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April 28 in spaceflight

37 orbital launches flew on April 28, the earliest of them in 1961, and 36 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 3 spaceflight and astronomy events on April 28. Below are the pictures NASA published on April 28 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

37MISSIONS

36 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1961, the most recent 2026.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

3ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1910 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 28, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on April 28

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.

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.

© TWAN — 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 April 28

  1. 1910

    Frenchman Louis Paulhan landed his biplane at Manchester, having departed from London the previous day, to win the world's first long-distance air race.

    Louis Paulhan ↗

  2. 1910

    Frenchman Louis Paulhan wins the 1910 London to Manchester air race, the first long-distance aeroplane race in the United Kingdom.

    Louis Paulhan ↗

  3. 1991

    Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-39, the first unclassified shuttle mission for the United States Department of Defense.

    Space Shuttle Discovery ↗

Every launch on April 28

37 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2026Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo (LA-06)ULASUCCESS
  2. 2025Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo (KA-01)ULASUCCESS
  3. 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-9SpXSUCCESS
  4. 2025Long March 5B/YZ-2 | SatNet LEO Group 03CASCSUCCESS
  5. 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-23SpXSUCCESS
  6. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-54SpXSUCCESS
  7. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Galileo L12 (FOC FM25 & FM27)SpXSUCCESS
  8. 2023Falcon 9 Block 5 | O3b mPower 3 & 4SpXSUCCESS
  9. 2016PSLV XL | IRNSS-1GISROSUCCESS
  10. 2016Soyuz-2.1a/Volga | Mikhailo Lomonosov, Aist-2D & SamSat 218RFSASUCCESS
  11. 2015Soyuz 2.1a | Progress M-27MRFSAFAILURE
  12. 2014Proton-M Briz-M | Luch 5V & KazSat-3KhSCSUCCESS
  13. 2010Soyuz-U | Progress M-05M (37P)RFSASUCCESS
  14. 2008Zenit | Amos 3SLSUCCESS
  15. 2008PSLV | Cartosat 2AISROSUCCESS
  16. 2006Delta 7420-10C | CloudsatUSAFSUCCESS
  17. 2003Pegasus XL | Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)OSCSUCCESS
  18. 2001Soyuz-U | Soyuz TM-32RFSASUCCESS
  19. 1999Kosmos-3M | ABRIXAS & MegSat 0NPSUCCESS
  20. 1998Ariane 44P | Nilesat 101 & BSat 1bASASUCCESS
  21. 1994Soyuz U | Yantar-4KS1M 5RFSASUCCESS
  22. 1993Tsiklon-2 | US-PM 2RFSASUCCESS
  23. 1991Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-39LSOCSUCCESS
  24. 1990Molniya-M | US-K 63CCCPSUCCESS
  25. 1983Delta 3914 | GOES 6USAFSUCCESS
  26. 1983Soyuz U | Zenit-4MKT 23CCCPSUCCESS
  27. 1982Kosmos-3M | Strela-2M 27CCCPSUCCESS
  28. 1981Soyuz U | Zenit-6U 38CCCPSUCCESS
  29. 1977Molniya-M | Molniya-3 19LCCCPSUCCESS
  30. 1976Kosmos-3M | Taifun-2 1CCCPSUCCESS
  31. 1976Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 58CCCPSUCCESS
  32. 1971Kosmos-3M | Sfera 6CCCPSUCCESS
  33. 1970Vostok 8A92M | Meteor-1 4 (13L)CCCPSUCCESS
  34. 1967Titan IIIC | Vela 4A & 4BUSAFSUCCESS
  35. 1965Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | KH-7 17USAFSUCCESS
  36. 1963Vostok 8A92 | Zenit-2 10CCCPSUCCESS
  37. 1961Little Joe | LJ-5BNASASUCCESS

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.