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September 9 in spaceflight

29 orbital launches flew on September 9, the earliest of them in 1959, and 25 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 6 spaceflight and astronomy events on September 9. Below are the pictures NASA published on September 9 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

29MISSIONS

25 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1959, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

6ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1892 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 9, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on September 9

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

NASA Science

2026

NASA Science

Scientists are melting holes in the bottom of the world. In fact, almost 100 holes melted near the South Pole are now being used as an astronomical observatory. Astronomers with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory lowered a long string knotted with basketball-sized light detectors into each vertical lake. The water in each hole soon refreezes. The detectors attached to the strings are sensitive to blue light emitted in the surrounding clear ice. Such light results from fast-moving secondary particles liberated when high-energy neutrinos emitted by powerful processes out in the universe collide with ice molecules. IceCube has now detected many illuminating neutrinos. Pictured in 2010, one of the last of IceCube's detector strings is lowered into the freezing abyss, making IceCube the largest neutrino detector ever created. In recognition of unprecedented discoveries, it was announced earlier this week that a founding leader of the IceCube Collaboration will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.Tomorrow's picture: Moons Planet

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.

NASA · public domain

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.

NASA · public domain

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.

© Martin Pugh — used with the credit NASA publishes

What happened on September 9

  1. 1892

    At the Lick Observatory in California, Edward Emerson Barnard discovered Amalthea (pictured), a moon of Jupiter and the last natural satellite to be discovered by visual observation.

    Lick Observatory ↗

  2. 1892

    Amalthea becomes the last moon to be discovered without the use of photography.

    Amalthea (moon) ↗

  5. 2006

    Space Shuttle Program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-115 to resume assembling the International Space Station. It is the first ISS assembly mission after the Columbia disaster back in 2003.

    Space Shuttle Atlantis ↗

  6. 2012

    The Indian space agency puts into orbit its heaviest foreign satellite yet, in a streak of 21 consecutive successful PSLV launches.

    ISRO ↗

Every launch on September 9

29 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Long March 7A | Yaogan 45CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2023Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-14SpXSUCCESS
  3. 2021Soyuz 2.1v | Razbeg 1 (Kosmos 2551)VKSSUCCESS
  4. 2021Long March 3B | ChinaSat 9BCASCSUCCESS
  5. 2012PSLV-CA | SPOT 6 & PROITERESACLSUCCESS
  6. 2006Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-115USASUCCESS
  7. 2006Long March 2C | Shi Jian 8CASCSUCCESS
  8. 2003Titan IVB | NROL-19USAFSUCCESS
  9. 1999Soyuz-U-PVB | Foton 12RVSN RFSUCCESS
  10. 1998Zenit-2 11K77.05 | Globalstar 5, 7, 9 to 13, 16 to 18, 20, 21RFSAFAILURE
  11. 1994Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-64LSOCSUCCESS
  12. 1994Ariane 42L | Telstar 402ASASUCCESS
  13. 1992Delta II | GPS IIA-6USAFSUCCESS
  14. 1988Soyuz-U2 | Progress 38CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1988Soyuz U | Resurs-F1 17F43 31L 4CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1987Long March 2C | FSW-1 1CASCSUCCESS
  17. 1983Soyuz U | Zenit-6U 85CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1982Long March 2C | FSW-0 4CASCSUCCESS
  19. 1982Ariane 1 | Marecs B & Sirio 2ASAFAILURE
  20. 1980Delta 3914 | GOES 4USAFSUCCESS
  21. 1980Vostok 8A92M | Meteor-2 6CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1978Soyuz U | Zenit-4MKM 20CCCPSUCCESS
  23. 1978Proton-K/D-1 | Venera-11CCCPSUCCESS
  24. 1975Titan IIIE | Viking 2LMTSUCCESS
  25. 1975N-I | Kiku-1NASDASUCCESS
  26. 1975Molniya-M | Molniya-2 14CCCPSUCCESS
  27. 1965Voskhod | Zenit-4 11CCCPSUCCESS
  28. 1961Atlas LV-3A | Samos 3USAFFAILURE
  29. 1959Atlas LV-3B | Big Joe 1NASAPARTIAL

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.