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March 11 in spaceflight

19 orbital launches flew on March 11, the earliest of them in 1960, and 19 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 1 spaceflight and astronomy event on March 11. Below are the pictures NASA published on March 11 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

19MISSIONS

19 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1960, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

1ENTRY

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 2008 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for March 11, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on March 11

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.

© William Vrbasso — used with the credit NASA publishes

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.

NASA · public domain

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.

© Marcella Giulia Pace — 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.

© Joshua Rhoades — used with the credit NASA publishes

What happened on March 11

  1. 2008

    Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-123, carrying the first component of the Japanese Kibō module to the International Space Station.

    Space Shuttle Endeavour ↗

Every launch on March 11

19 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Long March 8 | SpaceSail Polar Group #5CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 7-17SpXSUCCESS
  3. 2021Long March 7A | Shiyan 9 (XJY-6-02)CASCSUCCESS
  4. 2021Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink 20SpXSUCCESS
  5. 2011Delta IV M+(4,2) | NROL-27 (SDS) (USA-227)ULASUCCESS
  6. 2008Space Shuttle Endeavour / OV-105 | STS-123USASUCCESS
  7. 2007Ariane 5 ECA | Skynet 5A & INSAT-4BASASUCCESS
  8. 2006Ariane 5 ECA | Spainsat & Hot Bird 7AASASUCCESS
  9. 2005Atlas V 431 | INMARSAT 4 F1LMTSUCCESS
  10. 2003Delta IV M | DSCS III A-3USAFSUCCESS
  11. 1988Ariane 3 | Spacenet 3R & Télécom 1CASASUCCESS
  12. 1988Molniya-M | Molniya-1T 71CCCPSUCCESS
  13. 1988Kosmos-3M | Strela-1M 329-336CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1987Soyuz U | Zenit-8 45CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1983Molniya-M | Molniya-3 34LCCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1976Molniya-M | Molniya-1K 33CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1965Thor DM-21 Ablestar | Transit-O 3USAFSUCCESS
  18. 1964Atlas Agena D | KH-7 6USAFSUCCESS
  19. 1960Thor Able IV | Pioneer VUSAFSUCCESS

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.