Previous Spaceflight Launches
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Atlas IIA | INMARSAT III F-3
Lockheed Martin | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Dec. 18, 1996, 1:57 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
Launched in 1996-8, the Inmarsat-3s were built by Lockheed Martin Astro Space (now Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space) of the USA, responsible for the basic spacecraft, and the European Matra Marconi Space (now Astrium), which developed the communications payload.
Geostationary Orbit
Tsiklon-2 | US-PM 8
Yuzhnoye Design Bureau | UkraineBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Dec. 11, 1996, noon
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
US-PM (Upravlenniye Sputnik Passivny Modifikirovanny) (also reported as US-PU) was a solar powered improved EORSAT (Electronic Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite). It used an passive ELINT devices to track naval vessels from space by registering their electronic emmissions.
Low Earth Orbit
Delta II | Mars Pathfinder
United Launch Alliance | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Dec. 4, 1996, 6:58 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
he MPF (Mars Pathfinder) (formerly known as the Mars Environmental Survey, or MESUR Pathfinder) is the second of NASA's low-cost planetary Discovery missions. The mission consists of a stationary lander and a surface rover. The mission has the primary objective of demonstrating the feasibility of low-cost landings on and exploration of the Martian surface. This objective will be met by tests of communications between the rover and lander, and the lander and Earth, and tests of the imaging devices and sensors.
Heliocentric N/AAtlas IIA | Hot Bird 2
Lockheed Martin | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Nov. 21, 1996, 8:47 p.m.
Soyuz U | Progress M-33
Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Nov. 19, 1996, 11:20 p.m.
Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-80
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Nov. 19, 1996, 7:55 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
STS-80 was a Space Shuttle mission flown by Space Shuttle Columbia. The launch was originally scheduled for 31 October 1996, but was delayed to 19 November for several reasons. Likewise, the landing, which was originally scheduled for 5 December, was pushed back to 7 December after bad weather prevented landing for two days. The mission was the longest Shuttle mission ever flown at 17 days, 15 hours, and 53 minutes. Although two spacewalks were planned for the mission, they were both canceled after problems with the airlock hatch prevented astronauts Tom Jones and Tammy Jernigan from exiting the orbiter.
Low Earth Orbit
Proton-K/D-2 | Mars-96
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Nov. 16, 1996, 8:48 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
The Mars 96 spacecraft was launched into Earth orbit, but failed to achieve insertion into Mars cruise trajectory and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at about 00:45 to 01:30 UT on 17 November 1996 and crashed within a presumed 320 km by 80 km area which includes parts of the Pacific Ocean, Chile, and Bolivia. The cause of the crash is not known.
Heliocentric N/A
Ariane 44L | Arabsat 2B & MEASAT 2
Aérospatiale | FranceGuiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Nov. 13, 1996, 10:40 p.m.
Delta II | Mars Global Surveyor
United Launch Alliance | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Nov. 7, 1996, 5 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) is designed to orbit Mars over a two year period and collect data on the surface morphology, topography, composition, gravity, atmospheric dynamics, and magnetic field. This data will be used to investigate the surface processes, geology, distribution of material, internal properties, evolution of the magnetic field, and the weather and climate of Mars.
Heliocentric N/A
Pegasus XL | High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE) & Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-B (SAC-B)
Orbital Sciences Corporation | United States of AmericaAir launch to orbit
Nov. 4, 1996, 5:08 p.m.
