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July 12 in spaceflight

20 orbital launches flew on July 12, the earliest of them in 1961, and 16 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 3 spaceflight and astronomy events on July 12. Below are the pictures NASA published on July 12 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

20MISSIONS

16 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1961, the most recent 2024.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

3ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1960 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for July 12, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on July 12

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.

© Alexsandro Mota — 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.

© Team OURANOS — 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 12

  1. 1960

    Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.

    Orlyonok ↗

  2. 2001

    Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-104, carrying the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station.

    Space Shuttle program ↗

  3. 2006

    Hezbollah forces crossed the Israel–Lebanon border and attacked Israeli military positions while firing rockets and mortars at Israeli towns, sparking a five-week war.

    Hezbollah ↗

Every launch on July 12

20 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 9-3SpXFAILURE
  2. 2023Zhuque-2 | Flight 2LSSUCCESS
  3. 2022Long March 3B/E | Tianlian 2-03CASCSUCCESS
  4. 2010PSLV-CA | Cartosat-2B, AlSat-2A, StudSat, AISSat-1, TIsat-1ISROSUCCESS
  5. 2006Dnepr | Genesis-1ISCKSUCCESS
  6. 2001Ariane 5 G | Artemis & BSAT-2bASAPARTIAL
  7. 2001Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-104USASUCCESS
  8. 2000Proton | ZvezdaKhSCSUCCESS
  9. 1989Soyuz U | Yantar-4K2 47CCCPSUCCESS
  10. 1989Ariane 3 | OlympusASASUCCESS
  11. 1988Proton-K/D-2 | Fobos-2CCCPSUCCESS
  12. 1977Soyuz U | Zenit-4MKM 1CCCPSUCCESS
  13. 1974Feng Bao 1 | JSSW 1bCASCFAILURE
  14. 1974Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 28CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1972Kosmos 11K63 | DS-P1-Yu 56CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1966Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | KH-7 30USAFSUCCESS
  17. 1965Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | KH-7 20USAFFAILURE
  18. 1963Atlas Agena D | KH-7 1USAFSUCCESS
  19. 1961Atlas LV-3A | MIDAS 3USAFSUCCESS
  20. 1961Delta DM-19 | Tiros-3USAFSUCCESS

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.