1984 in spaceflight

First5 Jan

Last22 Dec

Total129

Successes128

1984 in spaceflight
Orbital launches
First	5 Jan
Last	22 Dec
Total	129
Successes	128
Failures	1
National firsts
Space traveller	Canada India
Rockets
Maiden flights	Ariane 3 Atlas G Long March 3 Space Shuttle Discovery
Retirements	M-3S Titan 24B
Crewed flights
Orbital	8
Total travellers	37
v t e

1984 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 1983 1985 →

The following is an outline of 1984 in spaceflight.

v t e Timeline of spaceflight
Spaceflight before 1951
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 (H1, H2) 2022 (H1, H2) 2023 (H1, H2) 2024 (H1, H2) 2025 (H1, H2) 2026 2027 2028 2029
Future


Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January
23 January 07:58	N-II/Star-37E		N-12	Tanegashima Space Center, LP-N		Mitsubishi Heavy Industry (MHI)

		Yuri 2a (BS-2a)	NHK	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Successful
29 January 12:25	Long March 3		Y1	Xichang Satellite Launch Center, LC-3		MASI

		DFH-2 1 (STTW T1)		Intended: Geostationary (GEO) Achieved: elliptical orbit	Communications, technology test	In orbit	Partial failure
		Third stage failed after restart, payload left in elliptical orbit much lower than planned geostationary transfer orbit.^[1] Many planned tests were still carried out.
31 January 03:08	Titan 34D/Transtage			Cape Canaveral LC-40

		OPS-0441 (Vortex 4)	NRO	High Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
February
3 February 13:00	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-41-B	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	11 February 12:15	Successful
		Westar 6	Western Union	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: Low Earth	Communications	16 November 11:59	Deployment failure
		Palapa B2	Telkom Indonesia	Intended: Geosynchronous Actual: Low Earth	Communications	16 November 11:59	Deployment failure
		SPAS-1A	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Microgravity research	11 February 12:15	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts; first use of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and the first Space Shuttle landing at the Kennedy Space Center. PAM failures led to Westar 6 and Palapa B2 being stranded in Low Earth orbit. The satellites were subsequently retrieved by Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-51-A in November and were returned to Earth for refurbishment. Westar 6 was sold to AsiaSat and renamed AsiaSat 1, and launched by a Chinese Long March 3 carrier rocket on 7 April 1990. Palapa B2 was renamed Palapa B2R and was launched by an American Delta II 6925-8 carrier rocket on 13 April 1990.
5 February 18:44	Atlas H			Vandenberg SLC-3E

		OPS-8737 (NOSS 7)	US Navy	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
8 February 12:07	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6

		Soyuz T-10		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EO-3	11 April 10:48	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts
14 February 08:00	M-3S		4	Kagoshima Space Center, LP-M		ISAS

		EXOS C (Ohzora)	ISAS	Low Earth	Upper atmosphere and ionosphere research	26 December 1988	Successful
		Final flight of M-3S
21 February 06:46	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6

		Progress 19		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	1 April 18:18	Successful
March
5 March 00:50	Ariane 1			Kourou ELA		CNES

		Intelsat 508	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
April
3 April 13:08	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6

		Soyuz T-11		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EP-3	2 October 10:57	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts including the first Indian space traveller
6 April 13:58	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-41-C	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment and repair	13 April 13:38	Successful
		LDEF	NASA	Low Earth	Material science	20 January 1990 06:35	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts; Solar Max repair mission LDEF retrieved by Space Shuttle Columbia during mission STS-32 in January 1990.
8 April 11:20	Long March 3		Y2	Xichang SLC, LC-3		MASI

		DFH-2 2 (STTW T2)		Geostationary	Communications, technology test	In orbit	Successful
		First successful Chinese communications satellite on the geostationary orbit
14 April 16:52	Titan 34D/Transtage			Cape Canaveral LC-40

		OPS-7641 (DSP-12)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Early warning	In orbit	Successful
15 April 08:12	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6

		Progress 20		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	7 May 00:32	Successful
17 April 18:45	Titan 24B			Vandenberg SLC-4W

		OPS-8424 (KH-8-54)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	13 August	Successful
		Final flight of Titan 24B and the final KH-8 spacecraft
May
7 May 22:47	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6

