Rocket Launches in 2002
Spaceflight in 2002: The shuttle adds the first sections of the International Space Station's main truss, and Columbia's crew services Hubble in March. Mark Shuttleworth becomes the first South African in space, flying to the station as a paying visitor. Europe's more powerful Ariane 5 ECA fails on its first flight in December. Elon Musk founds SpaceX.
65 launches in 2002 · 4 failures
Launch list for 2002
| Date (UTC) | Rocket | Mission | Provider | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-01-16 | Titan IVB/Centaur | Milstar 5 | LM | Success |
| 2002-01-23 | Ariane 42L | Insat 3C | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 2002-02-04 | H-IIA 2024 | Tsubasa | MHI | Success |
| 2002-02-05 | Pegasus XL | Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) | OSC | Success |
| 2002-02-11 | Delta II 7920-10C | Iridium 91 | ULA | Success |
| 2002-02-21 | Atlas IIIB | Echostar VII | LM | Success |
| 2002-02-23 | Ariane 44L | INTELSAT 904 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 2002-02-25 | Soyuz-U-PVB | Yantar-4K2 81 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 2002-03-01 | Ariane 5 G | Envisat | ArianeGroup | Success |
| 2002-03-01 | Space Shuttle | STS-109 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 2002-03-08 | Atlas IIA | TDRS 9 | LM | Success |
| 2002-03-17 | Rokot/Briz-KM | GRACE | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-03-21 | Soyuz U | Progress M1-8 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 2002-03-25 | Long March 2F | Shenzhou-3 | CASC | Success |
| 2002-03-29 | Ariane 44L | JCSAT 2A | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 2002-03-30 | Proton-K/DM-2M | INTELSAT 903 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-04-01 | Molniya-M 2BL | US-K 81 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 2002-04-08 | Space Shuttle | STS-110 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 2002-04-16 | Ariane 44L | NSS 7 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 2002-04-25 | Soyuz U | Soyuz TM-34 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 2002-05-04 | Ariane 42P | SPOT 5 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 2002-05-04 | Delta II 7920-10L | Aqua | McDonnell Douglas | Success |
| 2002-05-07 | Proton-K/DM-2M | DirecTV-5 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-05-15 | Long March 4B | Hai Yang 1 & Feng Yun 1D | CASC | Success |
| 2002-05-28 | Shavit-2 | Ofeq-5 | IAI | Success |
| 2002-05-28 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Parus 93 | Polyot | Success |
| 2002-06-05 | Ariane 44L | INTELSAT 905 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 2002-06-05 | Space Shuttle | STS-111 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 2002-06-10 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Ekspress A1R | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-06-15 | Zenit 3SL | Galaxy 3C | Yuzhmash | Success |
| 2002-06-20 | Rokot/Briz-KM | Iridium 97 & 98 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-06-24 | Titan II SLV | NOAA 17 | LM | Success |
| 2002-06-26 | Soyuz U | Progress M-46 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 2002-07-03 | Delta II 7425-9.5 | Contour | McDonnell Douglas | Success |
| 2002-07-05 | Ariane 5 G | Stellat 5 & N-Star C | ArianeGroup | Success |
| 2002-07-08 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Strela-3 131 & 132 | Polyot | Success |
| 2002-07-25 | Proton-K/17S40 | Araks-N 2 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-08-21 | Atlas V 401 | Hot Bird 6 | ULA | Success |
| 2002-08-22 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Echostar VIII | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-08-28 | Ariane 5 G | Atlantic Bird 1 & Meteosat 8 | ArianeGroup | Success |
| 2002-09-06 | Ariane 44L | INTELSAT 906 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 2002-09-10 | H-IIA 2024 | USERS & DRTS | MHI | Success |
| 2002-09-12 | PSLV | KALPANA-1 | ISRO | Success |
| 2002-09-15 | Kaituozhe-1 | Hangtian Tsinghua 1-01 | CASIC | Failure |
| 2002-09-18 | Atlas IIAS | Hispasat 1D | LM | Success |
| 2002-09-25 | Soyuz FG | Progress M1-9 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 2002-09-26 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | Nadezhda-M | Polyot | Success |
| 2002-10-07 | Space Shuttle | STS-112 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 2002-10-15 | Soyuz-U-PVB | Foton-M No. 1 | Progress RSC | Failure |
| 2002-10-17 | Proton-K/17S40 | Integral | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-10-27 | Long March 4B | Zi Yuan-2 02 xing | CASC | Success |
| 2002-10-30 | Soyuz FG | Soyuz TMA-1 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 2002-11-20 | Delta IV M+(4,2) | Eutelsat W5 | ULA | Success |
| 2002-11-24 | Space Shuttle | STS-113 | Rockwell / Martin Marietta / Thiokol | Success |
| 2002-11-25 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Astra 1K | Khrunichev | Failure |
| 2002-11-28 | Kosmos-3M (11K65M) | AlSat-1 | Polyot | Success |
| 2002-12-05 | Atlas IIA | TDRS 10 | LM | Success |
| 2002-12-11 | Ariane 5 ECA | Hot Bird 7 & Stentor | ArianeGroup | Failure |
| 2002-12-14 | H-IIA 202 | Midori-2 | MHI | Success |
| 2002-12-17 | Ariane 44L | NSS 6 | Aérospatiale | Success |
| 2002-12-20 | Dnepr 1 | AATiS-OSCAR-49 | Yuzhmash | Success |
| 2002-12-24 | Molniya-M 2BL | US-K 82 | Progress RSC | Success |
| 2002-12-25 | Proton-K/DM-2M | Uragan 80 to 82 | Khrunichev | Success |
| 2002-12-29 | Long March 2F | Shenzhou-4 | CASC | Success |
| 2002-12-29 | Proton-M Briz-M | Nimiq 2 | Khrunichev | Success |