Launches
ON RECORD19MISSIONS
17 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1964, the most recent 2026.
ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
March 12 in spaceflight
19 orbital launches flew on March 12, the earliest of them in 1964, and 17 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 1 spaceflight and astronomy event on March 12. Below are the pictures NASA published on March 12 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.
Recorded events
IN THE RECORD1ENTRY
Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1811 onward.
Pictures from this date
PUBLISHED6IMAGES
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for March 12, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.
Published on March 12
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, for this calendar date in each of the last several years.
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
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
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
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
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.
© Dan Zafra — used with the credit NASA publishes
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.
© Wissam Ayoub — used with the credit NASA publishes
What happened on March 12
1811
Peninsular War: A day after a successful rearguard action, French Marshal Michel Ney once again successfully delays the pursuing Anglo-Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha.
Peninsular War ↗
Every launch on March 12
19 launches
ONLINE
- 2026Long March 2D | Shiyan 30 03-04CASCSUCCESS
- 2026Long March 8A | SatNet LEO Group 20CASCSUCCESS
- 2026Firefly Alpha | Stairway to SevenFASUCCESS
- 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | SPHEREx & PUNCHSpXSUCCESS
- 2024Electron | Owl Night Long (StriX-3)RLSUCCESS
- 2023Proton-M Briz-M | Olymp-K #2 (Luch 5X)KhSCSUCCESS
- 2000Zenit | ICO F1SLFAILURE
- 2000Taurus 1110 | MTIOSCSUCCESS
- 2000Proton-K/DM-2M | Ekspress 6AKhSCSUCCESS
- 1991Kosmos-3M | Nadezhda 6CCCPSUCCESS
- 1983Proton-K/DM | EkranCCCPSUCCESS
- 1981Soyuz-U | Soyuz T-4CCCPSUCCESS
- 1979Soyuz U | Progress 5CCCPSUCCESS
- 1976Kosmos-3M | Taifun-1 4CCCPSUCCESS
- 1975Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 38CCCPSUCCESS
- 1972Thor Delta N | TD-1AUSAFSUCCESS
- 1965Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | KH-7 16USAFSUCCESS
- 1965Molniya 8K78 | Luna-5cCCCPFAILURE
- 1964Nike Cajun | Trailblazer PelletNASASUCCESS
FIELD KIT / LIBRARY
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General-audience astronomy and spaceflight — none of it a textbook.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.