Launches
ON RECORD22MISSIONS
22 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1962, the most recent 2026.
ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
July 18 in spaceflight
22 orbital launches flew on July 18, the earliest of them in 1962, and 22 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 1 spaceflight and astronomy event on July 18. Below are the pictures NASA published on July 18 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 1966 onward.
Pictures from this date
PUBLISHED6IMAGES
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for July 18, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.
Published on July 18
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.
© A.J. Smadi — used with the credit NASA publishes
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.
© Christopher Freeburn — 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.
NASA · public domain
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 18
1966
Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle.
Human spaceflight ↗
Every launch on July 18
22 launches
ONLINE
- 2026Vikram-I | Demo FlightSkyrootSUCCESS
- 2023Electron | Baby Come Back (Rideshare)RLSUCCESS
- 2018New Shepard | NS-9BOSUCCESS
- 2016Falcon 9 Full Thrust | SpX CRS-9SpXSUCCESS
- 2014Soyuz 2.1a | Foton-M No. 4RFSASUCCESS
- 2012SpaceShipTwo | VSS Enterprise GF19VGSUCCESS
- 2011Zenit-3F | Spektr-R (RadioAstron)RFSASUCCESS
- 2004Ariane 5 G+ | Anik F2ASASUCCESS
- 1998Long March 3B | Xinnuo 1CASCSUCCESS
- 1990Proton | Potok 6CCCPSUCCESS
- 1989Soyuz U | Orlets-1 1CCCPSUCCESS
- 1989Soyuz U | Resurs-F 3CCCPSUCCESS
- 1988Kosmos-3M | Parus 63CCCPSUCCESS
- 1988Soyuz-U2 | Progress 37CCCPSUCCESS
- 1980Molniya-M | Molniya-3 27LCCCPSUCCESS
- 1980SLV-3 | Rohini 1BISROSUCCESS
- 1978Proton-K/DM | Raduga 4CCCPSUCCESS
- 1968Kosmos 11K63 | DS-P1-Yu 15CCCPSUCCESS
- 1966Titan II GLV | Gemini XNASASUCCESS
- 1966Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | GATV 10USAFSUCCESS
- 1965Molniya 8K78 | Zond-3CCCPSUCCESS
- 1962Atlas Agena B | Samos-E6 3USAFSUCCESS
FIELD KIT / LIBRARY
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General-audience astronomy and spaceflight — none of it a textbook.
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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.