		Progress 21		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	26 May 15:00	Successful
23 May 01:33	Ariane 1			Kourou ELA		Arianespace

		Spacenet F1	Spacenet	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
28 May 14:12	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 31/6

		Progress 22		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	15 July 18:52	Successful
June
9 June 23:03	Atlas G			Cape Canaveral LC-36B

		Intelsat 509	Intelsat	Intended: Geosynchronous Achieved: Low Earth	Communications	24 October	Launch Failure
		Maiden flight of Atlas G Upper stage malfunction left payload in a useless orbit
13 June 11:37	Atlas E/SGS-2			Vandenberg SLC-3W

		USA-1 (GPS-9)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
25 June 18:47	Titan 34D			Vandenberg SLC-4E

		USA-2 (KH-9-19)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	18 October	Successful
		USA-3 (SSF-D-5)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	ELINT	In orbit	Successful
July
17 July 17:40	Soyuz-U2			Baikonur Site 31/6

		Soyuz T-12		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EP-4	29 July 12:55	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts First crewed flight of Soyuz-U2
26 July 18:05	Sonda III			Barreira do Inferno Launch Center		IAE

			IAE	Suborbital	Engineering test	26 July	Successful
		688 km downrange. 565 km apogee. 12 min 40 s flight duration. 17th Sonda III launch.^[2]
August
2 August 20:30	N-II/Star 37E		N-13	Tanegashima Space Center, LP-N		MHI

		Himawari 3 (GMS-3)	JMA	Geostationary	Meteorology	In orbit	Successful
4 August 13:32	Ariane 3			Kourou ELA		Arianespace

		Eutelsat 1F2	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Telecom 1A	France Télécom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Maiden flight of Ariane 3 Eutelsat 1F2 retired in 1993
14 August 06:28	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5

		Progress 23		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	28 August 01:28	Successful
28 August 18:03	Titan 34B			Vandenberg SLC-4W

		USA-4 (SDS-1-5)	US Air Force	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Successful
30 August 12:41	Space Shuttle Discovery			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-41-D	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	5 September 15:37	Successful
		SBS-4	SBS	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Telstar 302	AT&T	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Leasat 2	US Navy	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		OAST-1	NASA	Low Earth (Discovery)	Solar array R&D	5 September 15:37	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts Maiden flight of Space Shuttle Discovery
September
8 September 21:41	Atlas E/SGS-2			Vandenberg SLC-3W

		USA-5 (GPS-10)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
12 September 05:44	Long March 2C		Y3	Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, LA-2B (Site 138)		MASI

		FSW-0 6		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	29 September	Successful
October
5 October 11:03	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-41-G	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	13 October 16:26	Successful
		ERBS	NASA	Low Earth	Radiation budget observation	9 January 2023 04:04^[3]	Successful
		OSTA-3	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Earth imaging	13 October 16:26	Successful
		ORS	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Satellite refuelling demonstration	13 October 16:26	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts including the first Canadian space traveller Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) ERBS retired on 14 October 2005
November
8 November 12:15	Space Shuttle Discovery			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-51-A	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment and retrieval	16 November 11:59	Successful
		Anik D2	Telesat Canada	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Leasat 1	US Navy	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts Anik D2 retired on 31 January 1995 Retrieved Westar 6 and Palapa B2 satellites which were stranded in Low Earth orbit after PAM failures during deployment from Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-41-B in February.
10 November 01:14	Ariane 3			Kourou ELA		Arianespace

		Spacenet F2	Spacenet	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		MARECS 2	ESA	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
21 November	Sonda IV			Barreira do Inferno Launch Center		CTA

			CTA	Suborbital	Engineering test	21 November	Successful
		600 km apogee. 1st Sonda IV launch.^[4]
December
4 December 18:03	Titan 34D			Vandenberg SLC-4E

		USA-6 (KH-11-6)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	In orbit	Successful
12 December 10:42	Atlas E/Star-37S-ISS			Vandenberg SLC-3W

		NOAA 9 (NOAA-F)	NOAA	Sun-synchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Successful
22 December 00:02	Titan 34D/Transtage			Cape Canaveral LC-40

		USA-7 (DSP-12)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Early warning	In orbit	Successful

Suborbital launches


Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January-March
April-June
9 April^[5]	Hwasong-5			Tonghae		Korean People's Army Strategic Force

