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December 12 in spaceflight

22 orbital launches flew on December 12, the earliest of them in 1961, and 21 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 3 spaceflight and astronomy events on December 12. Below are the pictures NASA published on December 12 in 5 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

22MISSIONS

21 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1961, the most recent 2024.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

3ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1936 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

5IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 12, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on December 12

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.

© Dennis Lehtonen — 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.

© Mikiya Sato — used with the credit NASA publishes

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 December 12

  3. 2012

    North Korea successfully launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2.

    North Korea ↗

Every launch on December 12

22 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2024Long March 2D/YZ-3 | High Speed Laser Diamond Constellation Test SystemCASCSUCCESS
  2. 2022Long March 4C | Shiyan 20A & 20BCASCSUCCESS
  3. 2020SpaceShipTwo | VSS Unity VF-02VGPARTIAL
  4. 2017Ariane 5 ES | Galileo L9 (FOC FM15-FM18)ASASUCCESS
  5. 2017New Shepard | NS-7BOSUCCESS
  6. 2012Unha-3 | Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2KCSTSUCCESS
  7. 2011H-IIA 202 | IGS Radar 3MHISUCCESS
  8. 1999Titan II SLV | DMSP F-15USAFSUCCESS
  9. 1987Tsiklon-2 | US-A 31CCCPSUCCESS
  10. 1986Molniya-M | US-K 52CCCPSUCCESS
  11. 1985Tsiklon-3 | Tselina-D 52CCCPSUCCESS
  12. 1984Atlas E | NOAA 9USAFSUCCESS
  13. 1979Soyuz U | Zenit-6U 14CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1977Soyuz U | Zenit-2M 82CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1975Tsiklon-2 | US-A 11CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1972Molniya-M | Molniya-2 4CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1970Diamant B | PéoleCNESSUCCESS
  18. 1970Kosmos-3M | Zaliv 7CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1970Scout B | UhuruNASASUCCESS
  20. 1968Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4A 49USAFSUCCESS
  21. 1966Kosmos 11K63 | DS-U2-MP 1CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1961Thor DM-21 Agena-B | Discoverer 36 & OSCAR 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.