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August 16 in spaceflight

22 orbital launches flew on August 16, the earliest of them in 1961, and 20 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 2 spaceflight and astronomy events on August 16. Below are the pictures NASA published on August 16 in 5 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

22MISSIONS

20 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1961, the most recent 2026.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

2ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from -1 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

5IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for August 16, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on August 16

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, for this calendar date in each of the last several years.

NASA Science

2026

NASA Science

Stickney Crater, the largest crater on the martian moon Phobos, is named for Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, mathematician and wife of astronomer Asaph Hall. Asaph Hall discovered both the Red Planet's moons in 1877. Over 9 kilometers across, Stickney is nearly half the diameter of Phobos itself, so large that the impact that blasted out the crater likely came close to shattering the tiny moon. This enhanced-color image of Stickney and surroundings was recorded by the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passed within some six thousand kilometers of Phobos in March of 2008. Even though the surface gravity of asteroid-like Phobos is less than 1/1000th Earth's gravity, streaks suggest loose material slid down inside the crater walls over time. Light bluish regions near the crater's rim could indicate a relatively freshly exposed surface. The origin of the curious grooves along the surface is mysterious but may be related to tidal stresses experienced by close-orbiting Phobos or the crater-forming impact itself.Tomorrow's picture: farside

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.

© Robert Nemiroff — 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.

© Jason Dain — used with the credit NASA publishes

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 August 16

  1. -1

    Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.

    Wang Mang ↗

  2. 1870

    Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Mars-la-Tour is fought, resulting in a Prussian victory.

    Franco-Prussian War ↗

Every launch on August 16

22 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2026Long March 12 | SatNet LEO Group 24CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2026Falcon 9 Block 5 | USSF-366SpXSUCCESS
  3. 2026Falcon 9 Block 5 | Globalstar 2-R Mission 1 (x 8)SpXSUCCESS
  4. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Transporter 11 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)SpXSUCCESS
  5. 2024Long March 4B | Yaogan 43 Group 01CASCSUCCESS
  6. 2024SSLV | EOS-08/Microsat-2CISROSUCCESS
  7. 2017Proton-M/Briz-M | Blagovest No.11L (Kosmos 2520)KhSCSUCCESS
  8. 2008Safir | OmidISAFAILURE
  9. 1990Soyuz-U-PVB | Resurs-F 8CCCPSUCCESS
  10. 1988Soyuz U | Yantar-4K2 40CCCPSUCCESS
  11. 1985Soyuz U | Yantar-4K2 16CCCPSUCCESS
  12. 1984Delta 3924 | Charge Composition ExplorerUSAFSUCCESS
  13. 1984Soyuz U | Resurs-F1 17F41 50LCCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1974Vostok 8A92M | Tselina-D 6CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1972Kosmos-3M | Zaliv-GVM 3CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1971Scout B-1 | EoleCNESSUCCESS
  17. 1969Voskhod | Zenit-2M 4CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1968Atlas Burner 2 | UVRUSAFFAILURE
  19. 1968Thor Delta N | ESSA 7USAFSUCCESS
  20. 1967Titan IIIB | KH-8 7USAFSUCCESS
  21. 1966Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | KH-7 31USAFSUCCESS
  22. 1961Delta DM-19 | Explorer 12USAFSUCCESS

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.