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November 3 in spaceflight

21 orbital launches flew on November 3, the earliest of them in 1957, and 20 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 5 spaceflight and astronomy events on November 3. Below are the pictures NASA published on November 3 in 5 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

21MISSIONS

20 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1957, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

5ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1957 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

5IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for November 3, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on November 3

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

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.

© Giorgia Hofer — 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.

© Robert Gendler — used with the credit NASA publishes

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 November 3

  1. 1957

    The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, carrying the space dog Laika as the first living creature to enter orbit around Earth.

    Sputnik 2 ↗

  3. 1973

    Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 10 toward Mercury. On March 29, 1974, it becomes the first space probe to reach that planet.

    Mariner program ↗

  4. 1986

    The Compact of Free Association becomes law, granting the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands independence from the United States.

    Compact of Free Association ↗

Every launch on November 3

21 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Long March 7A | Yaogan 46CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2023Long March 7A | TJSW-10CASCSUCCESS
  3. 2022Falcon 9 Block 5 | Hotbird 13GSpXSUCCESS
  4. 2021Long March 2C/YZ-1S | Yaogan-32-02CASCSUCCESS
  5. 2019Long March 4B | Gaofen-7 & othersCASCSUCCESS
  6. 2018Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M | Glonass-M No. 57 (Kosmos 2529)VKSSUCCESS
  7. 2016Long March 5 / YZ-2 | Shijian 17CASCSUCCESS
  8. 2016SpaceShipTwo | VSS Unity CC03VGPARTIAL
  9. 2015Long March 3B/E | Zhongxing-2C (Chinasat-2C)CASCSUCCESS
  10. 2003Long March 2D | Fanhui Shi Weixing (18)CASCSUCCESS
  11. 1994Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-66LSOCSUCCESS
  12. 1990Proton | Gorizont 21CCCPSUCCESS
  13. 1981Soyuz U | Yantar-2K 22CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1973Atlas SLV-3D Centaur | Mariner 10USAFSUCCESS
  15. 1972Kosmos-3M | Tselina-O 16CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1971Titan IIIC | DSCS-2 1 & 2USAFSUCCESS
  17. 1968Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4B 5USAFSUCCESS
  18. 1967Voskhod | Zenit-4 36CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1966Titan IIIC | Gemini BUSAFSUCCESS
  20. 1960Juno II | Explorer 8NASASUCCESS
  21. 1957Sputnik 8K74PS | Sputnik 2CCCPSUCCESS

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.