2003 in spaceflight

2003 in spaceflight
Orbital launches
Space Shuttle Columbia launches on its last mission, STS-107. The orbiter disintegrated during reentry, killing all seven crew.
First	11 January
Last	29 December
Total	63
Successes	60
Failures	3
Partial failures	0
Catalogued	61
National firsts
Satellite	Greece Nigeria
Space traveller	China Israel
Rockets
Maiden flights	Atlas V 521 Delta II Heavy Delta IV Medium Strela
Retirements	Ariane 4 44L Ariane 5G Space Shuttle Columbia Titan 23G
Manned flights
Orbital	4
Total travellers	13

Columbia at approximately 13:57 UTC on 1 February. Debris is already starting to come off from the left wing.

Launches

Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Launch site		LSP
	Payload	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
	Remarks

6 January 14:19	Titan 23G		Vandenberg SLC-4W		Lockheed Martin
6 January 14:19	Coriolis	US Air Force	Low Earth	Technology development	In orbit	Operational
9 January 03:17	Agni-I		Balasore IC-4		IDRDL
9 January 03:17		IDRDL	Suborbital	Missile test	9 January	Successful
13 January 00:45	Delta II 7320-10C		Vandenberg SLC-2W		Boeing IDS
	ICESat	NASA	Low Earth	Oceanography	30 August 2010 09:00^[1]	Partial spacecraft failure
	CHIPSat	NASA	Low Earth	Astrophysics	In orbit	Operational
	Laser reliability issues limited ICESat operations. ICESat deactivated in February 2010 following failure of last laser in October 2009.
16 January 20:39	Space Shuttle Columbia		Kennedy Space Center LC-39A		United Space Alliance
	STS-107	NASA	Low Earth	Research	1 February 13:59	Failure
	Spacehab-RDM	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Microgravity and Earth science research
	EDO Pallet	NASA	Low Earth (Columbia)	Cryogenic mission duration extension pallet
	Manned orbital flight with 7 astronauts, including the first Israeli space traveler Final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia, disintegrated during re-entry resulting in loss of crew and vehicle.
25 January 20:13	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Cape Canaveral		Orbital Sciences
25 January 20:13	SORCE	NASA	Low Earth	investigate total solar irradiance	In orbit	Operational
29 January 18:06	Delta II 7925-9.5		Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		Boeing IDS
	GPS IIR-8 (USA-166)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
	XSS-10	US Air Force	Low Earth	Technology demonstration	In orbit	Successful
	XSS-10 deactivated 30 January 2003

2 February 12:59	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-47	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	27 August	Successful
	ISS flight 10P
15 February 07:00	Ariane 4 44L		Kourou ELA-2		Arianespace
	Intelsat 907	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Final flight of Ariane 4 44L

11 March 00:59	Delta IV Medium		Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		Boeing IDS
	DSCS III A-3 (USA-167)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Maiden flight of Delta IV Medium
26 March 06:00	Privthvi-2		Balasore		IDRDL
26 March 06:00		IDRDL	Suborbital	Missile test	26 March	Successful
28 March 01:27	H-IIA 2024		Tanegashima LA-Y1
	IGS-1A	Japanese Government	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	18 July 2014	Successful
	IGS-1B	Japanese Government	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	26 July 2012	Partial spacecraft failure
	IGS-1B lost power in 2007, and concluded operations after just over half of its design life^[2]
31 March 22:09	Delta II 7925-9.5		Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		Boeing IDS
31 March 22:09	GPS IIR-9 (USA-168)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational

2 April 01:53	Molniya-M		Plesetsk Site 16/2		VKS
2 April 01:53	Molniya 1-92	VKS	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
8 April 14:43	Titan IVB (401)/Centaur		Cape Canaveral SLC-40		Lockheed Martin
8 April 14:43	Milstar 6 (USA-169)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 April 22:52	Ariane 5G		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	INSAT 3A	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Galaxy 12	PanAmSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 April 00:47	Atlas IIIB		Cape Canaveral SLC-36B		International Launch Services
12 April 00:47	AsiaSat 4	AsiaSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
26 April 03:53	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-2	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS Expedition 7	28 October	Successful
	Manned orbital flight with 2 cosmonauts
24 April 04:23	Proton-K/DM-2		Baikonur Site 81/24		VKS
24 April 04:23	Kosmos 2397	VKS	Geosynchronous	Missile warning	In orbit	Operational
28 April 12:00	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Cape Canaveral		Orbital Sciences
28 April 12:00	GALEX	NASA	Low Earth	Ultraviolet astronomy	In orbit	Operational
29 April 05:50	Prithvi-2		Balasore		IDRDL
29 April 05:50		IDRDL	Suborbital	Missile test	29 April	Successful

