1973 in spaceflight

1973 in spaceflight
Orbital launches
First	8 January
Last	29 December

1973 saw the launch of the first American Space station known as Skylab on a Saturn rocket.

Launches

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket	Flight number	Launch site		LSP
	Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
	Remarks
January
8 January 06:55	Proton-K		Baikonur Site 81
8 January 06:55	Luna 21/Lunokhod 2	MOM	Selenocentric	Lunar rover	15 January 1973 (At moon)	Successful
11 January 10:00	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Baikonur
11 January 10:00	Kosmos 543 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	24 January 1973	Successful
20 January 03:36	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
20 January 03:36	Kosmos 544 (Tselina-O)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	ELINT	15 June 1980	Successful
24 January 11:44	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 132
24 January 11:44	Kosmos 545 (DS-P1-Yu)	MO SSSR	Low Earth		31 July 1973	Successful
26 January 11:44	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Kapustin Yar Site 107
26 January 11:44	Kosmos 546 (Tsiklon mockup)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Boilerplate	In orbit	Successful
February
1 February 08:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Baikonur
1 February 08:30	Kosmos 547 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	13 February 1973	Successful
3 February 05:48	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Baikonur
3 February 05:48	Molniya 1-23	MOM	Molniya	Communication	23 October 1977	Successful
8 February 13:15	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
8 February 13:15	Kosmos 548 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	21 February 1973	Successful
15 February 01:11	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Baikonur Site 31/6
15 February 01:11	Prognoz-3	MOM	Molniya	Solar flare detection	31 December 1976	Successful
26 February 04:37	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
26 February 04:37	Kosmos 549 (Tselina-O)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	ELINT	29 June 1980	Successful
March
1 March 12:40	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
1 March 12:40	Kosmos 550 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	11 March 1973	Successful
6 March 09:20	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Baikonur
6 March 09:20	Kosmos 551 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	20 March 1973	Successful
6 March 09:30	Atlas-Agena SLV-3A		Cape Canaveral SLC-13
6 March 09:30	Rhyolite 2	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	ELINT	In orbit	Successful
9 March 21:00	Titan IIID		Vandenberg SLC-4E
9 March 21:00	KH-9	NRO / CIA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	17 March 1973	Successful
20 March 11:20	Vostok (R-7 8A92M)		Plesetsk
20 March 11:20	Meteor 1-14	MOM	Low Earth	Weather	In orbit	Successful
22 March 10:00	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
	Kosmos 552 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	3 April 1973	Successful
	Nauka	MOM	Low Earth	Technology	9 April 1973	Successful
April
3 April 09:00	Proton-K		Baikonur Site 81
	Salyut 2 (Almaz)	MOM	Low Earth	Space Station	28 May 1973	Failure
	Depressurised before crew launch could occur
5 April 11:11	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Plesetsk
5 April 11:11	Molniya 2-5	MOM	Molniya	Communications	6 January 1979	Successful
6 April 02:11	Atlas SLV-3D Centaur		Cape Canaveral SLC-36B
	Pioneer 11 (Pioneer G)	NASA	Heliocentric to Solar escape	Planetary probe	In orbit	Successful
	First spacecraft to visit Saturn Maiden flight of Atlas SLV-3D Centaur rocket.
12 April 11:49	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 133
12 April 11:49	Kosmos 553 (DS-P1-Yu)	MO SSSR	Low Earth		11 November 1973	Successful
19 April 08:59	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
	Kosmos 554 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	7 May 1973	Successful
	Destroyed in orbit after deactivation
19 April 10:19	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Kapustin Yar Site 86
19 April 10:19	InterKosmos 9	Interkosmos	Low Earth	Solar radiation detection	In orbit	Successful
20 April 23:47	Delta (1914)		Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
20 April 23:47	Anik A2	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
25 April	Tsyklon-2		Baikonur Site 90
	US-A	MO SSSR	Intended: Low Earth	Ocean surveillance	25 April 1973	Failure
	Engine failure
25 April 10:45	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
	Kosmos 555 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	7 May 1973	Successful
	Nauka	MOM	Low Earth	Scientific research	9 May 1973	Successful
May
5 May 07:00	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
5 May 07:00	Kosmos 556 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	14 May 1973	Successful
11 May 00:20	Proton-K		Baikonur Site 81
	Kosmos 557 (Salyut / Zarya)	MOM	Low Earth	Space Station	22 May 1973	Failure
	Loss of control in orbit
14 May 17:30	Saturn INT-21		Kennedy LC-39A		NASA
	Skylab	NASA	Low Earth	Space Station	11 July 1979	Successful
	First American Space Station First, last, and only flight of Saturn INT-21 rocket Damaged during launch, but repaired
16 May 16:40	Titan IIIB (24B)		Vandenberg SLC-4W
16 May 16:40	OPS 2093 (KH-8)	NRO / US Air Force	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	13 June 1973	Successful
