2006 in spaceflight facts for kids
Launches
This is a list of spacecraft which were launched into space during the year 2006.
Date and time of launch (GMT) |
Rocket | Launch site | Spacecraft | Owner of spacecraft | Mission | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 January 19:00 |
Atlas V | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station | New Horizons | NASA | Interplanetry | Flyby of Pluto in 2015 |
24 January 01:33 |
H-IIA | Tanegashima | Daichi | JAXA | Earth observation | |
15 February 23:35 |
Zenit-3 | Pacific Ocean | EchoStar 10 | EchoStar | Communication | |
16 February 08:01 |
Minuteman | Vandenberg Air Force Base | Dummy bomb | US Air Force | ICBM test | |
18 February 06:27 |
H-IIA | Tanegashima | MTSAT-2 | Japanese government | Air Traffic Control and weather | |
21 February 21:28 |
M-V | Uchinoura | Akari | JAXA | Astronomy | |
CUTE-1.7+APD | Nanosat (Very small satellite) | |||||
28 February 20:10 |
Proton | Baikonur | ARABSAT 4A | Arab Satellite Communications Organisation | Communications | Did not reach correct orbit after problems with rocket |
11 March 22:33 |
Ariane 5 | Kourou | SPAINSAT | Spanish government | Communications | |
Hot Bird 7A | Eutelsat | Communications | ||||
22 March 14:03 |
Pegasus | Aircraft from Vandenberg Air Force Base | Space Technology 5 (Forward) | NASA | Study Earth | |
Space Technology 5 (Middle) | NASA | Study Earth | ||||
Space Technology 5 (Aft) | NASA | Study Earth | ||||
24 March 22:30 |
Falcon 1 | Omelek Island | FalconSat 2 | US Air Force | Study plasma | First flight of Falcon 1 rocket Engine failed 23 seconds after launch and the rocket crashed into the Pacific Ocean |
30 March 02:30 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | Soyuz TMA-8 | Russian Space Agency | Manned mission to International Space Station | Crew of 3 ISS Expedition 13 |
7 April 13:00 |
Minuteman | Vandenberg Air Force Base | Dummy bomb | US Air Force | ICBM test | |
12 April 23:30 |
Zenit-3 | Pacific Ocean | JCSAT-9 | JCSAT | Communication | |
14 April 01:40 |
Minotaur | Vandenberg Air Force Base | COSMIC-1 | COSMIC | Study Atmosphere of Earth | |
COSMIC-2 | COSMIC | Study Atmosphere of Earth | ||||
COSMIC-3 | COSMIC | Study Atmosphere of Earth | ||||
COSMIC-4 | COSMIC | Study Atmosphere of Earth | ||||
COSMIC-5 | COSMIC | Study Atmosphere of Earth | ||||
COSMIC-6 | COSMIC | Study Atmosphere of Earth | ||||
20 April 20:27 |
Atlas V | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station | Astra 1KR | SES Astra | Communication | |
24 April 16:03 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | Progress | Russian Space Agency | Deliver supplies to International Space Station | |
25 April 16:47 |
Start-1 | Svobodniy | EROS-B | ImageSat | Earth imaging | |
26 April 22:48 |
Long March 4 | Taiyuan | Yaogan 1 | Spy satellite | ||
28 April 10:02 |
Delta II | Vandenberg Air Force Base | CALIPSO | NASA | Study aerosols | |
CloudSat | NASA | Study clouds | ||||
3 May 17:38 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | Kosmos-2420 | Russian government | Spy satellite | |
24 May 22:11 |
Delta IV | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station | GOES-13 | NASA/NOAA | Weather | |
26 May 18:50 |
Shtil' | Barents Sea | Kompass 2 | Izmiran | Earthquake detection | |
27 May 21:09 |
Ariane 5 | Kourou | SATMEX 6 | Satellites Mexicanas | Communication | |
THAICOM 5 | Shin Satellite | Communication | ||||
14 June 14:08 |
