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February 1 in spaceflight

17 orbital launches flew on February 1, the earliest of them in 1958, and 13 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 3 spaceflight and astronomy events on February 1. Below are the pictures NASA published on February 1 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

17MISSIONS

13 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1958, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

3ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1942 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 1, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on February 1

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, for this calendar date in each of the last several years.

NASA Science

2026

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

NASA · public domain

NASA Science

2025

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

© Vojan Höfer — used with the credit NASA publishes

NASA Science

2024

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

© Jean-Baptiste Auroux — used with the credit NASA publishes

NASA Science

2023

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

NASA · public domain

NASA Science

2022

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

NASA · public domain

NASA Science

2021

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

NASA · public domain

What happened on February 1

  1. 1942

    World War II: U.S. Navy conducts Marshalls–Gilberts raids, the first offensive action by the United States against Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater.

    Marshalls–Gilberts raids ↗

  2. 2003

    All seven crew members aboard Space Shuttle Columbia were killed when the orbiter disintegrated over Texas during reentry.

    Space Shuttle Columbia ↗

  3. 2003

    Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during the reentry of mission STS-107 into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

    Space Shuttle Columbia ↗

Every launch on February 1

17 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-4SpXSUCCESS
  2. 2021Hyperbola-1 | Unknowni-SpaceFAILURE
  3. 2018Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M | Kanopus-V No.3 & Kanopus-V No.4RFSASUCCESS
  4. 2016Long March 3C/YZ-1 | Beidou M3-SCASCSUCCESS
  5. 2015Proton-M Briz-M | Inmarsat-5 F2ILSSUCCESS
  6. 2015H-IIA 202 | IGS Radar SpareMHISUCCESS
  7. 2013Zenit 3SL | Intelsat-27SLFAILURE
  8. 2011Rokot/Briz-KM | Geo-IK-2 No.11L (Kosmos 2470)VKSFAILURE
  9. 2000Soyuz U | Progress M1-1RFSASUCCESS
  10. 1996Atlas IIAS | Palapa C1LMTSUCCESS
  11. 1987Tsiklon-2 | Plasma-A 1CCCPSUCCESS
  12. 1986Molniya-M | US-K 46CCCPSUCCESS
  13. 1986Long March 3 | DFH-2A 1CASCSUCCESS
  14. 1985Kosmos-3M | Parus 48CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1973Voskhod | Zenit-2M 35CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1969Vostok 8A92M | Meteor-1 11CCCPFAILURE
  17. 1958Juno-I | Explorer 1ABMASUCCESS

FIELD KIT / LIBRARY

SPONSORED

General-audience astronomy and spaceflight — none of it a textbook.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links here cost you nothing extra.

  • LISTING

    Cosmos — Carl Sagan

    Still the best single argument for why any of this matters, and it leaves the arithmetic in. For a reader who wants the science, not just the awe.

    VIEW

  • LISTING

    Pale Blue Dot — Carl Sagan

    The case for leaving Earth, written by someone unsentimental about how hard that is. Suits readers who want the argument rather than the poster.

    VIEW

  • LISTING

    Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir

    Hard-SF problem solving in The Martian's key — for anyone who liked the engineering more than the peril. The only novel on this list.

    VIEW

BROWSE opens an Amazon search, not a specific recommendation.

LINKS AMAZON.COM

Sources and licences

Event text and thumbnails come from Wikipedia and are used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Images are drawn only from Wikimedia Commons, which does not accept non-free content — each thumbnail links to its file page, where its licence and author are recorded.

Launch records are from The Space Devs’ Launch Library 2. Pictures are NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day; NASA imagery is generally not subject to copyright, but individual APOD entries are frequently the property of the photographer, and each caption says which applies.