The United States National Space Science Data Center catalogued 157 spacecraft placed into orbit by launches which occurred in 1968.[1] The first crewed Apollo missions occurred in 1968. It was also the year in which Earth lifeforms first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Zond 5 mission to the Moon and the Zond 6 lunar mission which crashed upon return, and the year that humans first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Apollo 8 mission to the Moon.

1968 in spaceflight
The crew of Apollo 8 were the first humans to witness Earthrise, photographed by William Anders on 24 December 1968
Orbital launches
First7 January
Last26 December
Total128
Successes119
Failures9
Partial failures3
Rockets
Maiden flightsDelta M
Delta N
RetirementsDelta J
Kosmos-3
Crewed flights
Orbital3

Deep space lunar missions

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Date (UTC) Spacecraft Event Remarks
10 January Surveyor 7 Lunar landing in the debris from Tycho crater
31 January Lunar Orbiter 5 Lunar impact
10 April Luna 14 Lunar orbit insertion
18 September Zond 5 Flyby of the Moon; first return to Earth after flight to Moon; first Earth life forms to travel around the Moon (two Russian tortoises) Closest approach: 1,950 kilometres (1,210 mi)
14 November Zond 6 Flyby of the Moon, with turtles, flies, and bacteria Closest approach: 2,420 kilometres (1,500 mi)
24 December Apollo 8 Lunar orbit insertion; first humans to travel around the Moon
25 December Apollo 8 Leaves lunar orbit Completed 10 orbits

Orbital launches

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Key
  USA
  Soviet Union

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
7 January
06:30
  Atlas-SLV3 Centaur-D AC-15  Cape Canaveral SLC-36A
 Surveyor 7 NASA Selenocentric Lunar lander 10 January (on Moon) Successful
11 January
16:16
  Delta E1 D-56  Vandenberg SLC-2E
 Explorer 36 (GEOS-B) NASA Low Earth Research In orbit Successful
16 January
12:00
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 199 (Zenit-2 #58) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
17 January
10:12
  Thor SLV-2A Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-2W
 OPS 1965 Multigroup 3&Setter 1B-2 USAF Low Earth ELINT In orbit Successful
18 January
19:04
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 5028 KH-8 4311 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
19 January
22:00
 Kosmos-3M  Plesetsk Site 132/2
 Kosmos 200 (Tselina O #2) Low Earth Orbit SIGINT In orbit Successful
22 January
22:48:09
 Saturn IB (C-1B)  Cape Canaveral LC-37B  NASA
Apollo 5 NASA LEO Test Lunar Module 12 February 1968
09:59
successful
Minor malfunction of LM descent stage engine, otherwise successful
24 January
22:26
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1E
 OPS 5028 KH-4A 1045 CIA Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
 Tivoli 1 USAF Low Earth ELINT In orbit Successful