Minuteman | Vandenberg Air Force Base | Dummy bomb | US Air Force | ICBM test | |
15 June 08:00 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | Resurs | Russian Space Agency | Earth observation | |
18 June 07:50 |
Zenit-3 | Pacific Ocean | Galaxy 16 | PanAmSat | Communication | |
18 June 22:44 |
Proton | Baikonur | KazSat | Government of Kazakhstan | Communication | |
21 June 22:15 |
Delta II | Cape Canaveral | MITEX-A | US Air Force | Technology test | |
MITEX-B | US Air Force | Technology test | ||||
MITEX-Carrier | US Air Force | Technology test | ||||
24 June 15:08 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | Progress | Russian Space Agency | Deliver supplies to International Space Station | |
25 June 04:00 |
Tsyklon-2 | Baikonur | Kosmos-2421 | Russian Navy | Spy satellite | Solar panels did not work |
27 June 03:30 |
Delta IV | Vandenberg Air Force Base | NRO L-22 | NRO | Spy satellite | |
4 July 18:38 |
Space Shuttle Discovery | Kennedy Space Center | STS-121 | NASA | Manned mission to International Space Station | Crew of 7 |
Leonardo MPLM | NASA | Deliver supplies to International Space Station | ||||
10 July 12:38 |
GSLV | Satish Dhawan Space Centre | INSAT 4C | ISRO | Communications | Rocket destroyed after engine failure |
12 July 15:53 |
Dnepr | Dombarovskiy | Genesis-1 | Bigelow Aerospace | Space Station | Prototype (no crew) |
20 July 10:14 |
Minuteman | Vandenberg Air Force Base | Dummy bomb | US Air Force | ICBM test | |
26 July 19:43 |
Dnepr | Baikonur | BelKA | National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Belarus | Earth imaging | Crashed back to Earth after engine failure |
Unisat-4 | Universita di Roma | Technology test | ||||
Baumanets | Moskovskiy Gosudarstvenniy Tekhnicheskiy Universitet | Earth imaging and radio | ||||
PICPOT | Politecnico di Torino | Earth imaging | ||||
SACRED | University of Arizona | CubeSat | ||||
ION | University of Illinois | Double CubeSat | ||||
Rincon 1 | University of Arizona | CubeSat | ||||
ICECube-1 | Cornell | CubeSat | ||||
KUTESat Pathfinder | University of Kansas | CubeSat | ||||
SEEDS | Nihon University | CubeSat | ||||
nCube | Government of Norway | CubeSat | ||||
HAUSAT-1 | Government of South Korea | CubeSat | ||||
MEROPE | University of Montana | CubeSat | ||||
CP-2 | CalPoly | CubeSat | ||||
AeroCube-1 | AerospaceCorp | CubeSat | ||||
CP-1 | CalPoly | CubeSat | ||||
Voyager | University of Hawaii | CubeSat | ||||
ICECube2 | Cornell | CubeSat | ||||
28 July 07:05 |
Rokot | Baikonur | KOMPSAT 2 | Earth imaging | ||
4 August 21:48 |
Proton | Baikonur | Hot Bird 8 | Eutelsat | Communication | |
11 August 22:15 |
Ariane 5 | Kourou | JCSat-10 | Communication | ||
Syracuse 3B | Communication | |||||
22 August 03:27 |
Zenit-3 | Pacific Ocean | Koreasat 5 | KT Corporation | Communication | |
9 September 07:00 |
Long March 2 | Jiuquan | Shi Jian 8 | CASC | Grow seeds in space | |
9 September 15:15 |
Space Shuttle Atlantis | Kennedy Space Center | STS-115 | NASA | Manned flight to International Space Station | Crew of 6 |
ISS P3/4 Truss | NASA | Part of the International Space Station | ||||
11 September 04:35 |
H-IIA | Tanegashima | Information Gathering Satellite | Japanese government | Spy satellite | |
12 September 16:02 |
Long March 3 | Taiyuan | Zhongxing 22A | |||
14 September 13:41 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | Kosmos-2423 | Spy satellite | ||
18 September 04:09 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | Soyuz TMA-9 | Russian Space Agency | Manned mission to International Space Station | Crew of 3 ISS Expedition 14 |