17 May 13:19	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 133
17 May 13:19	Kosmos 558 (DS-P1-Yu)	MOM	Low Earth		22 December 1973	Successful
18 May 11:00	Soyuz-U (R-7 11A511U)		Plesetsk
	Kosmos 559 (Zenit-4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	23 May 1973	Successful
	Maiden flight of Soyuz-U carrier rocket
21 May 08:47	Diamant-B		Kourou		SEREB
	Castor	CNES	Intended:Low Earth	Technology	21 May 1973	Failure
	Pollux	CNES	Intended:Low Earth	Technology
	Final flight of Diamant-B Fairing failed to separate
23 May 10:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
23 May 10:30	Kosmos 560 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	5 June 1973	Successful
25 May	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
	Zaliv (Tsiklon)	RVSN	Intended: Low Earth	Navigation	25 May 1973	Failure
	Failed to reach orbit
25 May 13:00	Saturn IB		Kennedy LC-39B		NASA
	Skylab 2, 3 Astronauts	NASA	Low Earth, docked to Skylab	Crewed orbital flight	22 June 1973	Successful
	First crewed flight to Skylab
25 May 13:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
	Kosmos 561 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	6 June 1973	Successful
	Nauka	MOM	Low Earth	Gamma ray telescope	20 June 1973	Successful
29 May 10:16	Vostok (R-7 8A92M)		Plesetsk
29 May 10:16	Meteor 1-15	MOM	Low Earth	Weather	In orbit	Successful
June
5 June 11:26	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 133
5 June 11:26	Kosmos 562 (DS-P1-Yu)	MOM	Low Earth		7 January 1974	Successful
6 June 11:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
6 June 11:30	Kosmos 563 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	18 June 1973	Successful
8 June 15:50	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
	Kosmos 564 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 565 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 566 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 567 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 568 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 569 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 570 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 571 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Successful
10 June 10:10	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Baikonur
10 June 10:10	Kosmos 572 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	23 June 1973	Successful
10 June 14:13	Delta (1913)		Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
10 June 14:13	Explorer 49 (RAE)	NASA	Selenocentric	Astronomy	In orbit	Successful
12 June 07:14	Titan IIIC		Cape Canaveral SLC-40
12 June 07:14	DSP F-4 (IMEWS 4)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Missile early warning	In orbit	Successful
15 June 06:00	Soyuz (R-7 11A511)		Baikonur Site 1/5
15 June 06:00	Kosmos 573 (Soyuz 7K-T)	MOM	Low Earth	Test spacecraft	17 June 1973 06:01	Successful
20 June 06:16	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
20 June 06:16	Kosmos 574 (Tsiklon)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
21 June 13:29	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
21 June 13:29	Kosmos 575 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	3 July 1973	Successful
26 June 01:22	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
	Tselina-O	RVSN	Intended: Low Earth	SIGINT	Never left ground	Failure
	Exploded on pad after fuelling error; 9 killed
26 June 17:00	Titan IIIB (24B)		Vandenberg SLC-4W
	OPS 4018 (KH-8)	US Air Force	Intended: Low Earth	Reconnaissance	26 June 1973	Failure
	Agena upper stage malfunction; Failed to reach orbit
27 June 11:50	Soyuz-M (R-7 11A511M)		Plesetsk
27 June 11:50	Kosmos 576 (Zenit-4MT / Orion)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	9 July 1973	Successful
July
4 July	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk Site 43
4 July	(Zenit 4M)	MOM	Intended: Low Earth	Reconnaissance	4 July 1973	Successful
11 July 09:58	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Plesetsk
11 July 09:58	Molniya 2-6	MOM	Molniya	Communication	5 August 1978	Successful
13 July 20:24	Titan III D		Vandenberg SLC-4E
13 July 20:24	OPS 8261 (KH-9)	NRO / CIA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	12 October 1973	Successful
16 July 17:10	Delta (0300)		Vandenberg SLC-2W
	ITOS E	NASA / NOAA	Intended: Low Earth	Weather	16 July 1973	Failure
	Second stage malfunction
21 July 19:30	Proton-K		Baikonur Site 81
	Mars 4	MOM	Intended: Areocentric Actual: Heliocentric	Mars orbiter	In orbit	Failure
	Retro-rockets failed, did not enter Martian orbit
25 July 11:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
25 July 11:30	Kosmos 577 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	7 August 1973	Successful
25 July 18:55	Proton-K		Baikonur Site 81
	Mars 5	MOM	Areocentric	Mars orbiter	In orbit	Partial Failure
	Computer malfunction a few days after entering Martian orbit
28 July 11:10	Saturn IB		Kennedy LC-39B		NASA
	Skylab 3, 3 Astronauts	NASA	Low Earth, docked to Skylab	Crewed orbital flight	25 September 1973	Partial Failure
	Thruster malfunction, nearly required rescue mission
August
1 August 14:00	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
1 August 14:00	Kosmos 578 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	13 August 1973	Successful
5 August 17:45	Proton-K		Baikonur Site 81
	Mars 6	MOM	Heliocentric	Mars lander	12 March 1974	Failure
	Disappeared shortly before landing
8 August 17:00	Proton-K		Baikonur Site 81