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
6 February
08:00
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 201 (Zenit-4 #38) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
7 February
10:43
 Molniya-M / Blok L  Baikonur Site 1/5
  (Ye-6LS No 112) Selenocentric Lunar Orbiter 7 February Failure
20 February
10:03
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 Kosmos 202 (DS-U2-V #4) Low Earth Orbit Ionospheric research 24 March Successful
20 February
16:00
 Kosmos-3M  Plesetsk Site 132/2
 Kosmos 203 (Sfera #1) Low Earth Orbit Geodesy In orbit 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
2 March
03:55
  Scout-A  Vandenberg SLC-5
 OPS 7034 Transit-O 18 USN Low Earth Navigation In orbit Successful
2 March
18:29
 Proton K / Blok D  Baikonur Site 81/23 MOM
 Zond 4 (L1 6) MOM Lunar free-return Prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P/Zond 9 March Successful
4 March
13:06
  Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D  Cape Canaveral LC-13
 OGO 5 (EGO 3) NASA Low Earth Research In orbit Successful
5 March
11:20
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 204 (DS-P1-I #3) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration 2 March 1969 Successful
5 March
12:30
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 205 (Zenit-2 #59) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
5 March
18:28
  Scout-B  Wallops LA-3
 Explorer 37 (Solrad 9) NASA Low Earth Research 16 November 1990 Successful
6 March
11:02
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 (DS-U1-Ya #1) Low Earth Orbit Magnetosphere research 6 March Failure
13 March
19:51
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 5057 KH-8 4312 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
14 March
09:34
 Vostok-2M  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 206 (Meteor-1 #9) Low Earth Orbit Meteorology 22 April 1989 Successful
14 March
22:00
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1E
 OPS 4849 KH-4A 1046 CIA Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
 OPS 7076 Lampan 1 / Sampan 2 USAF Low Earth ELINT In orbit Successful
16 March
12:30
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 207 (Zenit-4 #39) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
21 March
09:50
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 1/5
 Kosmos 208 (Zenit-2M #1,Gektor #1) & Nauka-1KS 1L GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
22 March
09:30
 Tsyklon-2A  Baikonur Site 90/19
 Kosmos 209 (US-AO #4) Low Earth Orbit US-A prototype In orbit 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
3 April
11:00
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 210 (Zenit-2 #60) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
4 April
12:00:02
 Saturn V (C-5)  LC-39A, Kennedy  NASA
 Apollo 6 NASA Low Earth (achieved)
TLI to direct return abort (planned)
Test CSM heat shield at Lunar return speeds. Test S-IVB re-ignition in LEO. 4 April 1968
21:57:26
Partial failure
Experienced Pogo oscillation during S-IC first stage ascent. S-IVB failed restart test.
6 April
09:59
  Atlas F OV1  Vandenberg LC-576A2
 OV1 13 USAF Low Earth Radiation belt research In orbit Successful
 OV1 14 USAF Low Earth Radiation belt research In orbit Successful
7 April
10:09
 Molniya-M / Blok L  Baikonur Site 1/5
 Luna 14 Selenocentric Lunar Orbiter In orbit Successful
9 April
11:26
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 211 (DS-P1-Yu #12) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration In orbit Successful
14 April
10:00
 Soyuz  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 212 (Soyuz Test #5) Low Earth Orbit Test spacecraft In orbit Successful
15 April
09:34
 Soyuz  Baikonur Site 1/5
 Kosmos 213 (Soyuz Test #6) Low Earth Orbit Test spacecraft In orbit Successful
17 April
17:00
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 5105 KH-8 4313 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
18 April
10:30
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 214 (Zenit-4 #40) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
18 April
22:29
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 Kosmos 215 (DS-U1-A #1) Low Earth Orbit Aeronomy 30 June Successful
20 April
10:30
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 216 (Zenit-2 #61) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
21 April
04:20
 Molniya-M / Blok ML  Baikonur Site 1/5
 Molniya-1 08 Molniya orbit Communications In orbit Successful
22 April
23:01
 Proton K / Blok D  Pad 81/23, Baikonur MOM
 Zond (L1 7) MOM Lunar Free-return Prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P/Zond 22 April Failure
24 April
16:00
 Tsyklon-2A  Baikonur Site 90/19
 Kosmos 217 (I2M #1) Low Earth Orbit ASAT target 26 April Partial failure
The satellite did not separate from the upper stage and was placed into lower than planned orbit
25 April
00:45
 R-36-O  Baikonur Site 162/36
 Kosmos 218 (OGCh #17) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 25 April Successful
26 April
04:42
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 Kosmos 219 (DS-U2-D #2) Low Earth Orbit Magnetosphere research 2 March 1969 Successful
May launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
1 May
21:31
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-3W
 OPS 1413 KH-4B 1103 Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
7 May
13:57
 Kosmos 3M  Plesetsk Site 132/2
 Kosmos 220 (Zaliv #2) Low Earth Orbit Navigation In orbit Successful
17 May
02:06
 Scout B  Vandenberg SLC-5
  ESRO 2B (Iris 2) ESRO Low Earth Orbit Research In orbit Successful
18 May
08:23
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-2E
 Nimbus B NASA/NOAA Low Earth Meteorology 18 May Failure
 SECOR 10 US Army Low Earth Geodesy 18 May Failure
23 May
04:38
  Thor LV-2F Burner 2  Vandenberg SLC-10W
 OPS 7869 DMSP-4B F1 USAF Low Earth Meteorology In orbit Successful
24 May
07:04
