2006 in spaceflight

spaceflight-related events during 2006

Launches

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This is a list of spacecraft which were launched into space during the year 2006.

Date and time of launch
(GMT)
Rocket Launch site Spacecraft Owner of spacecraft Mission Notes
19 January
19:00
Atlas V Cape Canaveral Air Force Station New Horizons NASA Interplanetry Flyby of Pluto in 2015
24 January
01:33
H-IIA Tanegashima Daichi JAXA Earth observation
15 February
23:35
Zenit-3 Pacific Ocean EchoStar 10 EchoStar Communication
16 February
08:01
Minuteman Vandenberg Air Force Base Dummy bomb US Air Force ICBM test
18 February
06:27
H-IIA Tanegashima MTSAT-2 Japanese government Air Traffic Control and weather
21 February
21:28
M-V Uchinoura Akari JAXA Astronomy
CUTE-1.7+APD Nanosat (Very small satellite)
28 February
20:10
Proton Baikonur ARABSAT 4A Arab Satellite Communications Organisation Communications Did not reach correct orbit after problems with rocket
11 March
22:33
Ariane 5 Kourou SPAINSAT Spanish government Communications
Hot Bird 7A Eutelsat Communications
22 March
14:03
Pegasus Aircraft from Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Technology 5 (Forward) NASA Study Earth
Space Technology 5 (Middle) NASA Study Earth
Space Technology 5 (Aft) NASA Study Earth
24 March
22:30
Falcon 1 Omelek Island FalconSat 2 US Air Force Study plasma First flight of Falcon 1 rocket
Engine failed 23 seconds after launch and the rocket crashed into the Pacific Ocean
30 March
02:30
Soyuz Baikonur Soyuz TMA-8 Russian Space Agency Manned mission to International Space Station Crew of 3
ISS Expedition 13
7 April
13:00
Minuteman Vandenberg Air Force Base Dummy bomb US Air Force ICBM test
12 April
23:30
Zenit-3 Pacific Ocean JCSAT-9 JCSAT Communication
14 April
01:40
Minotaur Vandenberg Air Force Base COSMIC-1 COSMIC Study Atmosphere of Earth
COSMIC-2 COSMIC Study Atmosphere of Earth
COSMIC-3 COSMIC Study Atmosphere of Earth
COSMIC-4 COSMIC Study Atmosphere of Earth
COSMIC-5 COSMIC Study Atmosphere of Earth
COSMIC-6 COSMIC Study Atmosphere of Earth
20 April
20:27
Atlas V Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Astra 1KR SES Astra Communication
24 April
16:03
Soyuz Baikonur Progress Russian Space Agency Deliver supplies to International Space Station
25 April
16:47
Start-1 Svobodniy EROS-B ImageSat Earth imaging
26 April
22:48
Long March 4 Taiyuan Yaogan 1 Spy satellite
28 April
10:02
Delta II Vandenberg Air Force Base CALIPSO NASA Study aerosols
CloudSat NASA Study clouds
3 May
17:38
Soyuz Baikonur Kosmos-2420 Russian government Spy satellite
24 May
22:11
Delta IV Cape Canaveral Air Force Station GOES-13 NASA/NOAA Weather
26 May
18:50
Shtil' Barents Sea Kompass 2 Izmiran Earthquake detection
27 May
21:09
Ariane 5 Kourou SATMEX 6 Satellites Mexicanas Communication
THAICOM 5 Shin Satellite Communication
14 June
14:08
Minuteman Vandenberg Air Force Base Dummy bomb US Air Force ICBM test
15 June
08:00
Soyuz Baikonur Resurs Russian Space Agency Earth observation
18 June
07:50
Zenit-3 Pacific Ocean Galaxy 16 PanAmSat Communication
18 June
22:44
Proton Baikonur KazSat Government of Kazakhstan Communication
21 June
22:15
Delta II Cape Canaveral MITEX-A US Air Force Technology test
MITEX-B US Air Force Technology test
MITEX-Carrier US Air Force Technology test
24 June
15:08
Soyuz Baikonur Progress Russian Space Agency Deliver supplies to International Space Station
25 June
04:00
Tsyklon-2 Baikonur Kosmos-2421 Russian Navy Spy satellite Solar panels did not work
27 June
03:30
Delta IV Vandenberg Air Force Base NRO L-22 NRO Spy satellite
4 July
18:38
Space Shuttle Discovery Kennedy Space Center STS-121 NASA Manned mission to International Space Station Crew of 7
Leonardo MPLM NASA Deliver supplies to International Space Station
10 July
12:38
GSLV Satish Dhawan Space Centre INSAT 4C ISRO Communications Rocket destroyed after engine failure
12 July
15:53
Dnepr Dombarovskiy Genesis-1 Bigelow Aerospace Space Station Prototype (no crew)
20 July
10:14
Minuteman Vandenberg Air Force Base Dummy bomb US Air Force ICBM test
26 July
19:43
Dnepr Baikonur BelKA National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Belarus Earth imaging Crashed back to Earth after engine failure
