Rocket Launches in 1997
Spaceflight in 1997: Mars Pathfinder lands on 4 July, and its rover Sojourner becomes the first to drive on Mars. Mir survives a fire in February and a collision with a Progress cargo ship in June that punctures the Spektr module, which the crew seals off. Cassini leaves for Saturn in October carrying Europe's Huygens probe, and the first Iridium satellites reach orbit.
89 launches in 1997 · 3 failures · 3 partial
Launch list for 1997
| Date (UTC) | Rocket | Mission | Provider | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-01-12 | Space Shuttle | STS-81 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1997-01-17 | Delta II 7925 | GPS IIR-1 | ULA | Failure |
| 1997-01-30 | Ariane 44L | GE 2 & Nahuel 1A | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-02-10 | Soyuz U | Soyuz TM-25 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-02-11 | Space Shuttle | STS-82 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1997-02-12 | M-V | Haruka | IHI | Success |
| 1997-02-14 | Tsiklon-3 | Strela-3 116 to 118 & Gonets 4 to 6 | Yuzhmash | Success |
| 1997-02-17 | Atlas IIAS | JCSAT R | LM | Success |
| 1997-02-23 | Titan 402B IUS | DSP 18 | LM | Success |
| 1997-03-01 | Ariane 44P | INTELSAT 801 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-03-04 | Start-1.2 | Zeya | MITT | Success |
| 1997-03-08 | Atlas IIA | Tempo 2 | LM | Success |
| 1997-04-04 | Titan II SLV | DMSP-5D2 F14 | LM | Success |
| 1997-04-04 | Space Shuttle | STS-83 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1997-04-06 | Soyuz U | Progress M-34 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-04-09 | Molniya-M 2BL | US-K 77 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-04-16 | Ariane 44LP | Thaicom 3 & BSat 1a | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-04-17 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Parus 88 | Polyot | Success |
| 1997-04-21 | Pegasus XL | Minisat & Celestis Space Burial #1 | OSC | Success |
| 1997-04-25 | Atlas I | GOES 10 | GD | Success |
| 1997-05-05 | Delta II 7920-10C | Iridium 04 to 08 | ULA | Success |
| 1997-05-11 | Long March 3A | Zhongxing 6 | CASC | Success |
| 1997-05-14 | Molniya-M 2BL | US-K 78 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-05-15 | Space Shuttle | STS-84 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1997-05-15 | Soyuz U | Orlets-1 6 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-05-20 | Zenit-2 | Tselina-2 19 | Yuzhmash | Failure |
| 1997-05-20 | Delta II 7925 | Thor II | ULA | Success |
| 1997-05-24 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Telstar 5 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1997-06-03 | Ariane 44L | INMARSAT III F-4 & Insat 2D | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-06-06 | Proton-K/17S40 | Araks-N 1 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1997-06-10 | Long March 3 | Feng Yun 2A | CASC | Success |
| 1997-06-18 | Proton-K/17S40 | Iridium 09 to 14 & Iridium 16 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1997-06-25 | Ariane 44P | INTELSAT 802 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-07-01 | Space Shuttle | STS-94 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1997-07-05 | Soyuz U | Progress M-35 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-07-09 | Delta II 7920-10C | Iridium 15 | ULA | Success |
| 1997-07-23 | Delta II 7925 | GPS IIR-2 | ULA | Success |
| 1997-07-28 | Atlas IIAS | Superbird 3 | LM | Success |
| 1997-08-01 | Pegasus XL | OrbView-2 | OSC | Success |
| 1997-08-05 | Soyuz U | Soyuz TM-26 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-08-07 | Space Shuttle | STS-85 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1997-08-08 | Ariane 44P | PAS 6 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-08-14 | Proton K/DM-2 | US-KS 7 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1997-08-19 | Long March 3B | Agila 2 | CASC | Success |
| 1997-08-21 | Delta II 7920-10C | Iridium 22 to 26 | ULA | Success |
| 1997-08-23 | Athena I | Lewis | LM | Success |
| 1997-08-25 | Delta II 7920-8 | ACE | McDonnell Douglas | Success |
| 1997-08-28 | Proton-K/DM-2M | PAS 5 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1997-08-29 | Pegasus XL | Fast On-orbit Rapid Recording of Transient Events (FORTE) | OSC | Success |
| 1997-09-01 | Long March 2C/SD | Iridium MFS 1 & 2 | CASC | Success |
| 1997-09-02 | Ariane 44LP | Hot Bird 3 & Meteosat 7 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-09-04 | Atlas IIAS | GE 3 | LM | Success |
| 1997-09-14 | Proton-K/17S40 | Iridium 27 to 33 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1997-09-23 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Parus 89 | Polyot | Success |
| 1997-09-23 | Ariane 42L | INTELSAT 803 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-09-24 | Molniya-M 2BL | Molniya-1T 90 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-09-26 | Space Shuttle | STS-86 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1997-09-27 | Delta II 7920-10C | Iridium 34 to 37 & 19 | ULA | Success |
| 1997-09-29 | PSLV | IRS-1D | ISRO | Partial Failure |
| 1997-10-05 | Soyuz U | Progress M-36 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-10-05 | Atlas IIAS | Echostar III | LM | Success |
| 1997-10-09 | Soyuz U | Foton 11 & Mirka | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-10-15 | Titan IVB/Centaur | Cassini-Huygens | LM | Success |
| 1997-10-16 | Long March 3B | Apstar 2R | CASC | Success |
| 1997-10-22 | Pegasus XL | Space Test Experiments Platform-4 (STEP-4) | OSC | Success |
| 1997-10-24 | Titan 403A | Onyx 3 | LM | Success |
| 1997-10-25 | Atlas IIA | DSCS-3 B13 | LM | Success |
| 1997-10-30 | Ariane 5 G | MaqSat-H, TEAMSAT, MaqSat-B, YES | ArianeGroup | Partial Failure |
| 1997-11-02 | VLS-1 | SCD-2A | CTA | Failure |
| 1997-11-06 | Delta II 7925 | GPS IIA-19 | ULA | Success |
| 1997-11-08 | Titan 401A Centaur | NROL-4 (Trumpet 3) | LM | Success |
| 1997-11-09 | Delta II 7920-10C | Iridium 38 to 43 | ULA | Success |
| 1997-11-12 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Kupon | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1997-11-12 | Ariane 44L | Sirius 2 & Indostar 1 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-11-18 | Soyuz U | Resurs F-1M | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-11-19 | Space Shuttle | STS-87 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 1997-11-27 | H-II | TRMM & ETS 7 | MHI | Success |
| 1997-12-02 | Ariane 44P | JCSAT 1B & Equator-S | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-12-02 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Astra 1G | Khrunichev | Success |
| 1997-12-08 | Long March 2C/SD | Iridium 42 & 44 | CASC | Success |
| 1997-12-08 | Atlas IIAS | Galaxy 8i | LM | Success |
| 1997-12-09 | Tsiklon-2 | US-PM 9 | Yuzhmash | Success |
| 1997-12-15 | Soyuz-U-PVB | Yantar-4K2 77 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-12-20 | Soyuz U | Progress M-37 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 1997-12-20 | Delta II 7920-10C | Iridium 45 to 49 | ULA | Success |
| 1997-12-22 | Ariane 42L | INTELSAT 804 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 1997-12-23 | Pegasus XL HAPS | Orbcomm-A1 - A8 | OSC | Success |
| 1997-12-24 | Start-1 | EarlyBird | MITT | Success |
| 1997-12-24 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Asiasat 3 | Khrunichev | Partial Failure |