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July 4 in spaceflight

16 orbital launches flew on July 4, the earliest of them in 1967, and 14 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 7 spaceflight and astronomy events on July 4. Below are the pictures NASA published on July 4 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

16MISSIONS

14 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1967, the most recent 2026.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

7ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1054 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for July 4, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on July 4

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.

© Alberto Pisabarro — 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.

© Jesús Carmona Guillén — 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.

NASA · public domain

What happened on July 4

  1. 1054

    Chinese astronomers recorded the sudden appearance of a "guest star", later identified as the supernova that created the Crab Nebula (pictured).

    Chinese astronomy ↗

  2. 1054

    A supernova, called SN 1054, is seen by Chinese Song dynasty, Arab, and possibly indigenous American observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.

    SN 1054 ↗

  3. 1982

    Space Shuttle program: Columbia lands at Edwards Air Force Base at the end of the program's final test flight, STS-4. President Ronald Reagan declares the Space Shuttle to be operational.

    Space Shuttle program ↗

  4. 1997

    NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.

    NASA ↗

  5. 1998

    Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.

    Nozomi (spacecraft) ↗

  7. 2006

    Space Shuttle program: Discovery launches STS-121 to the International Space Station. The event gained wide media attention as it was the only shuttle launch in the program's history to occur on the United States' Independence Day.

    Space Shuttle program ↗

Every launch on July 4

16 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2026Long March 6A | SpaceSail Polar Group #13CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2024Long March 6A | Tianhui 5 Group 02CASCSUCCESS
  3. 2024Firefly Alpha | FLTA005 (Noise of Summer)FASUCCESS
  4. 2021Long March 4C | Fengyun-3ECASCSUCCESS
  5. 2020Long March 2D | Chuangxin 3A (02)CASCSUCCESS
  6. 2020Electron | Pics Or It Didn’t Happen (Rideshare)RLFAILURE
  7. 2006Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-121USASUCCESS
  8. 2000Proton | Potok 10KhSCSUCCESS
  9. 1991Delta II | GPS IIA-2USAFSUCCESS
  10. 1989Kosmos-3M | Nadezhda 4CCCPSUCCESS
  11. 1987Soyuz U | Zenit-8 50CCCPSUCCESS
  12. 1977Kosmos-3M | Tselina-O 35CCCPSUCCESS
  13. 1975Kosmos-3M | Tselina-O 27CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1973Voskhod | Zenit-4M 51CCCPFAILURE
  15. 1968Thor Delta J | RAE 1USAFSUCCESS
  16. 1967Voskhod | Zenit-2 51CCCPSUCCESS

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.