Unisat-4 Universita di Roma Technology test
Baumanets Moskovskiy Gosudarstvenniy Tekhnicheskiy Universitet Earth imaging and radio
PICPOT Politecnico di Torino Earth imaging
SACRED University of Arizona CubeSat
ION University of Illinois Double CubeSat
Rincon 1 University of Arizona CubeSat
ICECube-1 Cornell CubeSat
KUTESat Pathfinder University of Kansas CubeSat
SEEDS Nihon University CubeSat
nCube Government of Norway CubeSat
HAUSAT-1 Government of South Korea CubeSat
MEROPE University of Montana CubeSat
CP-2 CalPoly CubeSat
AeroCube-1 AerospaceCorp CubeSat
CP-1 CalPoly CubeSat
Voyager University of Hawaii CubeSat
ICECube2 Cornell CubeSat
28 July
07:05
Rokot Baikonur KOMPSAT 2 Earth imaging
4 August
21:48
Proton Baikonur Hot Bird 8 Eutelsat Communication
11 August
22:15
Ariane 5 Kourou JCSat-10 Communication
Syracuse 3B Communication
22 August
03:27
Zenit-3 Pacific Ocean Koreasat 5 KT Corporation Communication
9 September
07:00
Long March 2 Jiuquan Shi Jian 8 CASC Grow seeds in space
9 September
15:15
Space Shuttle Atlantis Kennedy Space Center STS-115 NASA Manned flight to International Space Station Crew of 6
ISS P3/4 Truss NASA Part of the International Space Station
11 September
04:35
H-IIA Tanegashima Information Gathering Satellite Japanese government Spy satellite
12 September
16:02
Long March 3 Taiyuan Zhongxing 22A
14 September
13:41
Soyuz Baikonur Kosmos-2423 Spy satellite
18 September
04:09
Soyuz Baikonur Soyuz TMA-9 Russian Space Agency Manned mission to International Space Station Crew of 3
ISS Expedition 14
22 September
21:36
M-V Uchinoura Hinode JAXA Observe the Sun Last flight of the M-V rocket
SSSat did not work
HIT-SAT Hokkaido Institute of Technology Technology test
SSSat JAXA Solar sail
25 September
18:50
Delta II Cape Canaveral Air Force Station GPS 2R-M2 US Air Force Navigation
25 September
20:14
SpaceLoft Spaceport America Various UP Aerospace Scientific experiments First flight of SpaceLoft
First flight from Spaceport America
Lost control and crashed
13 October
20:56
Ariane 5 Kourou DirecTV-9S Communication
Optus D1 Communication
LDREX-2 Technology test
19 October
16:28
Soyuz Baikonur MetOp-A Eumetsat Weather satellite
23 October
13:41
Soyuz Baikonur Progress Russian Space Agency Deliver supplies to International Space Station
24 October
23:34
Long March 4 Taiyuan Shi Jian 6-2A Study environment
Shi Jian 6-2B Study environment
26 October Delta II Cape Canaveral Air Force Station STEREO-A NASA Study Sun and Earth
STEREO-B NASA Study Sun and Earth
28 October
16:20
Long March 3 Xichang Sinosat-2 Sino Satellite Communications Company Communication Solar panels did not work
30 October
23:48
Zenit-3 Pacific Ocean XM-4 "Blues" XM Satellite Radio Communication
4 November
13:53
Delta IV Vandenberg Air Force Base DMSP F17 US Air Force Weather
8 November
20:01
Proton Baikonur Badr 4 Arabsat Communication
17 November
19:12
Delta II Cape Canaveral Air Force Station GPS 2R-M3 US Air Force Navigation
8 December
00:53
Long March 3 Taiyuan Feng Yun 2D CSMA Weather
8 December
22:07
Ariane 5 Kourou Americom 18 SES Americom Communication
WildBlue 1 WildBlue Communication
10 December
01:47
Space Shuttle Discovery Kennedy Space Center STS-116 NASA Manned flight to International Space Station Crew of 7
ISS P5 Truss NASA Part of the International Space Station
Spacehab module NASA/Spacehab Deliver supplies to International Space Station
ANDE US Navy Technology test
RAFT-1 US Navy Technology test
MARScom US Navy Technology test
MEPSI-2 DARPA Technology test
11 December
23:28
Proton Baikonur MEASAT 3 Communication
14 December
21:00
Delta II Vandenberg Air Force Base NRO L-21 NRO Spy satellite
16 December
12:00
Minotaur Wallops Island TacSat 2 US Navy Technology test
GeneSat NASA Scientific experiments
19 December
14:00
Kosmos 3M Plesetsk SAR-Lupe 1
18 December
06:32
H-IIA Tanegashima ETS-8 JAXA Technology test
22 December
08:34
Soyuz Plesetsk TBC VKS Communication
25 December
20:18
Proton Baikonur Glonass KNITs Navigation
Glonass KNITs Navigation
Glonass KNITs Navigation
27 December
14:23
Soyuz Baikonur CoRoT CNES Astronomy

References

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Preceded by
2005
Timeline of spaceflight
2006
Succeeded by
2007