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December 22 in spaceflight

26 orbital launches flew on December 22, the earliest of them in 1960, and 21 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 3 spaceflight and astronomy events on December 22. Below are the pictures NASA published on December 22 in 5 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

26MISSIONS

21 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1960, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

3ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1891 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

5IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 22, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on December 22

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.

© Robert Nemiroff — 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.

© Martin Pugh — 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 December 22

  1. 1891

    Asteroid 323 Brucia becomes the first asteroid discovered using photography.

    323 Brucia ↗

  2. 1942

    World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.

    Adolf Hitler ↗

  3. 1990

    Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.

    Marshall Islands ↗

Every launch on December 22

26 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025H3-22 | Michibiki 5 (QZS-5)MHIFAILURE
  2. 2023Firefly Alpha | FLTA004 (Fly the Lightning)FAPARTIAL
  3. 2021H-IIA 204 | Inmarsat-6 F1MHISUCCESS
  4. 2020Long March 8 | XJY-7 & othersCASCSUCCESS
  5. 2016SpaceShipTwo | VSS Unity GF02VGSUCCESS
  6. 2015Falcon 9 Full Thrust | Orbcomm OG2 Mission 2SpXSUCCESS
  7. 2011Long March 4B | Zi Yuan 1-02CCASCSUCCESS
  8. 1999Ariane 44L | Galaxy 11ASASUCCESS
  9. 1998Ariane 42L | PAS 6BASASUCCESS
  10. 1997Ariane 42L | INTELSAT 804ASASUCCESS
  11. 1994Titan 402A IUS | DSP 17USAFSUCCESS
  12. 1993Molniya-M | Molniya-1T 87PRSCSUCCESS
  13. 1992Tsiklon-3 | Geo-IK 13VKSSUCCESS
  14. 1992Soyuz U | Orlets-1 4RFSASUCCESS
  15. 1990Tsiklon-3 | Strela-3 55 to 60CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1988Molniya-M | Molniya-3 52LCCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1988Long March 3 | DFH-2A 3CASCSUCCESS
  18. 1984Titan 34D Transtage | DSP F12USAFSUCCESS
  19. 1978Kosmos-3M | Taifun-2 5CCCPSUCCESS
  20. 1975Proton-K/DM | Raduga 1CCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1975Molniya-M | Prognoz-4CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1970Kosmos-3M | DS-P1-M 2CCCPFAILURE
  23. 1965Scout A | Transit-O 6USAFSUCCESS
  24. 1962Vostok 8A92 | Zenit-2 7CCCPSUCCESS
  25. 1961Atlas LV-3A | Samos 5USAFPARTIAL
  26. 1960Vostok | Korabl-Sputnik (4)CCCPFAILURE

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.