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 Kosmos 221 (DS-P1-Yu #13) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration In orbit Successful
30 May
20:29
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 222 (DS-P1-Yu #14) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration 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
10:50
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 223 (Zenit-2 #62) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
4 June
06:45
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 224 (Zenit-4 #41) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
4 June
18:45
 Kosmos-3M  Plesetsk Site 132/2
  Sfera #2 Low Earth Orbit Geodesy 4 June Failure
5 June
17:33
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 5138 KH-8 4314 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
11 June
21:29
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 Kosmos 225 (DS-U1-Ya #2) Low Earth Orbit Magnetosphere research In orbit Successful
12 June
13:14
 Vostok-2M  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 226 (Meteor-1 #10) Low Earth Orbit Meteorology In orbit Successful
13 June
14:03:00
 Titan IIIC  Cape Canaveral Air Force Station LC-41   USAF
 OPS 9341 IDCSP 20 USAF Sub-GSO Military communications In orbit Success
 OPS 9342 IDCSP 21 USAF Sub-GSO Military communications In orbit Success
 OPS 9343 IDCSP 22 USAF Sub-GSO Military communications In orbit Success
 OPS 9344 IDCSP 23 USAF Sub-GSO Military communications In orbit Success
 OPS 9345 IDCSP 24 USAF Sub-GSO Military communications In orbit Success
 OPS 9346 IDCSP 25 USAF Sub-GSO Military communications In orbit Success
 OPS 9347 IDCSP 26 USAF Sub-GSO Military communications In orbit Success
 OPS 9348 IDCSP 27 USAF Sub-GSO Military communications In orbit Success
15 June
12:25
 Kosmos-3  Plesetsk Site 41/15
  (Strela-2 #4) Low Earth Orbit Military communications 15 June Failure
18 June
06:15
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 227 (Zenit-4 #42) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
20 June
21:46
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1E
 OPS 5343 KH-4A 1047 Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
 OPS 5259 Tripos 3/Sousea 2 USAF Low Earth ELINT In orbit Successful
21 June
12:00
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 228 (Zenit-2M #2,Gektor #2&Nauka-1KS 2L) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
26 June
11:00
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 229 (Zenit-4 #43) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance 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
4 July
17:26
  Delta J D-57  Vandenberg SLC-2E
 Explorer 38 (RAE A) NASA Low Earth Research In orbit Successful
5 July
06:59
 Kosmos-2   Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 Kosmos 230 (DS-U3-S #2) Low Earth Orbit Solar research 2 November Successful
5 July
15:25
 Molniya-M / Blok ML  Baikonur Site 1/5
 Molniya-1 09 Molniya Communications In orbit Successful
10 July
19:49
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 231 (Zenit-2 #63) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
11 July
19:30
 Atlas F OV1  Vandenberg LC576A2
  OV1 15 (SPADES) USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
  OV1 16 (LOADS 1) USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
16 July
13:10
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 232 (Zenit-4 #44) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
18 July
19:59
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 233 (DS-P1-Yu #15) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration In orbit Successful
30 July
07:00
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 234 (Zenit-4 #45) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit 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
6 August
11:08
  Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D  Cape Canaveral LC-13
 OPS 2222 Canyon 1 USAF Low Earth SIGINT In orbit Successful
6 August
16:30
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 5187 KH-8 4315 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
7 August
21:36
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-3W
 OPS 5955 KH-4B 1104 Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
8 August
20:12
  Scout B  Vandenberg SLC-5
 Explorer 39 (AD C) NASA Low Earth Research 22 June 1981 Successful
 Explorer 40 (Injun 5) NASA Low Earth Research In orbit Successful
9 August
07:00
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 235 (Zenit-2 #64) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
10 August
22:33
  Atlas-SLV3 Centaur-D AC-17  Cape Canaveral SLC-36A
 ATS-4 NASA Geosynchronous (planned)
Low Earth orbit (achieved)
Communications/Meteorology 17 October Partial failure
Centaur failed to restart, payload inserted into lower than planned orbit
16 August
11:24
  Delta N D-58  Vandenberg SLC-2E
  ESSA-7 ESSA Low Earth Meteorology In orbit Successful
16 August
20:57
 Atlas SLV-3 Burner-2  Vandenberg SLC-3E
  Orbiscal 1 USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration 16 August Failure
  OV5 8 (ERS 19) USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration
  Gridsphere 1 USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration
  Gridsphere 2 USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration
  MylarBalloon USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration
 Rigidsphere USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration
 LCS 3 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Low Earth Calibration
 LIDOS USAF Low Earth Geodesy
 SECOR 11 US Army Low Earth Geodesy
 SECOR 12 US Army Low Earth Geodesy
 Radcat Low Earth Calibration
 RM 18 & UVR USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration
Payload fairing failed to separate
27 August
11:29
 Kosmos-3  Baikonur Site 41/15
 Kosmos 236 (Strela-2 #5) Low Earth Orbit Military communications In orbit Successful
