1983 in spaceflight

1983 in spaceflight
Rockets
Maiden flights	Atlas H; Space Shuttle Challenger
Retirements	Atlas-Centaur SLV-3D
Crewed flights
Orbital	6
Total travellers	25
	v; t; e;

Last updated: 2025-07-30 02:43:29

1983 in spaceflight

The following is an outline of 1983 in spaceflight.

Launches


Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January
20 January 17:26	Vostok-2M			Plesetsk Site 16/2

		Kosmos 1437 (Tselina-D 39)		Low Earth	ELINT	4 January 2022 00:04	Successful
February
9 February 13:47	Atlas H			Vandenberg SLC-3E

		OPS-0252 (NOSS 5)	US Navy	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
		Maiden flight of Atlas H
March
2 March 09:37	Proton-K			Baikonur Site 200/39

		Kosmos 1443 (TKS-3) FGB		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	19 September 00:28	Successful
		Kosmos-1443 (TKS-3) VA		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Sample return	23 August	Successful
28 March 15:52	Atlas E/Star-37S-ISS			Vandenberg SLC-3W

		NOAA-8 (NOAA-E)	NOAA	Sun-synchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
		Spacecraft failed in June 1984^[1]
April
4 April 18:30	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-6	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	9 April 18:53	Successful
		TDRS-1 (TDRS-A)	NASA	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Operational
		Crewed orbital flight with four astronauts; Maiden flight of Space Shuttle Challenger
15 April 18:45	Titan 24B			Vandenberg SLC-4W

		OPS-2925 (KH-8-53)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	21 August	Successful
20 April 13:10	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5

		Soyuz T-8		Low Earth Planned: Docked to Salyut 7	Salyut 7 EO-2	22 April 13:28	Docking failure
		Crewed orbital flight with three cosmonauts; Failed to dock with Salyut 7
May
19 May 22:26	Atlas-Centaur SLV-3D			Cape Canaveral LC-36A

		Intelsat 506	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Final flight of Atlas-Centaur SLV-3D
June
9 June 23:23	Atlas H			Vandenberg SLC-3E

		OPS-6432 (NOSS 6)	US Navy	Low Earth	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
16 June 11:59	Ariane 1			Kourou ELA		CNES

		Eutelsat 1F1	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Oscar 10	AMSAT	Geosynchronous transfer	Amateur radio	In orbit	Successful
		Eutelsat 1F1 retired in 1996
18 June 11:33	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-7	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	24 June 14:56	Successful
		Anik C2	Telesat Canada	Current: Graveyard Operational: Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Palapa B1	Telkom Indonesia	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		SPAS-I	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Microgravity research	24 June 14:56	Successful
		OSTA-2	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Scientific experiments	24 June 14:56	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts; including the first female American astronaut, Sally Ride Anik C2 retired 7 January 1998
20 June 18:45	Titan 34D			Vandenberg SLC-4E

		OPS-0721 (KH-9-18)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	Reconnaissance	21 March 1984	Successful
		OPS-3899 (SSF-C-7)	NRO	Sun-synchronous	ELINT	In orbit	Successful
27 June 09:12	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5

		Soyuz T-9		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Salyut 7 EO-2	23 November 19:58	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with two cosmonauts
July
14 July 10:21	Atlas E/SGS-2			Vandenberg SLC-3W

		GPS-8	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Successful
31 July 15:41	Titan 34B			Vandenberg SLC-4W

		OPS-7304 (Jumpseat 7)	NRO	Molniya	SIGINT	In orbit	Successful
August
17 August 12:08	Soyuz-U			Baikonur Site 1/5

		Progress 17		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	17 September 23:43	Successful
30 August 06:32	Space Shuttle Challenger			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-8	NASA	Low Earth	Satellite deployment	5 September 07:40	Successful
		INSAT 1B	ISRO	Geostationary	Communications	In orbit	Successful
		Payload Flight Test Article	NASA	Low Earth (Challenger)	Payload compatibility testing	5 September 07:40	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with five astronauts
October
19 October 00:45	Ariane 1			Kourou ELA		CNES

		Intelsat 507	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful
20 October 09:59	Soyuz-U			Baikonur

		Progress 18		Low Earth (Salyut 7)	Logistics	16 November 04:18	Successful
November
18 November 06:32	Atlas E/Star-37S-ISS			Vandenberg SLC-3W

