Launches
ON RECORD34MISSIONS
30 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1965, the most recent 2024.
ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
December 27 in spaceflight
34 orbital launches flew on December 27, the earliest of them in 1965, and 30 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 1 spaceflight and astronomy event on December 27. Below are the pictures NASA published on December 27 in 5 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 1968 onward.
Pictures from this date
PUBLISHED5IMAGES
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 27, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.
Published on December 27
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.
NASA · public domain
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
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
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
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 27
1968
Apollo program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital crewed mission to the Moon.
Apollo program ↗
Every launch on December 27
34 launches
ONLINE
- 2024Kinetica 1 | DEAR-3 & 10 other satellitesCASFAILURE
- 2023Soyuz 2.1v | Kosmos 2574VKSSUCCESS
- 2023Kuaizhou 1A | Tianmu-1 19-22EPSUCCESS
- 2022Long March 4B | Gaofen-11-04CASCSUCCESS
- 2021Angara A5/Blok DM-03 | Dummy payloadKhSCFAILURE
- 2021Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M | OneWeb 12ASASUCCESS
- 2020Long March 4C | Yaogan-33(R)CASCSUCCESS
- 2019Long March 5 | Shijian 20CASCSUCCESS
- 2018Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M | Kanopus-V No.5 & Kanopus-V No.6RFSASUCCESS
- 2014Proton-M Briz-M | Astra 2GILSSUCCESS
- 2014Long March 4B | Yaogan-26CASCSUCCESS
- 2006Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat | COROTRFSASUCCESS
- 2003Soyuz-FG | Amos 2RFSASUCCESS
- 2000Tsiklon-3 | Strela-3 125 to 127 & Gonets 7 to 9RVSN RFFAILURE
- 1999Molniya-M | US-K 80PRSCSUCCESS
- 1990Proton | Raduga-1 2CCCPSUCCESS
- 1989Proton | Luch #3CCCPSUCCESS
- 1989Tsiklon-3 | Koltso 2CCCPSUCCESS
- 1987Proton | Ekran-M 1CCCPSUCCESS
- 1985Soyuz U | Efir 2CCCPSUCCESS
- 1983K65M-RB | BOR-4 406CCCPSUCCESS
- 1983Soyuz U | Yantar-1KFT 3CCCPSUCCESS
- 1977Soyuz U | Zenit-2M 83CCCPSUCCESS
- 1977Tsiklon-3 | EPN 03.0380 3CCCPSUCCESS
- 1976Tsiklon-2 | IS-A 4CCCPSUCCESS
- 1975Molniya-M | Molniya-3 15LCCCPSUCCESS
- 1974Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 34CCCPSUCCESS
- 1973Tsiklon-2 | US-A 6CCCPSUCCESS
- 1972Soyuz 11A511M | Zenit-4MT 3CCCPSUCCESS
- 1971Kosmos-3M | Aureole 1CCCPSUCCESS
- 1971Soyuz 11A511M | Zenit-4MT 1CCCPSUCCESS
- 1969Kosmos-3M | Ionosfernaya Stantsiya 1CCCPFAILURE
- 1967Tsiklon-2A | US-AO 3CCCPSUCCESS
- 1965Soyuz 11A510 | US-AO 1CCCPSUCCESS
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.