1972 in spaceflight

1972 saw humanity's last crewed mission to the Moon of the 20th century, Apollo 17.

1972 in spaceflight

Launch of Saturn V with the final Apollo mission to the Moon
Orbital launches
First	12 January
Last	28 December
Total	113
Successes	105
Failures	7
Partial failures	1
Catalogued	106
Rockets
Maiden flights	Delta 0100 Delta 1000
Retirements	Delta L Delta N M-4S Thorad-Agena

Launches

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

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January
January 12 09:59	Voskhod			Baikonur, LC-31/6		RVSN
		Kosmos 471 (Zenit 4M/Rotor)	GRU	Low Earth orbit	Reconnaissance	January 25, 1972	Successful
January 20 18:36	Titan IIID			Vandenberg AFB, SLC-4E
		KH-9 2 (Hexagon 2)	USAF	LEO	Reconnaissance	29 February 1972	Successful
		Mabeli (OPS 7719)	USAF	LEO	ELINT	17 April 1979	Successful
January 23 00:12	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D		AC-28	Cape Canaveral, LC-36B
		Intelsat 4 F-4	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
25 January 11:15	Kosmos-2			Plesetsk, Site 133/1		RVSN
		Kosmos 472 (DS-P1-Yu No. 52)	RVSN	LEO	Radar calibration	18 August 1972	Successful
January 31 17:20	Delta L		D-87	Vandenberg AFB, SLC-2E
		HEOS 2	ESRO	High eccentricity LEO/HEO	Particle and field research	August 2, 1974	Successful
		Final flight of Delta L
February
8 February 05:59	K63D			Vladimirovka test range, near Kapustin Yar
		BOR-2 No.104		Suborbital	Re-entry test for Spiral program	8 February	Successful
		Subscale model of the Spiral spaceplane. Apogee: 100 km
February 14 03:27	Proton-K/Blok D (8K82K)			Baikonur, LC-81/24		RVSN
		Luna 20		Lunar	Lunar sample return	February 21, 1972 (at Moon)	Successful
March
March 3 01:49	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur/Star 37E		AC-27	Cape Canaveral, LC-36A
		Pioneer 10	NASA	Heliocentric to Solar Escape	Jupiter flyby	In orbit	Successful
		First spacecraft to cross asteroid belt. First flyby of Jupiter. First probe to leave Solar System
March 12 01:55	Delta N		D-88	Vandenberg AFB, SLC-2E
		TD-1A	ESRO	LEO	Technology research	January 9, 1980	Successful
		Final flight of Delta N
March 24 08:46	Thor-LV2F Burner-2A			Vandenberg AFB, SLC-10W		US Air Force
		DMSP 5B F2	US Air Force	LEO	Weather satellite	In orbit	Successful
April
April 16 17:45	Saturn V			Kennedy, LC-39A		NASA
		Apollo 16 CSM "Casper"	NASA	Lunar	Crewed lunar orbiter	April 27, 1972	Successful
		Apollo 16 lunar module "Orion"	NASA	Lunar	Crewed lunar lander	April 20, 1972 14:23 (at Moon)	Successful
		Apollo 16 Subsatellite	NASA	Lunar	Lunar particles research	May 29, 1972 (at Moon)	Partial failure
		Crewed spaceflight to the Moon with 3 astronauts. Subsatellite placed in wrong orbit, shorter lifespan than planned
April 19 21:43	Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H			Vandenberg AFB, SLC-3W		US Air Force
		KH-4B 1116	USAF	LEO	Reconnaissance	May 12, 1972	Successful
May
May 25 18:41	Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H			Vandenberg AFB, SLC-3W		US Air Force
		KH-4B 1117	USAF	LEO	Reconnaissance	June 4, 1972
		Final flight of Thorad-Agena
June
June 13 21:53	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur		AC-29	Cape Canaveral, LC-36B
		Intelsat 4 F-5	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
June 26 14:53	Soyuz (11A511)			Baikonur, LC-1/5		RVSN
		Kosmos 496 (Soyuz 7K-T)		LEO	Test redesigned Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft	July 2, 1972	Successful
July
July 23 18:41	Delta 0900		D-89	Vandenberg AFB, SLC-2W
		Landsat 1	NASA	LEO	Earth resources satellite	In orbit	Successful
		Maiden flight of Delta 0100 series
August
10 August 00:32	Feng Bao 1		701-02	Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, LA-2B (Site 138)
		Shiyan Peizhong		Suborbital	Test flight	T+90 seconds	Successful
		First suborbital test flight of Feng Bao 1, apogee: 200 km.
13 August 15:10	Scout D-1			Wallops Flight Facility, LA-3
		Explorer 46 (MTS)	NASA	LEO	Meteoroid research	2 November 1979	Successful
August 19 02:40	M-4S			Kagoshima Space Center, LP-M		NASDA
		Denpa (REXS)	ISAS	Highly elliptical orbit	Magnetosphere research	19 May 1980	Spacecraft failure
		Final flight of M-4S. The satellite stopped transmitting several days after launch, due to high voltage arcing
August 21 10:28	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur		AC-22	Cape Canaveral, LC-36B
		OAO 3	NASA	LEO	Ultraviolet astronomy	In orbit	Successful
		Final flight of Atlas SLV-3C Centaur
September
September 23 01:20	Delta 1604 (1604)		D-90	Cape Canaveral, LC-17B
		Explorer 47	NASA	HEO	Magnetosphere research	In orbit	Successful
		Maiden flight of Delta 1000 series. Maiden flight of Extended Long-Tank Thor stage
October
October 2 20:09	Atlas F Burner II			Vandenberg AFB, BMRS-A1		US Air Force
		OPS 8180 (RADCAT)	USAF	LEO	Radar calibration	2 August 2012	Successful
		Radsat	USAF	LEO	Gamma radiation research	In orbit	Successful
October 15 17:19	Delta 0300		D-91	Vandenberg AFB, SLC-2W
		NOAA 2 (ITOS-B)	NOAA	LEO	Weather satellite	In orbit	Successful
		AMSAT-OSCAR 6	AMSAT	LEO	Amateur radio	In orbit	Successful
November
November 9 03:23	Thor Burner II			Vandenberg AFB, SLC-10W		US Air Force
		DMSP 5B F3	USAF	LEO	Weather	In orbit	Successful
November 10 01:14	Delta 1914		D-92	Cape Canaveral, LC-17B
		Anik A1	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
December
December 7 05:33	Saturn V			Kennedy, LC-39A		NASA
		Apollo 17 CSM "America"	NASA	Lunar	Crewed lunar orbiter	December 19, 1971	Successful
		Apollo 17 lunar module "Challenger"	NASA	Lunar	Crewed lunar lander	December 14, 1971 (at Moon)	Successful
		Crewed spaceflight to the Moon with 3 astronauts. Final flight of Apollo program.
December 11 07:56	Delta 0900		D-93	Vandenberg AFB, SLC-2W
		Nimbus 5	NASA	LEO	Environmental research	In orbit	Successful
December 16 11:24	Scout D-1			Vandenberg AFB, SLC-5		NASA
		December 20 22:20	Atlas SLV-3A Agena-D			Cape Canaveral, LC-13		US Air Force
	OPS 9390 Canyon 5		USAF	Geosynchronous	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful

