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May 31 in spaceflight

18 orbital launches flew on May 31, the earliest of them in 1967, and 17 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 3 spaceflight and astronomy events on May 31. Below are the pictures NASA published on May 31 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

18MISSIONS

17 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1967, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

3ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1986 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 31, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on May 31

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.

© Marcella Giulia Pace — used with the credit NASA publishes

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.

© Xin Long — 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.

© Michael Cain — 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 May 31

  1. 1986

    The Ariane 2 rocket is launched on its maiden flight, carrying Intelsat VA F-14, but the mission ends in failure.

    Ariane 2 ↗

  2. 2008

    Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-124 carrying the second portion of the Japanese Kibō module to the International Space Station.

    Space Shuttle Discovery ↗

  3. 2013

    The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

    Asteroid ↗

Every launch on May 31

18 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-18SpXSUCCESS
  2. 2025New Shepard | NS-32BOSUCCESS
  3. 2023Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 2-10SpXSUCCESS
  4. 2020Long March 2D | Gaofen-9-02CASCSUCCESS
  5. 2008Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-124USASUCCESS
  6. 2007Long March 3A | Xinnuo 3CASCSUCCESS
  7. 2005Soyuz-U-PVB | Foton-M No. 2RFSASUCCESS
  8. 1995Atlas II | UHF F/O F5LMTSUCCESS
  9. 1990Proton | KristallCCCPSUCCESS
  10. 1989Proton | Uragan 34 & 35CCCPSUCCESS
  11. 1988Soyuz U | Resurs-F1 17F43 28L 1CCCPSUCCESS
  12. 1986Ariane 2 | Intelsat 514ASAFAILURE
  13. 1983Soyuz U | Zenit-6U 78CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1981SLV-3 | Rohini RS-D-1ISROSUCCESS
  15. 1979Kosmos-3M | Parus 20CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1979Soyuz U | Zenit-6U 7CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1977Soyuz U | Zenit-2M 77CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1967Thor SLV-2 Agena D | Poppy 7A,B,C,DUSAFSUCCESS

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.