Previous Spaceflight Launches
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Long March 2F | Shenzhou-3
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation | ChinaJiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
March 25, 2002, 2:15 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
Third test flight of the Shenzhou spacecraft, without crew on board. Main objective of the mission was to test the systems required to support a human in space. A human dummy was carried in the descent module to simulate the physiological signals of a human. 44 different experiments were carried, including an imaging spectrograph, cloud sensor, radiation sensor, solar ultraviolet monitor, solar constant monitor, atmospheric composition detector, atmospheric density detector, multi-chamber space crystallization furnace, space protein crystal equipment, a cell bioreactor, a solid matter tracking detector, and a microgravity gauge. Also on board was a video camera that broadcast images of the Earth as seen through one of the windows on the spacecraft.
Low Earth Orbit
Soyuz U | Progress M1-8
Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
March 21, 2002, 8:13 p.m.
Rokot / Briz-KM | GRACE
Russian Aerospace Defence Forces | RussiaPlesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation
March 17, 2002, 9:21 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) was a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Twin satellites took detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field anomalies from its launch in March 2002 to the end of its science mission in October 2017.
Low Earth Orbit
Atlas IIA | TDRS 9
Lockheed Martin | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
March 8, 2002, 10:59 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
TDRS-9, known before launch as TDRS-I, is an American communications satellite which is operated by NASA as part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. It was constructed by the Boeing Satellite Development Center, formerly Hughes Space and Communications, and is based on the BSS-601 satellite bus.[3] It was the second Advanced TDRS, or second-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, to be launched.
Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-109
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
March 1, 2002, 11:22 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
STS-109 (SM3B) was a Space Shuttle mission that launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 1 March 2002. It was the 108th mission of the Space Shuttle program, the 27th flight of the orbiter Columbia and the fourth servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope. It was also the last successful mission of the orbiter Columbia before the ill-fated STS-107 mission, which culminated in the Columbia disaster.
Low Earth Orbit
Ariane 5 G | Envisat
ArianeGroup | FranceGuiana Space Centre, French Guiana
March 1, 2002, 1:07 a.m.
Soyuz-U-PVB | Yantar-4K2 81
Progress Rocket Space Center | RussiaPlesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation
Feb. 25, 2002, 5:26 p.m.
Ariane 44L | INTELSAT 904
Aérospatiale | FranceGuiana Space Centre, French Guiana
Feb. 23, 2002, 6:59 a.m.
Atlas | Echostar VII
Lockheed Martin | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Feb. 21, 2002, 12:43 p.m.
Delta II | Iridium 91
United Launch Alliance | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Feb. 11, 2002, 5:43 p.m.