27 August
12:29
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 237 (Zenit-4 #46) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
28 August
10:04
 Soyuz  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 238 (Soyuz Test #7) Low Earth Orbit Test spacecraft 1 September
09:03
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
5 September
07:00
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 239 (Zenit-4 #47) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
10 September
18:30
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 5247 KH-8 4316 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
14 September
06:50
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 240 (Zenit-2 #65) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
14 September
21:42
 Proton K / Blok D  Pad 81/23, Baikonur MOM
 Zond 5 (L1 9) MOM Lunar Free-return Prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P/Zond 21 September
16:08
Successful
16 September
12:30
 Voskhod  Site 41/1, Plesetsk
 Kosmos 241 (Zenit-4 #48) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
18 September
21:32
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1E
 OPS 0165 KH-4A 1048 Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
 OPS 8595 Vampan 1 USAF Low Earth ELINT In orbit Successful
19 September
00:09
  Delta M D-59  Cape Canaveral LC-17A
 Intelsat III F1 Intelsat Geosynchronous Communications 19 September Failure
20 September
14:39
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 242 (DS-P1-I #4) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration In orbit Successful
23 September
07:39
 Voskhod   Baikonur Site 1/5
 Kosmos 243 (Zenit-2M #3,Gektor #3 & Nauka-2KS 1L) Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
26 September
07:37
  Titan IIIC  Cape Canaveral SLC-41
 LES 6 USAF Geosynchronous Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
 OV2 5 USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
 OV5 2 (ERS 21) USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
 OV5 4 (ERS 28) USAF Low Earth Technology Demonstration 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
2 October
13:35
 R-36-O  Baikonur Site 161/35
 Kosmos 244 (OGCh #20) RVSN Low Earth Orbit FOBS test 2 October Successful
3 October
12:58
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 245 (DS-P1-Yu #16) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration In orbit Successful
3 October
20:49
 Scout-B  Vandenberg SLC-5
 ESRO 1A (Aurorae) ESRO Low Earth Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
5 October
00:32
 Molniya-M / Blok ML  Baikonur Site 1/5
 Molniya-1 10 Molniya Communications In orbit Successful
5 October
11:16
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-1W
 OPS 0964 Strawman 1 USAF Low Earth ELINT, SIGINT In orbit Successful
7 October
12:05
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 246 (Zenit-4 #49) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
11 October
12:05
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 247 (Zenit-2 #66) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
11 October 1968
15:02
 Saturn IB (C-1B)  LC-34, Cape Canaveral  NASA
 Apollo 7 NASA LEO Crewed orbital flight 22 October 1968
11:11:48
Successful
First crewed Apollo flight
19 October
04:20
 Tsyklon-2A  Baikonur Site 90/19
 Kosmos 248 (I2M #2) Low Earth Orbit ASAT target In orbit Successful
20 October
04:02
 Tsyklon-2A  Site 90/20, Baikonur
 Kosmos 249 (I2P #1) Low Earth Orbit ASAT test In orbit Successful
23 October
04:34
  Thor LV-2F Burner 2  Vandenberg SLC-10W
 OPS 4078 DSMP-4B F2 Low Earth (SSO) Meteorology In orbit Successful
25 October
09:00
 Soyuz  Baikonur Site 1/5  RVSN
 Soyuz 2 Low Earth orbit Docking target for Soyuz 3 28 October 1968
07:21
Successful
Soyuz 3 failed to dock
26 October
08:34
 Soyuz  Baikonur Site 31/6  RVSN
 Soyuz 3 Low Earth orbit Crewed orbital flight 30 October 1968
07:25:03
Partial Failure
Failed to dock with Soyuz 2
30 October
22:00
 Kosmos-3M  Plesetsk Site 132/2
 Kosmos 250 (Tselina-O #3) Low Earth Orbit SIGINT In orbit Successful
31 October
09:14
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 1/5
 Kosmos 251 (Zenit-4M #1,Rotor #1) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit 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
1 November
00:27
 Tsyklon-2A  Baikonur Site 90/20
 Kosmos 252 (I2P #2) Low Earth Orbit ASAT In orbit Successful
3 November
21:30
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-3W
 OPS 1315 KH-4B 1105 Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
6 November
19:10
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 5296 KH-8 4317 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
8 November
09:46
  Delta E1 D-60  Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
 Pioneer 9 NASA Heliocentric Solar Orbiter In orbit Successful
  TTS 2 NASA Low Earth Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
10 November
19:11
 Proton K / Blok D  Baikonur Site 81/23 MOM
 Zond 6 (L1 12) MOM Lunar Free-return Prototype Soyuz 7K-L1P/Zond 17 November
14:10
Successful
13 November
12:00
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 253 (Zenit-2 #67) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
16 November
11:40
 Proton K  Baikonur Site 81/24 MOM
 Proton 4 MOM Low Earth Cosmic ray research 24 July 1969 Successful
21 November
12:10
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 254 (Zenit-4 #50) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
29 November
12:40
 Voskhod  Plesetsk Site 41/1
 Kosmos 255 (Zenit-2 #68) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
29 November
23:12
 Europa 1 F7  Woomera Test Range LA-6A
  STV 1 ELDO Low Earth Orbit Dummy Payload 29 November Failure
Third stage failure after separation
30 November
12:00
 Kosmos-3M  Plesetsk Site 132/2
 Kosmos 256 (Sfera #3) Low Earth Orbit Geodesy In orbit Successful

