Launches
ON RECORD26MISSIONS
26 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1967, the most recent 2025.
ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
December 26 in spaceflight
26 orbital launches flew on December 26, the earliest of them in 1967, and 26 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 1 spaceflight and astronomy event on December 26. Below are the pictures NASA published on December 26 in 1 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.
Recorded events
IN THE RECORD1ENTRY
Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1994 onward.
Pictures from this date
PUBLISHED1IMAGE
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 26, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.
Published on December 26
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, for this calendar date in each of the last several years.
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.
© Dan Bartlett — used with the credit NASA publishes
What happened on December 26
1994
Four Armed Islamic Group hijackers seize control of Air France Flight 8969. When the plane lands at Marseille, a French Gendarmerie assault team boards the aircraft and kills the hijackers.
Armed Islamic Group of Algeria ↗
Every launch on December 26
26 launches
ONLINE
- 2025Long March 3B/E | Fengyun-4CCASCSUCCESS
- 2023Long March 3B/YZ-1 | Beidou-3 M26 & M28CASCSUCCESS
- 2021Long March 4C | Ziyuan 1-02E & CAS-9CASCSUCCESS
- 2019Rokot/Briz-KM | Gonets-M24, Gonets-M25, Gonets-M26 & Blits-MVKSSUCCESS
- 2017Zenit-3F | AngoSat-1SLSUCCESS
- 2014Soyuz 2.1b | Resurs-P No.2RFSASUCCESS
- 2013Proton-M Briz-M | Ekspress AM-5KhSCSUCCESS
- 2010Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced | KA-SATILSSUCCESS
- 2004Proton | Uragan 85, 86 & Uragan-M 3KhSCSUCCESS
- 1999Tsiklon-2 | US-PM 10RFSASUCCESS
- 1994Tsiklon-3 | Strela-3 107 to 112VKSSUCCESS
- 1994Rokot / Briz-K | RS-15 Radio-ROSTOVKSSUCCESS
- 1990Soyuz-U-PVB | Zenit-8 96CCCPSUCCESS
- 1987Soyuz U | Resurs-F2 1CCCPSUCCESS
- 1986Molniya-M | Molniya-1T 70CCCPSUCCESS
- 1986Soyuz U | Yantar-4KS1 6CCCPSUCCESS
- 1985Tsiklon-3 | Meteor-2 13CCCPSUCCESS
- 1980Soyuz U | Yantar-2K 14CCCPSUCCESS
- 1980Proton-K/DM | EkranCCCPSUCCESS
- 1978Soyuz U | Zenit-4MKM 25CCCPSUCCESS
- 1978Kosmos-3M | Sfera 18CCCPSUCCESS
- 1974Kosmos-3M | Parus 1CCCPSUCCESS
- 1974Proton | Salyut-4CCCPSUCCESS
- 1973Kosmos-3M | Aureole 2CCCPSUCCESS
- 1968Kosmos 11K63 | DS-U2-GFCCCPSUCCESS
- 1967Kosmos 11K63 | DS-U2-V 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.
- VIEW
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.
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.