		DMSP 5D-2 F7	US Air Force	Sun-synchronous	Meteorology	In orbit	Successful
28 November 16:00	Space Shuttle Columbia			Kennedy LC-39A		United Space Alliance

		STS-9	NASA	Low Earth	Microgravity research	8 December 23:47	Successful
		Spacelab Long Module 1	NASA/ESRO	Low Earth (Columbia)	Microgravity research	8 December 23:47	Successful
		Crewed orbital flight with six astronauts; Maiden flight of Spacelab Long Module

Suborbital launches


Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
January-March
7 February 08:44	Minuteman 1B			Vandenberg AFB, LF-06		US Air Force

		Reentry vehicle	USAF	Suborbital	ABM target	7 February	Successful
		Target for HOE 1, was not intercepted.
7 February 09:10	HOE		HOE 1	Meck Island, Kwajalein Missile Range		US Air Force

		HOE 1	USAF	Suborbital	ABM test	7 February	Spacecraft failure
		Failed to intercept the target.
April-June
28 May	Minuteman 1B			Vandenberg AFB, LF-03		US Air Force

		Reentry vehicle	USAF	Suborbital	ABM target	28 May	Successful
		Target for HOE 2, was not intercepted.
28 May	HOE		HOE 2	Meck Island, Kwajalein Missile Range		US Air Force

		HOE 2	USAF	Suborbital	ABM test	28 May	Spacecraft failure
		Failed to intercept the target.
July-September
October-December
15 December	Minuteman 1B			Vandenberg AFB, LF-03		US Air Force

		Reentry vehicle	USAF	Suborbital	ABM target	15 December	Successful
		Target for HOE, was not intercepted.
15 December	HOE		HOE 3	Meck Island, Kwajalein Missile Range		US Air Force

		HOE 3	USAF	Suborbital	ABM test	15 December	Spacecraft failure
		Failed to intercept the target.

Deep-space rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
10 October	Venera 15	Entered Cytherean orbit	Radar mapper mission
14 October	Venera 16	Entered Cytherean orbit	Radar mapper mission
21 October	ISEE-3/ICE	4th flyby of the Moon	Closest approach: 17,440 kilometres (10,840 mi)
22 December	ISEE-3/ICE	5th flyby of the Moon	Closest approach: 120 kilometres (75 mi)

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
7 April 21:05	4 hours 10 minutes	8 April 01:15	STS-6 ( Challenger)	Story Musgrave Donald H. Peterson	Test spacesuits and tools for future space construction.^[2] First spacewalk from a Space Shuttle.^[3]
1 November 04:47	2 hours 50 minutes	07:36	Salyut 7 EO-2	Vladimir Lyakhov Aleksandr Aleksandrov	Installed a new solar panel to increase the station's electrical output.
3 November 03:47	2 hours 55 minutes	06:42	Salyut 7 EO-2	Vladimir Lyakhov Aleksandr Aleksandrov	Installed a second new solar panel, increasing electrical output by 50%.

References

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". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
McDowell, Jonathan. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
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.
"Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
"Rocket Launch Manifest". Next Spaceflight.
"Space Launch Plans". Novosti Kosmonavtiki.

Generic references:

Spaceflight portal

Footnotes

↑ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
↑ Ottawan (2005). "Mission: STS 6". The Space Race. TheSpaceRace.com. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
↑ "STS-6". Space Shuttle Mission Archives. NASA. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2009.

View original on Wikipedia

[1] "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2019.

[2] Ottawan (2005). "Mission: STS 6". The Space Race. TheSpaceRace.com. Retrieved 15 February 2009.

[3] "STS-6". Space Shuttle Mission Archives. NASA. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2009.

[1]

v t e Timeline of spaceflight
Spaceflight before 1951
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 (H1, H2) 1959 (H1, H2)
1960s	1960 (T1, T2, T3) 1961 (H1, H2) 1962 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 1963 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 1964 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 1965 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 (H1, H2) 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 (H1, H2) 2019 (H1, H2)
2020s	2020 2021 (H1, H2) 2022 (H1, H2) 2023 (H1, H2) 2024 (H1, H2) 2025 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 2026 2027 2028 2029
Future

v t e Timeline of spaceflight
Spaceflight before 1951
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 (H1, H2) 1959 (H1, H2)
1960s	1960 (T1, T2, T3) 1961 (H1, H2) 1962 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 1963 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 1964 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 1965 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 (H1, H2) 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 (H1, H2) 2019 (H1, H2)
2020s	2020 2021 (H1, H2) 2022 (H1, H2) 2023 (H1, H2) 2024 (H1, H2) 2025 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 2026 2027 2028 2029
Future