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

Launches from the Moon

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
22 February 22:58	Luna 20 Ascent stage			Terra Apollonius (Luna)
		Luna 20 Return capsule		Highly elliptical	Sample return	25 February	Successful
		Second uncrewed lunar sample return mission
24 April 01:25:47	Lunar Module Ascent Stage			Descartes Highlands (Luna)		NASA
		Apollo 16 LM	NASA	Selenocentric (CSM)	Crewed	Unknown	Successful
		Carrying two astronauts back to CSM after lunar landing
14 December 22:54:37	Lunar Module Ascent Stage			Taurus-Littrow (Luna)		NASA
		Apollo 17 LM	NASA	Selenocentric (CSM)	Crewed	15 December 06:50	Successful
		Carrying two astronauts back to CSM after lunar landing

Deep space rendezvous in 1972

• February 21 – Luna 20, 55g from Apollonius Crater (sample return mission)
• April 21 – Apollo 16, 95 kg from Descartes Highlands (sample return mission)
• July 22 – Venera 8 atmospheric probe worked for 50 min on the Venerian surface
• December 11 – Apollo 17, 111 kg from Taurus–Littrow (sample return mission)

References

• Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
• Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
• Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.
• Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
• Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
• McDowell, Jonathan. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
• Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
• Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
• Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
• Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
• "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
• "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
• "Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
• "Space Information Center". JAXA.
• "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).

Generic references:
Spaceflight portal