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May 28 in spaceflight

30 orbital launches flew on May 28, the earliest of them in 1958, and 28 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 4 spaceflight and astronomy events on May 28. Below are the pictures NASA published on May 28 in 2 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

30MISSIONS

28 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1958, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

4ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from -585 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

2IMAGES

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

Published on May 28

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

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.

© Martin Pugh — used with the credit NASA publishes

What happened on May 28

  1. -585

    According to the Greek historian Herodotus, a solar eclipse, accurately predicted by Thales of Miletus, abruptly ended the Battle of Halys between the Lydians and the Medes.

    580s BC ↗

  2. -585

    A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated. It is also the earliest event of which the precise date is known.

    Eclipse of Thales ↗

  3. 1905

    Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy.

    Russo-Japanese War ↗

Every launch on May 28

30 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Long March 3B/E | Tianwen-2CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-32SpXSUCCESS
  3. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | EarthCARESpXSUCCESS
  4. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-60SpXSUCCESS
  5. 2021Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M | OneWeb 7ASASUCCESS
  6. 2014Soyuz FG | Soyuz TMA-13MRFSASUCCESS
  7. 2013Soyuz FG | Soyuz TMA-09MRFSASUCCESS
  8. 2010Delta IV M+(4,2) | GPS IIF SV-1 (USA-213)ULASUCCESS
  9. 2004Tsiklon-2 | US-PM 12RFSASUCCESS
  10. 2002Kosmos-3M | Parus 93NPSUCCESS
  11. 2002Shavit-2 | Ofeq-5ISASUCCESS
  12. 1992Soyuz U | Yantar-4K2 64VKSSUCCESS
  13. 1988Tsiklon-2 | US-P 28CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1987Soyuz U | Zenit-8 49CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1986Soyuz U | Resurs-F1 17F41 58LCCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1984Kosmos-3M | Strela-1M 281-288CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1984Soyuz U | Progress 22CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1982Molniya-M | Molniya-1K 54CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1982Soyuz U | Yantar-1KFT 2CCCPSUCCESS
  20. 1980Soyuz U | Zenit-6U 19CCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1979Titan 24B | KH-8 50USAFSUCCESS
  22. 1976Kosmos-3M | Taifun-1 5CCCPSUCCESS
  23. 1975Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 42CCCPSUCCESS
  24. 1975Kosmos-3M | Strela-1M 89-96CCCPSUCCESS
  25. 1971Proton | Mars-3CCCPSUCCESS
  26. 1971Voskhod | Zenit-4M 16CCCPSUCCESS
  27. 1965Atlas D | OV1-3USAFFAILURE
  28. 1964Saturn I | Saturn-SA 6NASASUCCESS
  29. 1962Kosmos-2I 63S1 | Sputnik 15CCCPSUCCESS
  30. 1958Vanguard | VanguardUSNFAILURE

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.