	Mars 7	MOM	Heliocentric	Mars lander	In orbit	Failure
	Missed planet due to premature separation
17 August 04:49	Thor-Burner 2A		Vandenberg SLC-10W
17 August 04:49	DMSP 5B F-4	US Air Force	Low Earth	Weather	In orbit	Successful
21 August 12:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
21 August 12:30	Kosmos 579 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	3 September 1973	Successful
21 August 16:07	Titan IIIB (33B)		Vandenberg SLC-4W
21 August 16:07	OPS 7724 (Jumpseat 3)	NRO / US Air Force	Molniya	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
22 August 11:24	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 133
22 August 11:24	Kosmos 580 (DS-P1-Yu)	MO SSSR	Low Earth		1 April 1974	Successful
23 August 22:57	Atlas SLV-3D Centaur		Cape Canaveral LC-36A
23 August 22:57	Intelsat IV F7	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communication	In orbit	Successful
24 August 10:59	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Baikonur
24 August 10:59	Kosmos 581 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	6 September 1973	Successful
28 August 10:08	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
28 August 10:08	Kosmos 582 (Tselina-O)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	ELINT	5 September 1980	Successful
30 August 00:07	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Plesetsk
30 August 00:07	Molniya 1-24	MOM	Molniya	Communication	5 December 1979	Successful
30 August 10:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Baikonur
30 August 10:30	Kosmos 583 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	12 September 1973	Successful
September
6 September 10:40	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
6 September 10:40	Kosmos 584 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	20 September 1973	Successful
8 September 01:50	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
8 September 01:50	Kosmos 585 (Sfera)	MO SSSR	Low Earth		In orbit	Successful
14 September 00:31	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
14 September 00:31	Kosmos 586 (Tsiklon)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
18 September	Feng Bao 1 (FB1)		Jiuquan LA-2B
18 September	JSSW 1		Intended: Low Earth	Reconnaissance	18 September 1973	Failure
21 September 13:05	Soyuz-U (R-7 11A511U)		Plesetsk
21 September 13:05	Kosmos 587 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	4 October 1973	Successful
27 September 12:18	Soyuz (R-7 11A511)		Baikonur Site 1/5
	Soyuz 12, 2 Cosmonauts	MOM	Low Earth	Crewed orbital flight	29 September 1973	Successful
	Return-to-flight after Soyuz 11 incident
27 September 17:15	Titan IIIB (24B)		Vandenberg SLC-4W
27 September 17:15	OPS 6275 (KH-8)		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	29 October 1973	Successful
October
2 October 21:46	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
	Kosmos 588 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 589 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 590 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 591 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 592 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 593 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 594 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 595 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
3 October 13:00	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
	Kosmos 596 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	9 October 1973	Failure
	Nauka	RVSN	Low Earth	Magnetosphere	9 October 1973	Successful
	Parachute failed to deploy during recovery
6 October 12:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
6 October 12:30	Kosmos 597 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	12 October 1973	Successful
10 October 10:45	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
10 October 10:45	Kosmos 598 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	16 October 1973	Successful
15 October 08:45	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Baikonur
15 October 08:45	Kosmos 599 (Zenit 2M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	28 October 1973	Successful
16 October 12:00	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
16 October 12:00	Kosmos 600 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	23 October 1973	Successful
16 October 14:00	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 133
16 October 14:00	Kosmos 601 (DS-P1-Yu)	MO SSSR	Low Earth		15 August 1984	Successful
19 October 10:26	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Plesetsk
19 October 10:26	Molniya 2-7	MOM	Molniya	Communication	8 July 1983	Successful
20 October 10:14	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
20 October 10:14	Kosmos 602 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	29 October 1973	Successful
26 October 02:26	Delta (1913)		Cape Canaveral SLC-17B
26 October 02:26	Explorer 50 (IMP)	NASA	High Earth	Magnetosphere	In orbit	Successful
27 October 11:09	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
27 October 11:09	Kosmos 603 (Zenit 4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	9 November 1973	Successful
29 October 14:00	Vostok (R-7 8A92M)		Plesetsk
29 October 14:00	Kosmos 604 (Tselina)	MOM	Low Earth	SIGINT	19 January 1992	Successful
30 October 00:37	Scout A-1		Vandenberg SLC-5		Vought
	Transit-O 20	US Navy	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
	Final flight of Scout A rocket
