1979 Rocket Launch Statistics

In 1979, there were 110 orbital launch attempts worldwide, and 105 of them reached orbit. That is 18 fewer than in 1978. By country, the Soviet Union launched 86 and the United States 16. Together they put 400 tonnes of payload in orbit.

Statistics summary

Rockets launched

1979

110

vs 128 in 1978

Per week

2.1

vs 2.5 in 1978

Payload to orbit

1979

400 t

vs 428 t in 1978

Per week

8 t

vs 8 t in 1978

Reached orbit

1979

95%

105 of 110; 4 failures, 1 partial

1978

95%

122 of 128; 4 failures, 2 partial

Who flew

Companies

vs 12 in 1978

Countries

vs 5 in 1978

Who flew in 1979

Company1979 launches1979Share

1979 against 1978. Drawings at one true scale.

Every company, as a table

Orbital launch attempts and payload delivered to orbit by company, 1979.
Company	Launches	Share	Payload to orbit	Share
Progress RSC	54	49%	303 t	76%
Polyot	18	16%	13 t	3%
RKK Energia	8	7%	13 t	3%
Khrunichev	6	5%	31 t	8%
Lockheed Martin	5	5%	18 t	5%
Convair	4	4%	7 t	2%
McDonnell Douglas	4	4%	3 t	1%
Vought	3	3%	484 kg	<1%
Yuzhmash	3	3%	8 t	2%
Aérospatiale	1	1%	2 t	<1%
CASC	1	1%	–
ISRO	1	1%	–
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries	1	1%	260 kg	<1%
Nissan	1	1%	95 kg	<1%

Launches and payload by week

Orbital launch attempts per week, 1979

SpaceX, and the rest of the world by region.

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Orbital launch attempts per week by region, and payload delivered to orbit, 1979, newest week first.
Week of	SpaceX	Rest of US	Europe	China	Russia	India	Rest of World	All	Payload to orbit
23 Dec 1979	–	–	1	–	2	–	–	3	10 t
16 Dec 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	7 t
9 Dec 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	6 t
2 Dec 1979	–	1	–	–	1	–	–	2	2 t
25 Nov 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	2 t
18 Nov 1979	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	1	1 t
28 Oct 1979	–	1	–	–	3	–	–	4	9 t
21 Oct 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	8 t
14 Oct 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	3 t
7 Oct 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	800 kg
30 Sep 1979	–	1	–	–	2	–	–	3	10 t
23 Sep 1979	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	3	13 t
16 Sep 1979	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	1	3 t
9 Sep 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	6 t
2 Sep 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	6 t
26 Aug 1979	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	3	9 t
19 Aug 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	6 t
12 Aug 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	13 t
5 Aug 1979	–	1	–	–	1	1	–	3	7 t
29 Jul 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	8 t
22 Jul 1979	–	–	–	1	2	–	–	3	12 t
15 Jul 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	2 t
8 Jul 1979	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	3	13 t
1 Jul 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	4 t
24 Jun 1979	–	1	–	–	4	–	–	5	19 t
17 Jun 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	6 t
10 Jun 1979	–	1	–	–	2	–	–	3	14 t
3 Jun 1979	–	1	–	–	4	–	–	5	17 t
27 May 1979	–	2	–	–	2	–	–	4	10 t
20 May 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	25 t
13 May 1979	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	3	21 t
29 Apr 1979	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	1	2 t
22 Apr 1979	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	3	13 t
15 Apr 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	10 t
8 Apr 1979	–	–	–	–	4	–	–	4	11 t
1 Apr 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	800 kg
25 Mar 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	5 t
18 Mar 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	800 kg
11 Mar 1979	–	1	–	–	3	–	–	4	27 t
25 Feb 1979	–	–	–	–	4	–	–	4	16 t
18 Feb 1979	–	2	–	–	2	–	1	5	10 t
11 Feb 1979	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	3	3 t
4 Feb 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	1	2	830 kg
28 Jan 1979	–	1	–	–	2	–	–	3	13 t
21 Jan 1979	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	1 t
14 Jan 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	3 t
7 Jan 1979	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	2	12 t

Year against year

Orbital launch attempts, year against year, 1976 to 1979

Added up through each year.

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Orbital launch attempts · payload delivered to orbit, added up by the end of each month, 1976 to 1979.
By the end of	1976	1977	1978	1979
January	10 · 18 t	5 · 14 t	13 · 49 t	8 · 30 t
February	20 · 35 t	16 · 34 t	22 · 67 t	21 · 59 t
March	31 · 71 t	24 · 59 t	36 · 134 t	28 · 93 t
April	39 · 88 t	33 · 83 t	42 · 154 t	38 · 128 t
May	50 · 118 t	44 · 115 t	56 · 186 t	47 · 185 t
June	62 · 167 t	59 · 161 t	70 · 237 t	62 · 241 t
July	79 · 213 t	74 · 219 t	76 · 259 t	72 · 273 t
August	88 · 241 t	85 · 246 t	85 · 291 t	82 · 313 t
September	99 · 282 t	103 · 317 t	91 · 318 t	88 · 341 t
October	110 · 316 t	112 · 337 t	105 · 357 t	99 · 365 t
November	117 · 345 t	115 · 338 t	112 · 386 t	103 · 375 t
December	131 · 400 t	130 · 380 t	128 · 428 t	110 · 400 t

Busiest rockets in 1979

Launches and payload by country in 1979

Orbital launch attempts by country, 1979

By the country of the rocket.

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Orbital launch attempts and payload delivered to orbit by the country of the rocket, 1979.
Country	Launches	Share	Payload to orbit	Share
Soviet Union	86	78%	361 t	90%
United States	16	15%	29 t	7%
Ukraine	3	3%	8 t	2%
Japan	2	2%	355 kg	<1%
China	1	1%	–
France	1	1%	2 t	<1%
India	1	1%	–