8 May 11:28	GSLV		Satish Dhawan		ISRO
8 May 11:28	GSAT-2	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
9 May 04:29	M-V		Uchinoura
	Hayabusa (MUSES-C)	ISAS	Heliocentric	Asteroid sample-return probe	13 June 2010	Partial spacecraft failure
	MINERVA	ISAS	Heliocentric	Asteroid lander	In orbit	Spacecraft failure
	Explored asteroid 1998 SF36
13 May 22:10	Atlas V 401		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		International Launch Services
	HellasSat 2	Hellas-Sat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	First Greek satellite
24 May 16:34	Long March 3A		Xichang
24 May 16:34	Beidou 2A		Geosynchronous	Navigation	In orbit	Operational

2 June 17:45	Soyuz-FG/Fregat		Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
	Mars Express	ESA	Areocentric	Mars probe	In orbit	Operational
	Beagle 2	ESA	Heliocentric	Mars lander	25 December 2003	Spacecraft failure
	Maiden flight of Soyuz-FG/Fregat Beagle 2 failed to contact Earth after landing on Mars
4 June 19:23	Kosmos-3M		Plesetsk Site 132/1		VKS
4 June 19:23	Kosmos 2398	MO RF	Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
6 June 22:15	Proton-K/Briz-M		Baikonur Site 200/39		International Launch Services
6 June 22:15	AMC-9	SES Americom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
8 June 10:34	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M1-10	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics Earth observation	3 October	Successful
	ISS flight 11P
10 June 13:55	Zenit-3SL		Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
10 June 13:55	Thuraya 2	Thuraya	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
10 June 17:58	Delta II 7925		Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		Boeing IDS
	Spirit (MER-A/MER-2)	NASA	Heliocentric	Mars rover	4 January 2004	Operational
	Spirit lander	NASA	Heliocentric	Mars lander	4 January 2004	Successful
11 June 22:38	Ariane 5G		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Optus C1	Optus/Australian Government	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	BSAT-2C	BSAT	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
19 June 20:00	Molniya-M		Plesetsk Site 43/3		VKS
19 June 20:00	Molniya 3-53	VKS	Molniya	Communications	In orbit	Operational
26 June 18:55	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
	Orbview 3	Orbview	Low Earth	Imaging	3 March 2011	Satellite failure
	Ceased operations on 4 March 2007 after camera malfunction
30 June 14:15	Rokot/Briz-KM		Plesetsk		Eurockot
	MIMOSA		Low Earth		18 December 2011	Successful
	DTUSat		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	MOST		Low Earth	Space telescope	In orbit	Operational
	Cute-I		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	QuakeSat	Stanford University	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
	AAU-Cubesat		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Can X-1		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Cubesat XI		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Cubesat XII		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Cubesat XIII		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Cubesat XIV		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Monitor-E		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational

8 July 04:18	Delta II 7925H		Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		Boeing IDS
	Opportunity (MER-B/MER-1)	NASA	Heliocentric	Mars rover	In orbit	Operational
	Opportunity lander	NASA	Heliocentric	Mars lander	In orbit	Successful
	Maiden flight of Delta II Heavy
17 July 23:45	Atlas V 521		Cape Canaveral SLC-41		International Launch Services
	Rainbow-1	Cablevision	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Maiden flight of Atlas V 521

8 August 03:31	Zenit-3SL		Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
8 August 03:31	Echostar 9 (Telstar 13)	EchoStar	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
12 August 14:20	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 31/6		VKS
	Kosmos 2399		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	9 December	Failure
	Film capsule failed to deorbit
13 August 02:09	Pegasus-XL		Stargazer, Vandenberg		Orbital Sciences
13 August 02:09	SCISAT-1	CSA	Low Earth	Atmospheric research	In orbit	Operational
19 August 10:50	Kosmos-3M		Plesetsk Site 132/1		VKS
	Kosmos 2400 (Strela 3)		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2401 (Strela 3)		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
22 August 16:30	VLS-1		Alcântara
	SATEC		Intended: Low Earth		Never left ground	Launch failure
	Unosat		Intended: Low Earth		Never left ground	Launch failure
	Rocket exploded on the launch pad
25 August 05:35	Delta II 7920H		Cape Canaveral SLC-17B		Boeing IDS
25 August 05:35	Spitzer Space Telescope (SIRTF)	NASA	Heliocentric	Infrared astronomy	In orbit	Operational
29 August 01:47	Soyuz-U		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Progress M-48	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	Logistics	28 January 2004	Successful
	ISS flight 12P
29 August 23:13	Delta IV Medium		Cape Canaveral SLC-37B		Boeing IDS
29 August 23:13	DSCS III B-6 (USA-170)	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational

