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February 17 in spaceflight

24 orbital launches flew on February 17, the earliest of them in 1959, and 22 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 6 spaceflight and astronomy events on February 17. Below are the pictures NASA published on February 17 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

24MISSIONS

22 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1959, the most recent 2024.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

6ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1944 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 17, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on February 17

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.

NASA · public domain

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.

© Wang Letian — 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.

© Gijs de Reijke — used with the credit NASA publishes

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.

© Robert Eder — used with the credit NASA publishes

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 17

  1. 1944

    World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.

    World War II ↗

  2. 1944

    World War II: Operation Hailstone begins: U.S. naval air, surface and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.

    Operation Hailstone ↗

  3. 1959

    Vanguard 2 (model pictured), the first weather satellite, was launched to measure cloud cover distribution.

    Vanguard 2 ↗

  4. 1959

    Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2: The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.

    Project Vanguard ↗

  5. 1965

    Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the crewed Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

    Ranger program ↗

  6. 1996

    NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.

    NASA ↗

Every launch on February 17

24 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2024GSLV Mk II | INSAT-3DSISROSUCCESS
  2. 2024H3-22 | VEP 4, CE-SAT-1E & TIRSATMHISUCCESS
  3. 2023Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 2-5SpXSUCCESS
  4. 2020Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink 4SpXSUCCESS
  5. 2016H-IIA 202 | Astro-H (Hitomi)MHISUCCESS
  6. 2015Soyuz-U | Progress M-26MRFSASUCCESS
  7. 2007Delta II 7925-10C | THEMISULASUCCESS
  8. 1998Soyuz-U-PVB | Yantar-1KFT 19RFSASUCCESS
  9. 1997Atlas IIAS | JCSAT RLMTSUCCESS
  10. 1996Delta 7925-8 | NEAR ShoemakerUSAFSUCCESS
  11. 1993Proton | Uragan 51 to 53KhSCSUCCESS
  12. 1992Kosmos-3M | Parus 75NPSUCCESS
  13. 1989Soyuz U | Zenit-8 77CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1988Proton | Uragan 23 to 25CCCPFAILURE
  15. 1982Kosmos-3M | Tsikada 9CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1980Mu-3S | Tansei-4ISASSUCCESS
  17. 1978Kosmos-3M | Strela-2M 17CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1971Kosmos-3M | Tselina-O 8CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1971Thorad SLV-2H Agena D | KH-4B 13USAFFAILURE
  20. 1971Thor Burner 2 | DSAP-5A F3USAFSUCCESS
  21. 1966Diamant A | Diapason D-1ACNESSUCCESS
  22. 1965Atlas Agena B | Ranger 8USAFSUCCESS
  23. 1961Thor DM-21 Agena-B | KH-5 1USAFSUCCESS
  24. 1959Vanguard | Vanguard IIUSNSUCCESS

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.