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September 29 in spaceflight

28 orbital launches flew on September 29, the earliest of them in 1962, and 26 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 3 spaceflight and astronomy events on September 29. Below are the pictures NASA published on September 29 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

28MISSIONS

26 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1962, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

3ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1988 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 29, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on September 29

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

NASA Science

2026

NASA Science

How many moons can you see? The best answer is five: four orbiting Jupiter and Luna orbiting Earth. This multi-moon picture was possible because Earth's Moon moved directly in front of Jupiter last week. The featured image is a series of exposures near alignment taken from Westchester, New York, USA. The sunlit crescent of Earth's Moon, on the lower left, is overexposed, while the Moon's night side, on the upper right, is faintly illuminated by Earthshine. Lined up nearly vertically above our Moon, listed from bottom to top, are Jupiter's bright Galilean satellites: Ganymede, Io, Callisto, and Europa. Callisto, Ganymede, and Io are larger than Earth's Moon, while Europa is only slightly smaller. NASA's robotic spacecraft Juno is currently orbiting Jupiter and has made close passes near three of these moons.Tomorrow's picture: stairway to heaven

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.

NASA · public domain

What happened on September 29

  1. 1988

    NASA launches STS-26, the first Space Shuttle mission since the Challenger disaster.

    STS-26 ↗

  2. 2004

    The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth.

    4179 Toutatis ↗

  3. 2004

    Burt Rutan's Ansari SpaceShipOne performs a successful spaceflight, the first of two required to win the Ansari X Prize.

    Burt Rutan ↗

Every launch on September 29

28 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Long March 2D | Shiyan 30 01-02CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-20SpXSUCCESS
  3. 2018Kuaizhou 1A | Centispace-1-S1EPSUCCESS
  4. 2017Ariane 5 ECA | Intelsat 37e & BSAT-4aASASUCCESS
  5. 2017Long March 2C | 3 x Yaogan-30-01CASCSUCCESS
  6. 2015Long March 3B/E | BDS I2-SCASCSUCCESS
  7. 2013Proton-M Briz-M | Astra 2EILSSUCCESS
  8. 2013Falcon 9 v1.1 | CASSIOPESpXSUCCESS
  9. 2012Long March 2D | VRSS-1CASCSUCCESS
  10. 2011Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced | QuetzSat 1ILSSUCCESS
  11. 2011Long March 2F/G | Tiangong-1CASCSUCCESS
  12. 2011SpaceShipTwo | VSS Enterprise GF16VGSUCCESS
  13. 2000Soyuz-U-PVB | Yantar-1KFT 20RFSASUCCESS
  14. 1997PSLV | IRS-1DISROFAILURE
  15. 1995Soyuz U | Yantar-4KS1M 7RFSASUCCESS
  16. 1988Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-26LSOCSUCCESS
  17. 1988Molniya-M | Molniya-3 51LCCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1987Soyuz U | Bion 8CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1983Proton-K/DM | EkranCCCPSUCCESS
  20. 1977Proton | Salyut-6CCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1976Kosmos-3M | Strela-2M 14CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1975Soyuz U | Kosmos 772CCCPSUCCESS
  23. 1972Kosmos-3M | DS-P1-M 6CCCPSUCCESS
  24. 1971Voskhod | Zenit-4M 23CCCPSUCCESS
  25. 1971Thor Delta N | OSO 7USAFFAILURE
  26. 1970Molniya-M | Molniya-1 15CCCPSUCCESS
  27. 1962Thor Agena D | KH-4 13 & RM 4USAFSUCCESS
  28. 1962Thor DM-21 Agena-B | Alouette 1USAFSUCCESS

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.