Rockets
Maiden flights	Atlas H Space Shuttle Challenger
Retirements	Atlas-Centaur SLV-3D
Crewed flights
Orbital	6
Total travellers	25
v t e

v t e ← 1982 Orbital launches in 1983 1984 →
January	Kosmos 1437 Unnamed
February	OPS 0252 OPS 0252 SSU-1 OPS 0252 SSU-2 OPS 0252 SSU-3
March	Kosmos 1443 NOAA-8
April	STS-6 (TDRS-1) OPS 2925 Soyuz T-8
May	Intelsat V F-6
June	OPS 6432 OPS 6432 SSU-1 OPS 6432 SSU-2 OPS 6432 SSU-3 ECS-1 OSCAR-10 STS-7 (Anik C2, Palapa B1, SPAS-01, OSTA-2) OPS 0721 OPS 3899 Soyuz T-9
July	OPS 7304
August	Progress 17
September	STS-8 (INSAT-1B)
October	Intelsat V F-7 Progress 18
November	STS-9
Unknown month	Kosmos 1428 Kosmos 1429 Kosmos 1430 Kosmos 1431 Kosmos 1432 Kosmos 1433 Kosmos 1434 Kosmos 1435 Kosmos 1436 IRAS PIX-2 Kosmos 1438 Sakura 2a Kosmos 1439 LIPS-2 Kosmos 1440 Kosmos 1441 Tenma Kosmos 1442 Kosmos 1444 Molniya-3 No.34 Ekran No.18L Kosmos 1445 Kosmos 1446 Molniya-1-56 Astron Kosmos 1447 Kosmos 1448 Kosmos 1449 Molniya-1 No.68 Kosmos 1450 Gran' No.23L Kosmos 1451 Satcom 1R Kosmos 1452 Rohini RS-D2 Kosmos 1453 Kosmos 1454 Kosmos 1455 Kosmos 1456 Kosmos 1457 Kosmos 1458 GOES 6 Kosmos 1459 Kosmos 1460 Kosmos 1461 Kosmos 1462 Kosmos 1463 Kosmos 1464 Kosmos 1465 Kosmos 1466 EXOSAT Kosmos 1467 Venera 15 Venera 16 Kosmos 1468 Kosmos 1469 Kosmos 1470 HILAT Kosmos 1471 Galaxy 1 Gorizont No.17L Prognoz 9 Kosmos 1472 Kosmos 1473 Kosmos 1474 Kosmos 1475 Kosmos 1476 Kosmos 1477 Kosmos 1478 Kosmos 1479 Kosmos 1480 Kosmos 1481 Kosmos 1482 OPS 7994 Molniya-1 No.66 Kosmos 1483 Kosmos 1484 Kosmos 1485 Telstar 301 Kosmos 1486 Kosmos 1487 Sakura 2b Kosmos 1488 Kosmos 1489 Kosmos 1490 Kosmos 1491 Kosmos 1492 Fanhui Shi Weixing 6 Kosmos 1493 Gran' No.24L Molniya-3 No.32 Kosmos 1494 Kosmos 1495 Kosmos 1496 Satcom 2R Kosmos 1497 Kosmos 1498 Kosmos 1499 Galaxy-2 Soyuz 7K-ST No. 16L Kosmos 1500 Ekran No.25L Kosmos 1501 Kosmos 1502 Kosmos 1503 Kosmos 1504 Kosmos 1505 Kosmos 1506 Meteor-2 No.10 Kosmos 1507 Kosmos 1508 Kosmos 1509 OPS 1294 Molniya-1 No.48 Kosmos 1510 Kosmos 1511 Gorizont No.18L Kosmos 1512 Kosmos 1513 Kosmos 1514 Kosmos 1515 Molniya-3 No.35 Kosmos 1516 Kosmos 1517 Kosmos 1518 Kosmos 1519 Kosmos 1520 Kosmos 1521
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).

1983 in spaceflight

Launches

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

October

November

Suborbital launches

January-March

April-June

July-September

October-December

Deep-space rendezvous

EVAs

References

Footnotes