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April 4 in spaceflight

25 orbital launches flew on April 4, the earliest of them in 1964, and 24 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 5 spaceflight and astronomy events on April 4. Below are the pictures NASA published on April 4 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

25MISSIONS

24 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1964, the most recent 2026.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

5ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1968 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 4, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on April 4

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.

© Robert Nemiroff — 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.

© Dan Bartlett — 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 April 4

  2. 1975

    Vietnam War: A United States Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy transporting orphans, crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, killing 172 people.

    Vietnam War ↗

  4. 1996

    Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.

    Comet Hyakutake ↗

  5. 1997

    Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-83. However, the mission is later cut short due to a fuel cell problem.

    Space Shuttle Columbia ↗

Every launch on April 4

25 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2026Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo (LA-05)ULASUCCESS
  2. 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-13SpXSUCCESS
  3. 2019Soyuz STB/Fregat | O3b FM17-20ASASUCCESS
  4. 2019Soyuz 2.1a | Progress MS-11 (72P)RFSASUCCESS
  5. 2014PSLV XL | IRNSS-1BISROSUCCESS
  6. 2011Soyuz FG | Soyuz TMA-21RFSASUCCESS
  7. 2009Atlas V 421 | WGS-2ULASUCCESS
  8. 2000Soyuz-U | Soyuz TM-30RFSASUCCESS
  9. 1997Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-83USASUCCESS
  10. 1997Titan II SLV | DMSP-5D2 F14USAFSUCCESS
  11. 1991Ariane 44P | Anik E2ASASUCCESS
  12. 1991Proton | Uragan 42 to 44CCCPSUCCESS
  13. 1989Kosmos-3M | Parus 65CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1986Proton-K/DM | Potok 3CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1984Molniya-M | US-K 33CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1983Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-6ROISUCCESS
  17. 1978Soyuz U | Kosmos 1001CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1974Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 22CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1972Molniya-M | Molniya-1 20CCCPSUCCESS
  20. 1971Tsiklon-2 | I2P 7CCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1969Kosmos 11K63 | DS-P1-Yu 20CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1969Voskhod | Zenit-4 55CCCPSUCCESS
  23. 1968Saturn V | Apollo 6NASAPARTIAL
  24. 1967Vostok 8A92 | Zenit-2 48CCCPSUCCESS
  25. 1964Vostok 8A92 | Zenit-2 16CCCPSUCCESS

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.