			Korean People's Army Strategic Force	Suborbital	Missile test	9 April	Successful?
		Apogee: 200 kilometres (120 mi).
10 June	Minuteman 1B			Vandenberg AFB, LF-06		US Air Force

		Reentry vehicle	USAF	Suborbital	ABM target	10 June	Intercepted
		Target for HOE 4, modified for increased visibility, successfully intercepted.
10 June	HOE		HOE 4	Meck Island, Kwajalein Missile Range		US Air Force

		HOE 4	USAF	Suborbital	ABM test	10 June	Successful
		Successfully intercepted the target.
July-September
September (exact date unknown)^[5]	Hwasong-5			Tonghae		Korean People's Army Strategic Force

			Korean People's Army Strategic Force	Suborbital	Missile test	September (exact date unknown)	Failure?
		Apogee: 200 kilometres (120 mi).
September (exact date unknown)^[5]	Hwasong-5			Tonghae		Korean People's Army Strategic Force

			Korean People's Army Strategic Force	Suborbital	Missile test	September (exact date unknown)	Failure?
		Apogee: 200 kilometres (120 mi).
October-December

Deep-space rendezvous

EVAs

Start date/time	Duration	End time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
7 February	5 hours 55 minutes		STS-41-B Challenger	Bruce McCandless II Robert L. Stewart	McCandless and Stewart rode on the Crewed Maneuvering Unit (MMUs) during the first untethered EVAs in history. Both astronauts practiced using tools and procedures for the planned capture and repair of the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite to be performed in a subsequent flight.^[6]
9 February	6 hours 17 minutes		STS-41-B Challenger	Bruce McCandless II Robert L. Stewart	Continued testing the MMUs and practice with tools and procedures to be used with recovery and repair of the SMM satellite.^[6]
8 April 14:18	2 hours 38 minutes	16:56	STS-41-C Challenger	George Nelson James van Hoften	Nelson rode the MMU to the SMM satellite. Van Hoften stood by in the payload bay to provide any needed assistance. After three unsuccessful attempts to capture the SMM with the Trunnion Pin Acquisition Device (TPAD) tool and one attempt to grab the satellite by hand, the spacewalkers returned to Challenger. The SMM was recovered the next day with the RMS.^[7]
11 April 08:58	6 hours 44 minutes	15:42	STS-41-C Challenger	George Nelson James van Hoften	Completed repair of the SMM satellite and then continued testing of the MMU.^[8]
23 April 04:31	4 hours 20 minutes	08:46	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Installed a new ladder to reach the ruptured Main Oxidizer Line on Salyut 7. First of five EVAs to conduct the repair.
26 April 02:40	4 hours 56 minutes	07:40	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Removed installation and installed a valve in the spare oxidizer line. Second of five EVAs to repair the Main Oxidizer Line on the station.
29 April 01:35	2 hours 45 minutes	04:20	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Installed a bypass line around the damaged section of the Main Oxidizer Line on the station. Third of five repair EVAs.
3 May 23:15	2 hours 45 minutes	4 May 02:00	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Installed a second bypass line and replaced thermal insulation at the Main Oxidizer Line of the station. Fourth of five repair EVAs.
18 May 17:52	3 hours 5 minutes	20:57	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Installed two new solar arrays onto the space station.
25 July 14:55	3 hours 35 minutes	18:29	Salyut 7 EP-4	Vladimir Dzhanibekov Svetlana Savitskaya	Tested the URI multi-purpose tool with several metal samples. Savitskaya became the first women in history to perform an EVA.
8 August 08:46	5 hours	13:46	Salyut 7 EO-3	Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov	Using a pneumatic press tool delivered by Soyuz T-12, the cosmonauts completed the fifth and final EVA to repair the damaged Main Oxidizer Line of the station by crimping the ends of the ruptured pipe.
11 October 15:38	3 hours 29 minutes	19:05	STS-41-G Challenger	David Leestma Kathryn Sullivan	Demonstrated the use of the Orbital Refueling System, including the installation of an ORS valve maintenance kit.^[9] Sullivan was the first American women and the second women in history to conduct an EVA.^[10]
12 November 13:25	6 hours	19:25	STS-51-A Discovery	Joseph P. Allen Dale Gardner	Allen rode the MMU to the Palapa B2 satellite and retrieved it into the payload bay. Gardner and Allen then secured the satellite in the payload bay for return to Earth.^[11]
14 November 11:09	5 hours 42 minutes	16:51	STS-51-A Discovery	Joseph P. Allen Dale Gardner	Gardner rode the MMU to the Westar 6 satellite and retrieved it into the payload bay. Allen and Gardner then secured the satellite in the payload bay for return to Earth.^[11]