9 September 04:29	Titan IVB (401)/Centaur		Cape Canaveral SLC-40		Lockheed Martin
9 September 04:29	Mentor-3 (USA-171)	NRO	Geosynchronous	ELINT	In orbit	Operational
16 September	Kaituozhe-1		Taiyuan
	PS-2		Intended: Low Earth	Microsat	16 September	Launch failure
	Fourth stage failed to ignite
27 September 06:11	Kosmos-3M		Plesetsk Site 132/1		VKS
	Mozhaets-4		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	NigeriaSat-1		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	UK-DMC		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	BILSAT-1		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Larets		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	STSat-1		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	Rubin-4-DSI		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational
	NigeriaSat-1 is the first Nigerian satellite
27 September 23:14	Ariane 5G		Kourou ELA-3		Arianespace
	Eurobird 3	Eutelsat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	INSAT 3E	ISRO	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Successful^[3]
	SMART-1	ESA	Selenocentric	Lunar probe	27 September 2006 05:42:22	Successful
	Final flight of Ariane 5G

1 October 04:02	Zenit-3SL		Ocean Odyssey		Sea Launch
1 October 04:02	Galaxy 13 (Horizons 1)	PanAmSat	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	operational
15 October 01:00	Long March 2F		Jiuquan
	Shenzhou 5		Low Earth		15 October 22:53	Successful
	Shenzhou spacecraft orbital module		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	30 May 2004	Successful
	Manned orbital flight with 1 astronaut (Yang Liwei), first Chinese space traveller and indigenous manned spaceflight
17 October 04:54	PSLV		Satish Dhawan		ISRO
17 October 04:54	RESOURCESAT-1 (IRS-P6)	ISRO	Low Earth	Earth observation	In orbit	Operational
18 October 05:38	Soyuz-FG		Baikonur Site 1/5		Roskosmos
	Soyuz TMA-3	Roskosmos	Low Earth (ISS)	ISS Expedition 8	30 April 2004	Successful
	Manned orbital flight with 3 cosmonauts
18 October 16:17	Titan 23G/Star 37		Vandenberg SLC-4W		Lockheed Martin
	DMSP 5D-2 (USA-172)	US Air Force	Low Earth	Weather satellite	In orbit	Operational
	Final flight of Titan 23G
21 October 03:16	Long March 4B		Taiyuan
	Zi Yuan 1-2 (CBERS-2)	CAAC/INPE	Low Earth	Earth resources	In orbit	Operational
	Chuangxin-1	CAS	Low Earth	Communications	In orbit	Operational
30 October 13:43	Rockot/Briz-KM		Plesetsk Site 133		Eurockot
30 October 13:43	SERVIS-1		Low Earth		In orbit	Operational

3 November 07:20	Long March 2D		Jiuquan
3 November 07:20	FSW-18 (FSW-3)	SAST	Low Earth	Imaging	18 December	Successful
14 November 16:34	Long March 3A		Xichang
14 November 16:34	Zhongxing 20		Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
24 November 06:22	Proton-K/DM-2M		Baikonur Site 81/23		VKS
	Yamal-200 KA-1	Gazprom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
	Yamal-200 KA-2	Gazprom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
29 November 04:33	H-IIA 2024		Tanegashima LA-Y1
	IGS-2A	Japanese Government	Low Earth	Reconnaissance	T+60 seconds	Launch failure
	IGS-2B		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	T+60 seconds	Launch failure
	SRB failed to separate. Destroyed by RSO.

