Oct 15 Titan IV(401)B
Success
Cassini leaves for Saturn with a European probe for Titan
Cassini orbited Saturn for 13 years. Its Huygens probe landed on Titan in 2005, the first landing in the outer solar system.
Rocket launches in1997
On July 4, Mars Pathfinder bounces to rest in Ares Vallis and rolls out Sojourner — the first rover to drive on another planet. In October, a Titan IVB–Centaur sends Cassini-Huygens toward Saturn on a seven-year cruise, and Mir endures a Progress collision in June and a fire earlier in the year — the crew survived both.
Monthly Cadence complete
DEC peak 12 launches ↑ 13% vs 1996
- launches
- 88
- success · 83/88
- 94%
- providers
- 3
1997 launch leaders
1997 highlights
Feb 11 Space Shuttle
Success
Discovery astronauts give Hubble a near-infrared camera
NICMOS let Hubble see near-infrared light up to 2.5 micrometers, beyond its earlier cameras' 1 micrometer limit. Spacewalkers also installed a new spectrograph.
Apr 6 Soyuz U
Success
A Progress cargo ship crashes into Russia's Mir station
The uncrewed freighter punctured the Spektr module during a docking test. The crew disconnected cables and shut the hatch to seal off the leak.
May 5 Delta II 7920-10C
Success
Iridium starts launching its satellite phone network
Its 66 satellites let handheld phones call from anywhere on Earth. Iridium opened service in November 1998 and went bankrupt nine months later.
Oct 30 Ariane 5 G
partial failure
Europe's Ariane 5 rocket reaches orbit on its second flight
Its maiden flight exploded in 1996. This time a roll shut the main engine down early, leaving the test payloads in too low an orbit.
All 1997 launches
Quick filters
88 launches
| January | ||||
Jan 12, 1997 | STS-81 USA • Space Shuttle | |||
Jan 17, 1997Failure | GPS IIR-1 USA • Delta II 7925-9.5 | |||
Jan 30, 1997 | GE-2 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44L | |||
| February | ||||
Feb 10, 1997 | Soyuz TM-25 Russia • Soyuz U | |||
Feb 11, 1997 | STS-82 USA • Space Shuttle | |||
Feb 12, 1997 | MUSES-B/HALCA Japan • Mu 5 | |||
Feb 14, 1997 | Kosmos 2337 Russia • Tsyklon 3 | |||
Feb 17, 1997 | JCSAT-4 USA • Atlas IIAS | |||
Feb 23, 1997 | USA-130 USA • Titan IV(402)B | |||
| March | ||||
Mar 1, 1997 | Intelsat 801 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44P | |||
Mar 4, 1997 | Zeya Russia • Start-1 1.2 | |||
Mar 8, 1997 | Tempo 2 USA • Atlas IIA | |||
| April | ||||
Apr 4, 1997 | USA-131 USA • Titan II(23)G/Star-37S | |||
Apr 4, 1997 | STS-83 USA • Space Shuttle | |||
Apr 6, 1997 | Progress M-34 Russia • Soyuz U | |||
Apr 9, 1997 | Kosmos 2340 Russia • Molniya M | |||
Apr 14, 1997 | Kosmos 2342 Russia • Molniya M | |||
Apr 16, 1997 | Thaicom 3 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44LP | |||
Apr 17, 1997 | Kosmos 2341 Russia • Kosmos 3M | |||
Apr 21, 1997 | MiniSat USA • Pegasus XL | |||
Apr 25, 1997 | GOES-K USA • Atlas I | |||
| May | ||||
May 5, 1997 | MS-1 USA • Delta II 7920-10C | |||
May 11, 1997 | Chinasat-6 China • Long March 3A | |||
May 15, 1997 | STS-84 USA • Space Shuttle | |||
May 15, 1997 | Kosmos 2343 Russia • Soyuz U | |||
May 20, 1997Failure | Tselina-2 Russia • Zenit 2 | |||
May 20, 1997 | Telenor Thor II USA • Delta II 7925-9.5 | |||
May 24, 1997 | Telstar 5 Russia • Proton K/DM4 8K82K/11S861-01 | |||
| June | ||||
Jun 3, 1997 | Inmarsat 3F4 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44L | |||
Jun 6, 1997 | Kosmos 2344 Russia • Proton K/DM-5 8K82K/17S40 | |||