22 September 21:36 |
M-V | Uchinoura | Hinode | JAXA | Observe the Sun | Last flight of the M-V rocket SSSat did not work |
HIT-SAT | Hokkaido Institute of Technology | Technology test | ||||
SSSat | JAXA | Solar sail | ||||
25 September 18:50 |
Delta II | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station | GPS 2R-M2 | US Air Force | Navigation | |
25 September 20:14 |
SpaceLoft | Spaceport America | Various | UP Aerospace | Scientific experiments | First flight of SpaceLoft First flight from Spaceport America Lost control and crashed |
13 October 20:56 |
Ariane 5 | Kourou | DirecTV-9S | Communication | ||
Optus D1 | Communication | |||||
LDREX-2 | Technology test | |||||
19 October 16:28 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | MetOp-A | Eumetsat | Weather satellite | |
23 October 13:41 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | Progress | Russian Space Agency | Deliver supplies to International Space Station | |
24 October 23:34 |
Long March 4 | Taiyuan | Shi Jian 6-2A | Study environment | ||
Shi Jian 6-2B | Study environment | |||||
26 October | Delta II | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station | STEREO-A | NASA | Study Sun and Earth | |
STEREO-B | NASA | Study Sun and Earth | ||||
28 October 16:20 |
Long March 3 | Xichang | Sinosat-2 | Sino Satellite Communications Company | Communication | Solar panels did not work |
30 October 23:48 |
Zenit-3 | Pacific Ocean | XM-4 "Blues" | XM Satellite Radio | Communication | |
4 November 13:53 |
Delta IV | Vandenberg Air Force Base | DMSP F17 | US Air Force | Weather | |
8 November 20:01 |
Proton | Baikonur | Badr 4 | Arabsat | Communication | |
17 November 19:12 |
Delta II | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station | GPS 2R-M3 | US Air Force | Navigation | |
8 December 00:53 |
Long March 3 | Taiyuan | Feng Yun 2D | CSMA | Weather | |
8 December 22:07 |
Ariane 5 | Kourou | Americom 18 | SES Americom | Communication | |
WildBlue 1 | WildBlue | Communication | ||||
10 December 01:47 |
Space Shuttle Discovery | Kennedy Space Center | STS-116 | NASA | Manned flight to International Space Station | Crew of 7 |
ISS P5 Truss | NASA | Part of the International Space Station | ||||
Spacehab module | NASA/Spacehab | Deliver supplies to International Space Station | ||||
ANDE | US Navy | Technology test | ||||
RAFT-1 | US Navy | Technology test | ||||
MARScom | US Navy | Technology test | ||||
MEPSI-2 | DARPA | Technology test | ||||
11 December 23:28 |
Proton | Baikonur | MEASAT 3 | Communication | ||
14 December 21:00 |
Delta II | Vandenberg Air Force Base | NRO L-21 | NRO | Spy satellite | |
16 December 12:00 |
Minotaur | Wallops Island | TacSat 2 | US Navy | Technology test | |
GeneSat | NASA | Scientific experiments | ||||
19 December 14:00 |
Kosmos 3M | Plesetsk | SAR-Lupe 1 | |||
18 December 06:32 |
H-IIA | Tanegashima | ETS-8 | JAXA | Technology test | |
22 December 08:34 |
Soyuz | Plesetsk | TBC | VKS | Communication | |
25 December 20:18 |
Proton | Baikonur | Glonass | KNITs | Navigation | |
Glonass | KNITs | Navigation | ||||
Glonass | KNITs | Navigation | ||||
27 December 14:23 |
Soyuz | Baikonur | CoRoT | CNES | Astronomy |
Preceded by 2005 |
Timeline of spaceflight 2006 |
Succeeded by 2007 |
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2006 in spaceflight Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.