Launches
ON RECORD19MISSIONS
19 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1976, the most recent 2026.
ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
May 26 in spaceflight
19 orbital launches flew on May 26, the earliest of them in 1976, and 19 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 1 spaceflight and astronomy event on May 26. Below are the pictures NASA published on May 26 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 1969 onward.
Pictures from this date
PUBLISHED6IMAGES
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 26, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.
Published on May 26
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.
© Abdullah Alharbi — used with the credit NASA publishes
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.
© Michael Sherick — 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.
NASA · public domain
What happened on May 26
1969
Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first crewed Moon landing.
Apollo program ↗
Every launch on May 26
19 launches
ONLINE
- 2026Long March 7A | TJSW-24CASCSUCCESS
- 2026Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-37SpXSUCCESS
- 2023Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M | Kondor-FKA No.1RFSASUCCESS
- 2023Electron | Coming To A Storm Near You (TROPICS-3)RLSUCCESS
- 2021Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink 28SpXSUCCESS
- 2014Zenit 3SL | Eutelsat 3BSLSUCCESS
- 2012Long March 3B/E | Chinasat-2ACASCSUCCESS
- 2006Shtil'-1 | COMPASS-2Makeyev Rocket Design BureauSUCCESS
- 1999PSLV | IRS-P4 & Uribyol-3ISROSUCCESS
- 1993Molniya-M | Molniya-1T 86PRSCSUCCESS
- 1988Molniya-M | Molniya-3 49LCCCPSUCCESS
- 1987Soyuz U | Yantar-4K2 31CCCPSUCCESS
- 1983Delta 3914 | ExosatUSAFSUCCESS
- 1983Soyuz U | Yantar-4K1 9CCCPSUCCESS
- 1983Kosmos-3M | Taifun-2 16CCCPSUCCESS
- 1980Soyuz-U | Soyuz 36CCCPSUCCESS
- 1977Atlas SLV-3D Centaur | Intelsat-4A 4USAFSUCCESS
- 1977Soyuz U | Zenit-4MKT 4CCCPSUCCESS
- 1976Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 60CCCPSUCCESS
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.