 November Successful
Maiden flight of the Saturn V. LTA-10R remained attached to the S-IVB upper stage
10 November
17:53
  Delta E1  Vandenberg SLC-2E
 ESSA-6 ESSA Low Earth (SSO) Meteorology In orbit Successful
21 November
14:29
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 191 (DS-P1-Yu #11) Low Earth Orbit Radar Calibration 2 March 1968 Successful
22 November
19:07
 Proton K / Blok D  Pad 81/23, Baikonur MOM
 Zond 4b MOM Lunar Free-return Prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P/Zond 22 November Failure
Second stage failure
23 November
15:00
 Kosmos-3M  Plesetsk Site 132/2
 Kosmos 192 (Zaliv #1) Low Earth Orbit Navigation In orbit Successful
25 November
11:30
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 193 (Zenit-2 #56) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 3 December Successful
29 November
04:49
 Redstone Sparta  LA-8, Woomera WRE
  WRESAT WRE Low Earth orbit Atmospheric experiments 10 January 1968 Successful
First Australian satellite

December

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December launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
3 December
12:00
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 194 (Zenit-4 #37) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 11 December Successful
5 December
01:03
 Scout B  SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force
OV3-6 US Air Force Low Earth Orbit Magnetospheric Research 9 March 1969 Successful
5 December
18:45
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 5000 KH-8 4310 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance 16 December Successful
9 December
22:25
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1W
 OPS 1001 KH-4A 1102 CIA Low Earth Reconnaissance 25 December Successful
13 December
14:08
  Delta E1  Cape Canaveral LC-17B
 Pioneer 8 NASA Heliocentric Solar orbiter In orbit Successful
 TTR NASA Heliocentric Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
16 December
12:00
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 195 (Zenit-2 #57) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 24 December Successful
19 December
06:30
 Kosmos  Kapustin Yar, Site 86/1
 Kosmos 196 (DS-U1-G #2) Low Earth Orbit Solar research 7 July 1968 Successful
Final flight of the original Kosmos (63S1)
26 December
09:01
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar, Site 86/1
 Kosmos 197 (DS-U2-V #3) Low Earth Orbit Ionosphere research 30 January 1968 Successful
27 December
11:28
 Tsyklon-2A  Site 90/19, Baikonur
 Kosmos 198 (US-AO #3) Low Earth Orbit Prototype of US-A satellite In orbit Successful

Suborbital launches

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Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks

January-December

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25 January
23:16
 Dragon  Dumont d'Urville Station, Terre Adelie
  CNES Suborbital Ionosphere research 25 January Successful
Apogee: 340 km
31 January
23:05
 MR-12  Kheysa
  AN SSSR Suborbital Thermosphere research 31 January Successful
Apogee: 172 km
6 February
02:10
 L-3H  Kagoshima Space Center LP-L
  ISAS Suborbital Ionosphere research, X-ray astronomy 6 February Successful
Apogee: 2150 km
9 February  RT-15  Kapustin Yar, Site 84  RVSN
  RVSN Suborbital Missile test 4 December Successful
5 March
23:05
 Atlas SLV-3  Vandenberg AFB, SLC-3E  US Air Force
 SV-5D FV-2 US Air Force Suborbital Lifting body reentry test 5 March Successful
Second test of PRIME
4 August
03:53
 Europa F6/1  LA-6A, Woomera ELDO
Suborbital Test launcher with dummy third stage N/A Failure
Second stage failed to ignite. Apogee: 180 km
11 October
16:22
 Sparta SV-8  LA-8, Woomera  US Army
 Re-entry vehicle US Army Suborbital Re-entry vehicle test 11 October Successful
Apogee: 137 km
31 October
13:14
 Sparta SV-9  LA-8, Woomera  US Army
 Re-entry vehicle US Army Suborbital Re-entry vehicle test 31 October Successful
Apogee: 111 km
12 October
14:15
 Kosmos-3  Baikonur Site 41/15
 VKZ 1 Suborbital Aeronomy, ionosphere and radiation belt research T+52 min Successful
Launched on the strictly vertical trajectory. Apogee: 4,400 km
19 October
17:33
 Scout B  LA-3A, Wallops Island US Air Force
 RAM C-1 NASA Suborbital Technology Demonstration 19 October Successful
4 December
21:01
 Europa F6/2  LA-6A, Woomera ELDO
N/A ELDO Suborbital Test launcher with dummy third stage and boilerplate spacecraft N/A Failure
Second stage failed to separate. Apogee: 200 km

Deep Space Rendezvous

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Date (UTC) Spacecraft Event Remarks
8 February Lunar Orbiter 3 Selenocentric orbit insertion Returned 182 images
20 April Surveyor 3 Lunar landing in Oceanus Procellarum
8 May Lunar Orbiter 4 Selenocentric orbit insertion Returned 163 images
17 July Surveyor 4 Lunar impact Failed lander, impacted Sinus Medii
22 July Explorer 35 Selenocentric orbit insertion
5 August Lunar Orbiter 5 Selenocentric orbit insertion Returned 213 images
11 September Surveyor 5 Lunar landing in Mare Tranquillitatis
1 October Lunar Orbiter 2 Lunar impact
10 October Lunar Orbiter 3 Lunar impact
18 October Venera 4 Venus probe Atmospheric probe functioned for 94 minutes in the Venerian atmosphere
19 October Mariner 5 Flyby of Venus Closest approach 3,990 kilometres (2,480 mi)
31 October Lunar Orbiter 4 Lunar impact
10 November Surveyor 6 Lunar landing in Sinus Medii

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Spacecraft Query Results". Master Catalog Search. NASA NSSDC. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathon's Space Report. Retrieved 30 December 2018.

References

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Generic references:
  Spaceflight portal