Launches
ON RECORD37MISSIONS
36 of them succeeded. The earliest was in 1961 and the latest in 2026.
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April 28 in spaceflight
37 launches flew on April 28, the earliest of them in 1961, and 36 of them succeeded. Wikipedia lists 1 spaceflight and astronomy event on April 28. Pick another date to see what happened on it.
Recorded events
IN THE RECORD1ENTRY
Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia for this date, oldest first, starting in 1991.
Pictures from this date
NONE0IMAGES
There's no Astronomy Picture of the Day we can show for this date.
What happened on April 28
1991
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-39, the first unclassified shuttle mission for the United States Department of Defense.
Space Shuttle Discovery ↗
Launches on April 28Archive read 2026-11-05. Anything after that isn't listed here.
37 launches
ONLINE
- 2026Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo (LA-06)ULASUCCESS
- 2025Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo (KA-01)ULASUCCESS
- 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 11-9SpXSUCCESS
- 2025Long March 5B/YZ-2 | SatNet LEO Group 03CASCSUCCESS
- 2025Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-23SpXSUCCESS
- 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-54SpXSUCCESS
- 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Galileo L12 (FOC FM25 & FM27)SpXSUCCESS
- 2023Falcon 9 Block 5 | O3b mPower 3 & 4SpXSUCCESS
- 2016PSLV XL | IRNSS-1GISROSUCCESS
- 2016Soyuz-2.1a/Volga | Mikhailo Lomonosov, Aist-2D & SamSat 218RFSASUCCESS
- 2015Soyuz 2.1a | Progress M-27MRFSAFAILURE
- 2014Proton-M Briz-M | Luch 5V & KazSat-3KhSCSUCCESS
- 2010Soyuz-U | Progress M-05M (37P)RFSASUCCESS
- 2008Zenit | Amos 3SLSUCCESS
- 2008PSLV | Cartosat 2AISROSUCCESS
- 2006Delta 7420-10C | CloudsatUSAFSUCCESS
- 2003Pegasus XL | Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX)OSCSUCCESS
- 2001Soyuz-U | Soyuz TM-32RFSASUCCESS
- 1999Kosmos-3M | ABRIXAS & MegSat 0NPSUCCESS
- 1998Ariane 44P | Nilesat 101 & BSat 1bASASUCCESS
- 1994Soyuz U | Yantar-4KS1M 5RFSASUCCESS
- 1993Tsiklon-2 | US-PM 2RFSASUCCESS
- 1991Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-39LSOCSUCCESS
- 1990Molniya-M | US-K 63CCCPSUCCESS
- 1983Delta 3914 | GOES 6USAFSUCCESS
- 1983Soyuz U | Zenit-4MKT 23CCCPSUCCESS
- 1982Kosmos-3M | Strela-2M 27CCCPSUCCESS
- 1981Soyuz U | Zenit-6U 38CCCPSUCCESS
- 1977Molniya-M | Molniya-3 19LCCCPSUCCESS
- 1976Kosmos-3M | Taifun-2 1CCCPSUCCESS
- 1976Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 58CCCPSUCCESS
- 1971Kosmos-3M | Sfera 6CCCPSUCCESS
- 1970Vostok 8A92M | Meteor-1 4 (13L)CCCPSUCCESS
- 1967Titan IIIC | Vela 4A & 4BUSAFSUCCESS
- 1965Atlas SLV-3 Agena D | KH-7 17USAFSUCCESS
- 1963Vostok 8A92 | Zenit-2 10CCCPSUCCESS
- 1961Little Joe | LJ-5BNASASUCCESS
FIELD KIT / LIBRARY
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LISTING
Cosmos, by Carl Sagan
Sagan's tour of the universe and how we came to understand it. It keeps the science in.
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LISTING
Pale Blue Dot, by Carl Sagan
Sagan's case for people leaving Earth one day, and an honest look at how hard that would be.
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LISTING
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
A science-fiction novel from the author of The Martian, built around solving one engineering problem after another.
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Sources and licences
Event text and thumbnails come from Wikipedia and are used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Images come only from Wikimedia Commons, which doesn't accept non-free content. Each thumbnail links to its file page, which lists its licence and author.
Launch records are from The Space Devs’ Launch Library 2. Pictures are NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. Many of them belong to the photographer or a partner agency, so we only show the ones credited to NASA alone.