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
14:52
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 257 (DS-P1-Yu #17) Low Earth Orbit Radar calibration 5 March 1969 Successful
4 December
19:23
  Titan IIIB Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-4W
 OPS 6518 KH-8 4318 USAF Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Failure
5 December
18:55
  Delta E1 D-61  Cape Canaveral LC-17B
 HEOS 1 ESRO Low Earth Research 28 October 1975 Successful
7 December
08:40
  Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D AC-16  Cape Canaveral LC-36B
 OAO 2 NASA Low Earth UV astronomy In orbit Successful
10 December
08:25
 Voskhod  Baikonur Site 31/6
 Kosmos 258 (Zenit-2 #69) GRU Low Earth Orbit Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
12 December
22:22
  Thorad-SLV2G Agena-D  Vandenberg SLC-3W
 OPS 4740 KH-4A 1049 CIA Low Earth Reconnaissance In orbit Successful
 OPS 7684 P-801 1 USAF Low Earth ELINT In orbit Successful
14 December
05:09
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 Kosmos 259 (DS-U2-I #3) Low Earth Orbit Ionosphere research 5 May 1969 Successful
15 December
17:21
  Delta N  Vandenberg SLC-2E
 ESSA-8 ESSA SSO Meteorology In orbit Successful
16 December
09:15
 Molniya-M / Blok ML  Site 1/5, Baikonur
 Kosmos 260 (Molniya-1 Yu 15L) Molniya Technology Demonstration In orbit Successful
19 December
00:32
  Delta M D-63  Cape Canaveral LC-17A
 Intelsat III F2 Intelsat Geosynchronous Communications In orbit Successful
19 December
23:55
 Kosmos-2  Plesetsk Site 133/1
 Kosmos 261 (DS-U2-GK #1) Low Earth Orbit Aeronomy, auroral research 12 February 1969 Successful
21 December
12:51
 Saturn V (C-5)  LC-39A, Kennedy  NASA
 Apollo 8 NASA Selenocentric Crewed lunar orbiter 27 December 1968
15:51:42
Successful
  LTA B NASA Selenocentric Mass Model In orbit Successful
First crewed mission to the Moon
26 December
09:45
 Kosmos-2  Kapustin Yar Site 86/1
 Kosmos 262 (DS-U2-GF #1) Low Earth Orbit Solar research 18 July 1969 Successful

Suborbital Launches

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January-December

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Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
28 March  Kosmos-3  Baikonur Site 41/15
 VKZ #2 Suborbital Aeronomy, ionosphere and radiation belt research 28 March Successful
Launched on the strictly vertical trajectory. Apogee: about 4,000 km
20 May
22:05
 R-36-O  Baikonur Site 162/36  RVSN
 OGCh #18 RVSN Suborbital Missile test 20 May Successful
27 May
23:15
 R-36-O  Baikonur Site 161/35  RVSN
 OGCh #19 RVSN Suborbital Missile test 27 May Successful
8 August[2]  T-7/GF-01A  Jiuquan
  CAST Suborbital Test flight 8 August Successful
Test of high-altitude ignition of the FG-02 solid rocket motor. Apogee: 311 km
20 August[2]  T-7/GF-01A  Jiuquan
  CAST Suborbital Test flight 20 August Successful
Test of high-altitude ignition of the FG-02 solid rocket motor. Apogee: 311 km

Orbital launch summary

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References

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  • Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
  • Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
  • Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.[dead link]
  • Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
  • Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  • 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.[dead link]
  • "Space Information Center". JAXA.[dead link]
  • "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
Generic references:
  Spaceflight portal

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 Wade, Mark. "T-7". astronautix.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.