1984 in spaceflight

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Suborbital launches

January-March

April-June

July-September

October-December

Deep-space rendezvous

EVAs

References

Footnotes

Related Articles

v t e ← 1983 Orbital launches in 1984 1985 →
January	OPS 0441
February	STS-41-B (Westar 6, Palapa B2, IRT, SPAS-1A) OPS 8737 OPS 8737 SSU-1 OPS 8737 SSU-2 OPS 8737 SSU-3 Soyuz T-10 Progress 19
March	Intelsat V F-8
April	Soyuz T-11 STS-41-C (LDEF) OPS 7641 Progress 20 OPS 8424
May	Progress 21 Spacenet 1 Progress 22
June	Intelsat V F-9 USA-1 USA-2 USA-3
July	Soyuz T-12
August	ECS-2 Telecom 1A Progress 23 USA-4 STS-41-D (SBS-4, Leasat 2, Telstar 3C)
September	USA-5
October	STS-41-G (ERBS, OSTA-3)
November	STS-51-A (Anik D2, Leasat 1) Spacenet 2 MARECS-2
December	USA-6 NOAA-9 USA-7
Unknown month	Kosmos 1522 Kosmos 1523 Kosmos 1524 Kosmos 1525 Kosmos 1526 Kosmos 1527 Kosmos 1528 Kosmos 1529 Kosmos 1530 Kosmos 1531 Kosmos 1532 Yuri 2a Kosmos 1533 Kosmos 1534 Shiyan Tongbu Tongxing Weixing 1 Kosmos 1535 Kosmos 1536 Ōzora Gran' No.25L Kosmos 1537 Kosmos 1538 Kosmos 1539 Landsat 5 UoSAT-2 Kosmos 1540 Kosmos 1541 Kosmos 1542 Kosmos 1543 Kosmos 1544 Ekran No.26L Molniya-1 No.51 Kosmos 1545 Kosmos 1546 Kosmos 1547 Shiyan Tongbu Tongxing Weixing 2 Kosmos 1548 Kosmos 1549 Gorizont No.19L Kosmos 1550 Kosmos 1551 Kosmos 1552 Kosmos 1553 Kosmos 1554 Kosmos 1555 Kosmos 1556 Kosmos 1557 Kosmos 1558 Kosmos 1559 Kosmos 1560 Kosmos 1561 Kosmos 1562 Kosmos 1563 Kosmos 1564 Kosmos 1565 Kosmos 1566 Kosmos 1567 Kosmos 1568 Kosmos 1569 Kosmos 1570 Kosmos 1571 Kosmos 1572 Kosmos 1573 Kosmos 1574 Gran' No.27L Kosmos 1575 Kosmos 1576 Kosmos 1577 Kosmos 1578 Kosmos 1579 Kosmos 1580 Kosmos 1581 Meteor-2 No.16 Kosmos 1582 Kosmos 1583 Kosmos 1584 Kosmos 1585 Gorizont No.20L Kosmos 1586 Himawari 3 Kosmos 1587 Kosmos 1588 Kosmos 1589 Molniya-1 No.53 Kosmos 1590 CCE IRM UKS SCE Molniya-1 No.54 Ekran No.27L Kosmos 1591 Kosmos 1592 Kosmos 1593 Kosmos 1594 Kosmos 1595 Kosmos 1596 Fanhui Shi Weixing 7 Kosmos 1597 Kosmos 1598 Galaxy 3 Kosmos 1599 Kosmos 1600 Kosmos 1601 Kosmos 1602 Kosmos 1603 Kosmos 1604 Kosmos 1605 Nova 3 Kosmos 1606 Kosmos 1607 NATO 3D Kosmos 1608 Kosmos 1609 Kosmos 1610 Kosmos 1611 Kosmos 1612 Kosmos 1613 Molniya-1 No.55 Vega 1 Kosmos 1614 Kosmos 1615 Vega 2
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( \| ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).