Launches
ON RECORD21MISSIONS
19 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1959, the most recent 2026.
MARKED ON THIS DATE
1965 · 61 years ago today
The first American spacewalk
Ed White spent twenty-three minutes outside Gemini 4 using a handheld gas gun to move.
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ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
June 3 in spaceflight
21 orbital launches flew on June 3, the earliest of them in 1959, and 19 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 1 spaceflight and astronomy event on June 3. Below are the pictures NASA published on June 3 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 1965 onward.
Pictures from this date
PUBLISHED6IMAGES
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 3, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.
Published on June 3
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.
© (Team F.A.C.T.) — used with the credit NASA publishes
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
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.
© Maxime Oudoux — 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.
© Ignacio Diaz Bobillo — used with the credit NASA publishes
What happened on June 3
1965
The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk.
Gemini 4 ↗
Every launch on June 3
21 launches
ONLINE
- 2026Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-47SpXSUCCESS
- 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-19SpXSUCCESS
- 2024Chang'e | Chang'e 6CNSASUCCESS
- 2022Soyuz 2.1a | Progress MS-20 (81P)RFSASUCCESS
- 2021Falcon 9 Block 5 | Dragon CRS-2 SpX-22SpXSUCCESS
- 2017Falcon 9 Full Thrust | SpX CRS-11SpXSUCCESS
- 2013Proton-M Briz-M | SES-6ILSSUCCESS
- 2010Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced | Badr-5 (Arabsat 5B)ILSSUCCESS
- 1997Ariane 44L | INMARSAT III F-4 & Insat 2DASASUCCESS
- 1992Kosmos-3M | Strela-1M 361-368NPSUCCESS
- 1982K65M-RB | BOR-4 404CCCPSUCCESS
- 1981Soyuz U | Yantar-2K 19CCCPSUCCESS
- 1975Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 43CCCPSUCCESS
- 1975Kosmos-3M | DS-U3-IK 5CCCPFAILURE
- 1974Scout E-1 | Hawkeye 1NASASUCCESS
- 1969Titan IIIB | KH-8 22USAFSUCCESS
- 1969Kosmos 11K63 | DS-P1-Yu 22CCCPSUCCESS
- 1966Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | KH-7 29USAFSUCCESS
- 1966Titan II GLV | Gemini IX-ANASASUCCESS
- 1965Titan II GLV | Gemini IVNASASUCCESS
- 1959Thor Agena A | Discoverer 3USAFFAILURE
FIELD KIT / LIBRARY
SPONSORED
General-audience astronomy and spaceflight — none of it a textbook.
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- VIEW
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.