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May 17 in spaceflight

32 orbital launches flew on May 17, the earliest of them in 1966, and 29 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 2 spaceflight and astronomy events on May 17. Below are the pictures NASA published on May 17 in 5 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

32MISSIONS

29 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1966, the most recent 2026.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

2ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1953 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

5IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 17, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on May 17

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, for this calendar date in each of the last several years.

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.

© Kavan Chay — 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.

© CFHT — used with the credit NASA publishes

What happened on May 17

  2. 1969

    Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.

    Venera program ↗

Every launch on May 17

32 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2026Long March 8 | SpaceSail Polar Group #9CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2025Electron | The Sea God Sees (iQPS Launch 2)RLSUCCESS
  3. 2025Zhuque-2E | 6 satellitesLSSUCCESS
  4. 2023Long March 3B/E | Beidou-3 G4CASCSUCCESS
  5. 2020Atlas V 501 | OTV-6 (X-37B) (USSF-7)ULASUCCESS
  6. 2019Long March 3C | Beidou-2 G8CASCSUCCESS
  7. 2014Delta IV M+(4,2) | GPS IIF-6 (USA-251)ULASUCCESS
  8. 2012Proton-M Briz-M | Nimiq 6ILSSUCCESS
  9. 2012H-IIA 202 | GCOM-W1MHISUCCESS
  10. 2012Soyuz-U | Kobalt-M No.8 (Kosmos-2480)VKOSUCCESS
  11. 1998Delta II | Iridium 70, 72 to 75USAFSUCCESS
  12. 1996Pegasus Hybrid | Miniature Sensor Technology Integration 3 (MSTI-3)OSCSUCCESS
  13. 1995Ariane 44LP | INTELSAT 706ASASUCCESS
  14. 1989Soyuz U | Yantar-4K2 46CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1988Ariane 2 | Intelsat 513ASASUCCESS
  16. 1985Proton | Uragan 10 & 11CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1984Kosmos-3M | Tsikada 11CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1983Soyuz U | Resurs-F1 17F41 21LCCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1982Proton-K/DM | Potok 1CCCPSUCCESS
  20. 1979Soyuz U | Zenit-4MKT 8CCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1978Kosmos-3M | Tselina-O 37CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1977Soyuz U | Zenit-4MK 78CCCPSUCCESS
  23. 1975Diamant BP4 | Castor & PolluxCNESSUCCESS
  24. 1974Kosmos-3M | DS-U3-IK 4CCCPSUCCESS
  25. 1974Delta 2914 | SMS 1USAFFAILURE
  26. 1974Tsiklon-2 | US-A 8CCCPSUCCESS
  27. 1973Kosmos 11K63 | DS-P1-Yu 62CCCPSUCCESS
  28. 1972Voskhod | Zenit-2M 28CCCPSUCCESS
  29. 1968Scout B | ESRO 2BESROSUCCESS
  30. 1967R-36O 8K69 | OGCh 9CCCPSUCCESS
  31. 1966Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | GATV 9USAFFAILURE
  32. 1966Voskhod | Zenit-4 18CCCPFAILURE

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.