Rocket Launches in 1996
Spaceflight in 1996: Ariane 5 breaks up 37 seconds into its first flight in June, destroyed by a software error. NASA sends Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder toward Mars at the end of the year, while Russia's Mars 96 fails to leave Earth orbit. Shannon Lucid spends six months on Mir, a record for an American at the time.
77 launches in 1996 · 4 failures · 2 partial
Launch list for 1996
| Date (UTC) | Rocket | Mission | Provider | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-01-11 | Space Shuttle | STS-72 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1996-01-12 | Ariane 44L | PAS 3R & MEASAT 1 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-01-14 | Delta II 7925 | Mugunghwa 2 | ULA | Success |
| 1996-01-16 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Parus 85 | Polyot | Success |
| 1996-01-25 | Proton K/DM-2 | Gorizont 31 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1996-02-01 | Atlas IIAS | Palapa C1 | LM | Success |
| 1996-02-05 | Ariane 44P | N-Star b | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-02-14 | Long March 3B | INTELSAT 708 | CASC | Failure |
| 1996-02-17 | Delta II 7925-8 | NEAR Shoemaker | McDonnell Douglas | Success |
| 1996-02-19 | Tsiklon-3 | Gonets-D 319 to 321 & Strela-3 113 to 115 | Yuzhmash | Success |
| 1996-02-19 | Proton K/DM-2 | Raduga 33 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1996-02-21 | Soyuz U | Soyuz TM-23 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-02-22 | Space Shuttle | STS-75 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1996-02-24 | Delta II 7925-10 | Polar | McDonnell Douglas | Success |
| 1996-03-09 | Pegasus XL | REX II | OSC | Success |
| 1996-03-14 | Ariane 44LP | INTELSAT 707 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-03-14 | Soyuz-U-PVB | Yantar-4K2 75 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-03-21 | PSLV | IRS-P3 | ISRO | Success |
| 1996-03-22 | Space Shuttle | STS-76 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1996-03-28 | Delta II 7925 | GPS IIA-16 | ULA | Success |
| 1996-04-03 | Atlas IIA | INMARSAT III F-1 | LM | Success |
| 1996-04-08 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Astra 1F | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1996-04-20 | Ariane 42P | M-SAT 1 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-04-23 | Proton-K | Priroda | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1996-04-24 | Delta II 7920-10 | MSX | ULA | Success |
| 1996-04-24 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Taifun-1B 14 | Polyot | Success |
| 1996-04-24 | Titan 401A Centaur | Mercury 15 | LM | Success |
| 1996-04-30 | Atlas I | BeppoSAX | GD | Success |
| 1996-05-05 | Soyuz U | Progress M-31 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-05-12 | Titan 403A | SLDCOM 4 | LM | Success |
| 1996-05-14 | Soyuz U | Yantar-1KFT 18 | Progress RSC | Failure |
| 1996-05-16 | Ariane 44L | Palapa C2 & AMOS 1 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-05-17 | Pegasus Hybrid | Miniature Sensor Technology Integration 3 (MSTI-3) | OSC | Success |
| 1996-05-19 | Space Shuttle | STS-77 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1996-05-24 | Delta II 7925 | Galaxy 9 | ULA | Success |
| 1996-05-25 | Proton K/DM-2 | Gorizont 32 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1996-06-04 | Ariane 5 G | Cluster | ArianeGroup | Failure |
| 1996-06-15 | Ariane 44P | INTELSAT 709 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-06-20 | Space Shuttle | STS-78 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1996-06-20 | Soyuz-U-PVB | Yantar-4K2 76 | Progress RSC | Failure |
| 1996-07-02 | Pegasus XL | Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) | OSC | Success |
| 1996-07-03 | Titan 405A | Quasar 11 | LM | Success |
| 1996-07-03 | Long March 3 | Apstar 1A | CASC | Success |
| 1996-07-09 | Ariane 44L | Arabsat IIA & Türksat 1C | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-07-16 | Delta II 7925 | GPS IIA-17 | ULA | Success |
| 1996-07-25 | Atlas II | UHF F/O F7 | LM | Success |
| 1996-07-31 | Soyuz U | Progress M-32 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-08-08 | Ariane 44L | Italsat F2 & Télécom 2D | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-08-14 | Molniya-M 2BL | Molniya-1T 89 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-08-17 | H-II | Midori | MHI | Success |
| 1996-08-17 | Soyuz U | Soyuz TM-24 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-08-18 | Long March 3 | Zhongxing 7 | CASC | Partial Failure |
| 1996-08-21 | Pegasus XL | Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST) | OSC | Success |
| 1996-08-29 | Molniya-M 2BL | Interbol 2, Magin 5 & MuSat 1 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-09-04 | Zenit-2 | Tselina-2 18 | Yuzhmash | Success |
| 1996-09-05 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Parus 86 | Polyot | Success |
| 1996-09-06 | Proton K/DM-2 | INMARSAT III F-2 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1996-09-08 | Atlas IIA | GE 1 | LM | Success |
| 1996-09-11 | Ariane 42P | Echostar II | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-09-12 | Delta II 7925 | GPS IIA-18 | ULA | Success |
| 1996-09-16 | Space Shuttle | STS-79 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1996-09-26 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Ekspress 2 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1996-10-20 | Long March 2D | Fanhui Shi Weixing (17) | CASC | Success |
| 1996-10-24 | Molniya-M 2BL | Molniya-3 62L | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-11-04 | Pegasus XL | High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE) & Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-B (SAC-B) | OSC | Partial Failure |
| 1996-11-07 | Delta II 7925 | Mars Global Surveyor | ULA | Success |
| 1996-11-13 | Ariane 44L | Arabsat 2B & MEASAT 2 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1996-11-16 | Proton-K/D-2 | Mars-96 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1996-11-19 | Space Shuttle | STS-80 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1996-11-19 | Soyuz U | Progress M-33 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1996-11-21 | Atlas IIA | Hot Bird 2 | LM | Success |
| 1996-12-04 | Delta II 7925 | Mars Pathfinder | ULA | Success |
| 1996-12-11 | Tsiklon-2 | US-PM 8 | Yuzhmash | Success |
| 1996-12-18 | Atlas IIA | INMARSAT III F-3 | LM | Success |
| 1996-12-20 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Parus 87 | Polyot | Success |
| 1996-12-20 | Titan 404A | KH-11 12 | LM | Success |
| 1996-12-24 | Soyuz U | Bion 11 | Progress RSC | Success |