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September 11 in spaceflight

17 orbital launches flew on September 11, the earliest of them in 1967, and 17 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 7 spaceflight and astronomy events on September 11. Below are the pictures NASA published on September 11 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

17MISSIONS

17 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1967, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

7ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1851 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 11, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on September 11

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

NASA Science

2026

NASA Science

How was the Saturn system imaged so clearly? Astrophotographer Tom Williams captured such exquisite details due to one night of exceptional atmospheric conditions above the United Kingdom. This means more than a cloudless sky. Pockets of air at different temperatures and densities move around and bend light as it travels through Earth’s atmosphere, distorting astronomy images. This is called “seeing.” Less atmospheric turbulence means clearer images. The astrophotographer reduced the impact of seeing with the lucky imaging technique: thousands of short-exposure images are taken very quickly with a high-speed camera and the clearest images are added up. Which object in this smörgåsbord interests you? Perhaps Titan or the icy stripes of Enceladus? Maybe the gaps and spokes in Saturn’s rings? Saturn's opposition, when Earth passes in between the planet and the Sun, occurred on October 4th. Due to the planet's proximity and full illumination from the Sun, now is a great time of year to observe it!Tomorrow's picture: bumpy

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.

© Wang Letian — 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.

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.

NASA · public domain

What happened on September 11

  1. 1851

    Christiana Resistance: Escaped slaves led by William Parker fight off and kill a slave owner who, with a federal marshal and an armed party, sought to seize three of his former slaves in Christiana, Pennsylvania, thereby creating a cause célèbre between slavery proponents and abolitionists.

    Christiana Riot ↗

  2. 1857

    A legion of Mormon militiamen completed a massacre of at least 120 California-bound Arkansas pioneers at Mountain Meadow, Utah.

    Nauvoo Legion ↗

  4. 1995

    Mir EO-19, the first expedition to the Russian space station Mir launched on an American Space Shuttle, returned to Earth after approximately 75 days in space.

    Mir EO-19 ↗

  5. 1997

    NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars.

    NASA ↗

  6. 2024

    Soyuz MS-26 is launched to the International Space Station, setting a record of 19 people in orbit at the same time.

    Soyuz MS-26 ↗

  7. 2025

    Progress MS-32 is launched to resupply the International Space Station. It is the 300th spacecraft launched to the ISS.

    Progress MS-32 ↗

Every launch on September 11

17 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Soyuz 2.1a | Progress MS-32 (93P)RFSASUCCESS
  2. 2024Soyuz 2.1a | Soyuz MS-26RFSASUCCESS
  3. 2022Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 4-2 & BlueWalker 3SpXSUCCESS
  4. 2017Proton-M Briz-M | Amazonas 5ILSSUCCESS
  5. 2015Soyuz STB/Fregat | Galileo L5 (FOC FM05-FM06)ASASUCCESS
  6. 2014Ariane 5 ECA | MEASAT-3b & Optus 10ASASUCCESS
  7. 2013Rokot / Briz-KM | Gonets M-14, Gonets M-16, Gonets M-17VKOSUCCESS
  8. 2010H-IIA 202 | Michibiki (QZS-1)MHISUCCESS
  9. 2007Kosmos-3M | Parus 97NPSUCCESS
  10. 2006H-IIA 202 | IGS Optical 2JAXASUCCESS
  11. 1996Ariane 42P | Echostar IIASASUCCESS
  12. 1987Soyuz U | Yantar-4KS1 8CCCPSUCCESS
  13. 1981Molniya-M | Molniya-3 28LCCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1976Proton-K/DM | Raduga 2CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1976Thor DSV-2U | DMSP-5D1 F1USAFSUCCESS
  16. 1974Kosmos-3M | Strela-2M 9CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1967Voskhod | Zenit-4 34CCCPSUCCESS

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.