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December 23 in spaceflight

24 orbital launches flew on December 23, the earliest of them in 1969, and 22 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 2 spaceflight and astronomy events on December 23. Below are the pictures NASA published on December 23 in 5 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

24MISSIONS

22 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1969, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

2ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1986 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

5IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 23, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on December 23

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.

© Ian Griffin — 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.

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.

© TWAN — used with the credit NASA publishes

What happened on December 23

  1. 1986

    Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.

    Rutan Voyager ↗

  2. 1997

    The Pioneer Helmet, one of only six Anglo-Saxon helmets to be discovered, was first placed on public display.

    Pioneer Helmet ↗

Every launch on December 23

24 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Long March 12A | Demo FlightCASCSUCCESS
  2. 2025HANBIT-Nano | SpacewardISFAILURE
  3. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-2SpXSUCCESS
  4. 2023Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-32SpXSUCCESS
  5. 2021Long March 7A | Shiyan 12-01 & 02CASCSUCCESS
  6. 2018Falcon 9 Block 5 | GPS III SV01SpXSUCCESS
  7. 2017Long March 2D | LKW-2 (Land Survey Satellite-2)CASCSUCCESS
  8. 2017Falcon 9 Full Thrust | Iridium-4SpXSUCCESS
  9. 2017H-IIA 202 | GCOM-C1 & SLATSMHISUCCESS
  10. 2014Angara A5/Briz-M | IPMKhSCSUCCESS
  11. 2011Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat | Meridian 5VKOFAILURE
  12. 2008Long March 3A | Feng Yun 2ECASCSUCCESS
  13. 2007Soyuz U | Progress M-62RFSASUCCESS
  14. 2004Soyuz U | Progress M-51RFSASUCCESS
  15. 1997Pegasus XL HAPS | Orbcomm-A1 - A8OSCSUCCESS
  16. 1988Tsiklon-3 | Koltso 1CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1987Kosmos-3M | Parus 61CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1982Soyuz-U | Zenit-6U 71CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1981Molniya-M | Molniya-1K 52CCCPSUCCESS
  20. 1980Kosmos-3M | Strela-1M 201-208CCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1978Vostok 8A92M | AstrofizikaCCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1977Kosmos-3M | Parus 11CCCPSUCCESS
  23. 1969Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 1CCCPSUCCESS
  24. 1969Tsiklon-2 | I2P 3CCCPSUCCESS

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.