Jun 10, 1997 | Fengyun-2A China • Long March 3 | |||
Jun 18, 1997 | Iridium 9 Russia • Proton K/DM2 8K82K/17S40 | |||
Jun 25, 1997 | Intelsat 802 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44P | |||
| July | ||||
Jul 1, 1997 | STS-94 USA • Space Shuttle | |||
Jul 5, 1997 | Progress M-35 Russia • Soyuz U | |||
Jul 9, 1997 | MS-2 USA • Delta II 7920-10C | |||
Jul 23, 1997 | USA-132 USA • Delta II 7925-9.5 | |||
Jul 28, 1997 | Superbird-C USA • Atlas IIAS | |||
| August | ||||
Aug 1, 1997 | OrbView-2 USA • Pegasus XL | |||
Aug 5, 1997 | Soyuz TM-26 Russia • Soyuz TM | |||
Aug 7, 1997 | STS-85 USA • Space Shuttle | |||
Aug 8, 1997 | Panamsat-6 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44P | |||
Aug 14, 1997 | Kosmos 2345 Russia • Proton K/DM-2 8K82K/11S861 | |||
Aug 19, 1997 | Agila-2 China • Long March 3B | |||
Aug 21, 1997 | MS-3 USA • Delta II 7920-10C | |||
Aug 23, 1997 | Lewis USA • Lockheed Martin • Athena 1 | |||
Aug 25, 1997 | Advanced Composition Explorer USA • Delta II 7920-8 | |||
Aug 28, 1997 | PAS-5 Russia • Proton K/DM3 8K82K/11S861-01 | |||
Aug 29, 1997 | FORTE USA • Pegasus XL | |||
| September | ||||
Sep 1, 1997 | Iridium mass simulator A China • Long March 2C / SD | |||
Sep 2, 1997 | Hot Bird 3 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44LP | |||
Sep 4, 1997 | GE-3 USA • Atlas IIAS | |||
Sep 14, 1997 | Iridium 27 Russia • Proton K/DM2 8K82K/17S40 | |||
Sep 23, 1997 | Kosmos 2346 Russia • Kosmos 3M | |||
Sep 23, 1997 | Intelsat 803 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 42L-3 | |||
Sep 24, 1997 | Molniya-1T Russia • Molniya M | |||
Sep 26, 1997 | STS-86 USA • Space Shuttle | |||
Sep 27, 1997 | MS-4 USA • Delta II 7920-10C | |||
Sep 29, 1997Partial failure | IRS-1D India • PSLV G | |||
| October | ||||
Oct 5, 1997 | Progress M-36 Russia • Soyuz U | |||
Oct 5, 1997 | Echostar 3 USA • Atlas IIAS | |||
Oct 9, 1997 | Foton 11 Russia • Soyuz U | |||
Oct 15, 1997 | Cassini USA • Titan IV(401)B | |||
Oct 16, 1997 | Apstar 2R China • Long March 3B | |||
Oct 22, 1997 | STEP-4 USA • Pegasus XL | |||
Oct 24, 1997 | NROL-3 USA • Titan IV(403)A | |||
Oct 25, 1997 | USA-135 USA • Atlas IIA | |||
Oct 30, 1997Partial failure | Maqsat-H/TEAMSAT France • Arianespace • Ariane 5 G | |||
| November | ||||
Nov 6, 1997 | USA-134 USA • Delta II 7925 | |||
Nov 8, 1997 | NROL-4 USA • Titan IV(401)A | |||
Nov 9, 1997 | MS-5 USA • Delta II 7920-10C | |||
Nov 12, 1997 | Kupon Russia • Proton K/DM-2M 8K82K/11S861-01 | |||
Nov 12, 1997 | Sirius-2 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44L | |||
Nov 18, 1997 | Resurs F-1M Russia • Soyuz U | |||
Nov 19, 1997 | STS-87 USA • Space Shuttle | |||
Nov 27, 1997 | TRMM Japan • H2 | |||
| December | ||||
Dec 2, 1997 | JCSAT-5 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 44P | |||
Dec 2, 1997 | Astra 1G Russia • Proton K/DM3 8K82K/11S861-01 | |||
Dec 8, 1997 | Iridium 42 China • Long March 2C / SD | |||
Dec 8, 1997 | Galaxy 8i USA • Atlas IIAS | |||
Dec 9, 1997 | Kosmos 2347 Russia • Tsyklon 2 | |||
Dec 15, 1997 | Kosmos 2348 Russia • Soyuz U | |||
Dec 20, 1997 | Progress M-37 Russia • Soyuz U | |||
Dec 20, 1997 | MS-6 USA • Delta II 7920-10C | |||
Dec 22, 1997 | Intelsat 804 France • Arianespace • Ariane 4 42L-3 | |||
Dec 23, 1997 | Orbcomm USA • Pegasus XL with HAPS | |||
Dec 24, 1997 | Early Bird 1 Russia • Start-1 | |||
Dec 24, 1997Partial failure | AsiaSat 3 Russia • Proton K/DM3 8K82K/11S861-01 | |||