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April 26 in spaceflight

35 orbital launches flew on April 26, the earliest of them in 1962, and 31 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 5 spaceflight and astronomy events on April 26. Below are the pictures NASA published on April 26 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

35MISSIONS

31 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1962, the most recent 2026.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

5ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1803 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 26, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on April 26

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.

© Markus Horn — 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.

© Gabriel Rodrigues Santos — used with the credit NASA publishes

What happened on April 26

  1. 1803

    Thousands of meteor fragments fell over L'Aigle, France, becoming a milestone in the understanding of meteorites.

    L'Aigle (meteorite) ↗

  2. 1803

    Thousands of meteor fragments fall from the skies of L'Aigle, France; the event convinces European scientists that meteors exist.

    L'Aigle (meteorite) ↗

  3. 1962

    NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.

    NASA ↗

  5. 1993

    The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on mission STS-55 to conduct experiments aboard the Spacelab module.

    Space Shuttle Columbia ↗

Every launch on April 26

35 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2026Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-16SpXSUCCESS
  2. 2023SpaceShipTwo | VSS Unity 24VGSUCCESS
  3. 2021Delta IV Heavy | NROL-82ULASUCCESS
  4. 2018Long March 11 | Zhuhai-1-02CASCSUCCESS
  5. 2015Ariane 5 ECA | Thor-7 & SICRAL-2ASASUCCESS
  6. 2013Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat | Glonass-M (Kosmos 2485)VKOSUCCESS
  7. 2013Long March 2D | Gaofen 1CASCSUCCESS
  8. 2012PSLV XL | RISAT-1ISROSUCCESS
  9. 2008Soyuz-FG | Giove-BRFSASUCCESS
  10. 2006Long March 4C | Yaogan Weixing 1CASCSUCCESS
  11. 2005Zenit | Spaceway 1SLSUCCESS
  12. 2004Proton-K/DM-2M | Ekspress AM-11KhSCSUCCESS
  13. 2003Soyuz-FG | Soyuz TMA-2RFSASUCCESS
  14. 1994Kosmos-3M | Parus 82NPSUCCESS
  15. 1993Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-55LSOCSUCCESS
  16. 1990Molniya-M | Molniya-1T 77CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1989Soyuz U | Foton 5CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1988Proton | GeofizikaCCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1988Scout G-1 | Transit-O 23,32USAFSUCCESS
  20. 1985Molniya-M | Prognoz-10-IKCCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1983Soyuz U | Yantar-4K1 8CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1980Atlas F/SVS | Navstar 6USAFSUCCESS
  23. 1978Scout D-1 | HCMMNASASUCCESS
  24. 1977Soyuz U | Yantar-2K 6CCCPSUCCESS
  25. 1974Molniya-M | Molniya-2 9CCCPSUCCESS
  26. 1968Kosmos 11K63 | DS-U2-D 2CCCPSUCCESS
  27. 1967Titan IIIB | KH-8 5USAFFAILURE
  28. 1967Scout B | San Marco 2CNRSUCCESS
  29. 1966Kosmos 11K63 | DS-P1-Yu 5CCCPSUCCESS
  30. 1963Thor Agena D | KH-5 8USAFFAILURE
  31. 1963Scout X-2M | DSAP-1 F4USAFFAILURE
  32. 1962Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 1USAFSUCCESS
  33. 1962Thor Delta | Ariel 1USAFSUCCESS
  34. 1962Scout X-2 | SOLRAD 4BUSNFAILURE
  35. 1962Vostok | Zenit-2 2CCCPSUCCESS

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.