30 October 19:00	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
30 October 19:00	Interkosmos 10 (DS-U2-IK)	Interkosmos	Low Earth	Geophysics	1 July 1977	Successful
31 October 18:24	Soyuz-U (R-7 11A511U)		Plesetsk Site 43
31 October 18:24	Kosmos 605 (Bion 1)	MOM	Low Earth	Biology	22 November 1973	Successful
November
2 November 13:01	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Plesetsk Site 41
2 November 13:01	Kosmos 606 (Oko)	MOM	Molniya	Missile Early Warning	In orbit	Successful
3 November 05:45	Atlas SLV-3D Centaur		Cape Canaveral SLC-36B
	Mariner 10	NASA	Heliocentric	Planetary probe	24 March 1975	Successful
	Flybys of Venus and Mercury First spacecraft to visit Mercury
6 November 17:02	Delta (0300)		Vandenberg SLC-2W		NASA
	NOAA 3 (ITOS-F)	NASA / NOAA	Low Earth	Weather	In orbit	Successful
	Final flight of Delta 0100 series
10 November 12:38	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
10 November 12:38	Kosmos 607 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	22 November 1973	Successful
10 November 20:09	Titan III D		Vandenberg SLC-4E
	OPS 6630 (KH-9)	NRO / CIA	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	13 March 1974	Successful
	OPS 7705 (SSF)	NRO / US Air Force	Low Earth	SIGINT	26 December 1978	Successful
	OPS 6630 P/L 2 (SSF)	NRO / US Air Force	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
14 November 20:40	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Baikonur
14 November 20:40	Molniya 1-25	MOM	Molniya	Communication	26 May 1979	Successful
16 November 14:01	Saturn IB		Kennedy LC-39B		NASA
	Skylab 4	NASA	Low Earth, docked to Skylab	Crewed orbital flight	8 February 1974	Successful
	Final flight of Skylab programme
20 November 12:29	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 133
20 November 12:29	Kosmos 608 (DS-P1-Yu)	MO SSSR	Low Earth		10 July 1974	Successful
21 November 10:00	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Baikonur
21 November 10:00	Kosmos 609 (Zenit-4M)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	4 December 1973	Successful
27 November 00:08	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
27 November 00:08	Kosmos 610 (Tselina-O)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	SIGINT / ELINT	15 September 1980	Successful
28 November 09:29	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 133
28 November 09:29	Kosmos 611 (DS-P1-Yu)	MO SSSR	Low Earth		19 June 1974	Successful
28 November 11:43	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
28 November 11:43	Kosmos 612 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	11 December 1973	Successful
30 November 05:20	Soyuz (R-7 11A511)		Baikonur Site 1/5
30 November 05:20	Kosmos 613 (Soyuz 7K-T)	MOM	Low Earth	Test spacecraft	29 January 1974 05:29	Successful
30 November 13:08	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Plesetsk
30 November 13:08	Molniya 1-26	MOM	Molniya	Communication	9 June 1985	Successful
December
4 December 15:00	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
4 December 15:00	Kosmos 614 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
13 December 11:10	Kosmos-2I (R-12 11K63)		Plesetsk Site 133
13 December 11:10	Kosmos 615 (DS-P1-I)	MO SSSR	Low Earth		17 December 1975	Successful
13 December 23:57	Titan IIIC		Cape Canaveral SLC-40
	DSCS II F-3	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communication	1 August 1982	Successful
	DSCS II F-4	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communication	20 December 1993	Successful
16 December 06:18	Delta (1900)		Vandenberg SLC-2W		NASA
16 December 06:18	Explorer 51 (AE-C)	NASA	Low Earth / Medium Earth	Atmospheric	12 December 1978	Successful
17 December 12:00	Soyuz-M (R-7 11A511M)		Plesetsk
17 December 12:00	Kosmos 616 (Zenit 4MT)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	28 December 1973	Successful
18 December 11:55	Soyuz (R-7 11A511)		Baikonur Site 1/5
	Soyuz 13, 2 Cosmonauts	MOM	Low Earth	Crewed orbital flight	26 December 1973	Successful
	Orion 2 Astrophysics / Astronomy
19 December 09:43	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
	Kosmos 617 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 618 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 619 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 620 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 621 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 622 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 623 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
	Kosmos 624 (Strela)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Communication	In orbit	Successful
21 December 12:30	Voskhod (R-7 11A57)		Plesetsk
21 December 12:30	Kosmos 625 (Zenit 4MK)	MOM	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	3 January 1974	Successful
25 December 11:17	Molniya-M (R-7 8K78M)		Plesetsk
25 December 11:17	Molniya 2-8	MOM	Molniya	Communication	24 November 1985	Successful
26 December 16:30	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
26 December 16:30	Aureole 2 (DS-U2-GKA)	MO SSSR / CNES	Low Earth	Auroral research	30 April 1974	Successful
27 December 20:19	Tsyklon-2		Baikonur Site 90
27 December 20:19	Kosmos 626 (US-A / RORSAT)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Ocean Reconnaissance	22 March 1974	Successful
29 December 04:12	Kosmos-3M (R-14 11K65M)		Plesetsk Site 132
29 December 04:12	Kosmos 627 (Tsiklon)	MO SSSR	Low Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful

Deep Space Rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
15 January	Luna 21	Delivered Lunokhod 2 between Mare Serenitatis and the Taurus Mountains
15 June	Explorer 49	Entered Selenocentric orbit	Radio telescope
3 December	Pioneer 10	Flyby of Jupiter	Closest approach: 130,354 kilometres (80,998 mi)

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
26 May 00:40	40 minutes	01:20	CM-116 SLM-1	Paul J. Weitz	Using a 10-foot (3.0 m) long tool, Weitz stood in the open hatch of the Command Module (as Joe Kerwin held onto his legs) and tried to remove a strap preventing the release of a solar panel on Skylab.[1]
7 June 15:15	3 hours 25 minutes	18:40	Skylab SLM-1	Pete Conrad Joseph P. Kerwin	Used long-handled cable cutters to remove debris that prevented the solar array system from deploying and then forced the solar array system to deploy, providing the Skylab with electrical power needed to operate.
19 June 10:55	1 hour 36 minutes	12:31	Skylab SLM-1	Pete Conrad Paul J. Weitz	Replaced exposed film cassettes with fresh film and repaired an electrical contact.
6 August 17:30	6 hours 31 minutes	7 August 00:01	Skylab SLM-2	Owen K. Garriott Jack R. Lousma	Erected a twin-pole solar shield to improve temperature control in Skylab, replaced film cassettes in the solar observatory and installed micrometeoroid detection panels.
24 August 16:24	4 hours 31 minutes	20:55	Skylab SLM-2	Owen K. Garriott Jack R. Lousma	Installed a new gyroscope selection box, and replaced the film in the solar observatory.
22 September 11:18	2 hours 41 minutes	13:59	Skylab SLM-2	Owen K. Garriott Alan Bean	Replaced the film on the solar observatory and collected the Thermal Coatings Experiment Panel for return to earth.[2]
22 November 17:42	6 hours 33 minutes	23 November 00:15	Skylab SLM-3	Edward Gibson William R. Pogue	Replaced the film on the solar observatory and repaired the antenna for the earth resources experiment package.
25 December 16:00	7 hours 1 minute	23:01	Skylab SLM-3	Gerald P. Carr William R. Pogue	Used the extreme ultraviolet electronographic camera and the coronagraph contamination camera to photograph Comet Kohoutek. They also replaced the film on the solar observatory.
29 December 17:00	3 hours 29 minutes	20:29	Skylab SLM-3	Gerald P. Carr Edward Gibson	Photographed Comet Kohoutek as it appeared from behind the sun and recovered the Thermal Control Coatings Experiment panel.

References

Generic references:

Spaceflight portal

Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.
Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report".
McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report".
Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
"ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
"NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
"Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
"Space Information Center". JAXA.
"Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).

Footnotes

Belew, Leland F. (1977). "Skylab, Our First Space Station" (PDF). NASA. p. 61. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
Ledbetter, James (1974). "Skylab Crew Systems Mission Evaluation" (PDF). NASA. pp. 301, p.338. Retrieved 11 February 2009.

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[Belew-1] Belew, Leland F. (1977). "Skylab, Our First Space Station" (PDF). NASA. p. 61. Retrieved 7 February 2009.

[2] Ledbetter, James (1974). "Skylab Crew Systems Mission Evaluation" (PDF). NASA. pp. 301, p.338. Retrieved 11 February 2009.

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1973 in spaceflight

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Deep Space Rendezvous

EVAs

References

Footnotes