2 December 10:04	Atlas IIAS		Vandenberg SLC-3E
	NOSS-3 (USA-173)	NRO	Low Earth	Naval SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
	NOSS-3 (USA-173)	NRO	Low Earth	Naval SIGINT	In orbit	Operational
	NRO launch 18
5 December 06:00	Strela		Baikonur Site 175		VKS
	Gruzomaket		Low Earth		In orbit	Successful
	Maiden flight of Strela rocket
10 December 17:42	Proton-K/Briz-M		Baikonur Site 81/24		VKS
	Kosmos 2402 (GLONASS)	KNITs	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2403 (GLONASS)	KNITs	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
	Kosmos 2404 (GLONASS)	KNITs	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
18 December 02:30	Atlas IIIB		Cape Canaveral SLC-36B		International Launch Services
18 December 02:30	UHF F/O F11 (USA-174)	US Navy	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
21 December 08:05	Delta II 7925-9.5		Cape Canaveral SLC-17A		Boeing IDS
21 December 08:05	GPS IIR-10 (USA-175)	US Air Force	Medium Earth	Navigation	In orbit	Operational
24 December	Sounding Rocket III		Jiu Peng Air Base		NSPO
		NSPO	Suborbital	Ionospheric research	24 December	Successful
	Apogee: ~280 km (174 mi)
27 December 21:30	Soyuz-FG/Fregat		Baikonur Site 31/6		Starsem
27 December 21:30	AMOS-2	Spacecom	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
28 December 20:37	Proton-K/DM-2M		Baikonur Site 200/39		VKS
28 December 20:37	Ekspress AM22	RSCC	Geosynchronous	Communications	In orbit	Operational
29 December 19:06	Long March 2C		Xichang
29 December 19:06	Tan Ce 1 (Double Star 1)	CNSA/ESA	High Earth (High-eccentricity)	Magnetosphere research	14 October 2007	Successful

Deep Space Rendezvous

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
19 June	Nozomi	3rd flyby of the Earth
21 September	Galileo	Deorbited into the Jovian atmosphere
9 December	Nozomi	Flyby of Mars	Damaged by solar flares
24 December	Beagle 2	Crashed at Isidis Planitia, Mars
24 December	Mars Express	Areocentric orbit injection

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Function	Remarks
15 January 12:50	6 hours 51 minutes	19:41	Expedition 6 ISS Quest	Kenneth Bowersox Donald Pettit	Released the remaining launch locks on the P1 radiator assembly, removed debris on a sealing ring of Unity's docking port, and tested an ammonia reservoir on the station's P6 truss.^[4]
8 April 12:40	6 hours 26 minutes	19:06	Expedition 6 ISS Quest	Kenneth Bowersox Donald Pettit	Reconfigured cables on the S0 (S-Zero), S1 and P1 trusses, replaced a Power Control Module on the Mobile Transporter, installed Spool Positioning Devices on Destiny, and reinstalled a thermal cover on an S1 Radiator Beam Valve Module.^[4]

References

Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report".
Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches". Gunter's Space Page.
"Space Information Center". JAXA.
McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report". Jonathan's Space Page.
"NASASpaceFlight.com".
"Space Calendar". NASA JPL.
"Southwest Space Archive".
"Launch Forecast". Space.com.
"Spaceflight Now".
Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
"U.S. Space Objects Registry".
"Хроника освоения космоса ('Chronicle of space exploration')" (in Russian). Cosmoworld.ru.

Generic references:

Footnotes

↑ http://reentrynews.aero.org/2003002a.html
↑ Blau, Patrick (31 July 2012). "IGS 1B Re-Entry". Spaceflight 101. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
↑ http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/after-10-years-in-orbit-insat3e-expires/article5859974.ece
1 2 NASA (2003). "Expedition Six Spacewalks". NASA. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.

Timeline of spaceflight
1940s					1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
1950s	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
1960s	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
1970s	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
1980s	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
1990s	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
2000s	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
2010s	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018

← 2002 · Orbital launches in 2003 · 2004 →

Coriolis \| ICESat · CHIPSat \| STS-107 (SpaceHab RDM · EDO) \| SORCE \| USA-166 · XSS-10 \| Progress M-47 \| Intelsat 907 \| USA-167 \| IGS-1A · IGS-1B \| USA-168 \| Molniya-1 No.92 \| USA-169 \| INSAT-3A · Galaxy 12 \| AsiaSat-4 \| Kosmos 2397 \| Soyuz TMA-2 \| GALEX \| GSAT-2 \| Hayabusa (Minerva) \| HellasSat 2 \| Beidou 1C \| Mars Express (Beagle 2) \| Kosmos 2398 \| AMC-9 \| Progress M1-10 \| Thuraya 2 \| Spirit \| Optus and Defence C1 · BSat-2C \| Molniya-3 No.53 \| Orbview-3 \| Monitor-E GVM · MIMOSA · DTUSat · MOST · Cute-I · QuakeSat · AAU-Cubesat · CanX-1 · Cubesat XI-IV \| Opportunity \| Rainbow 1 \| EchoStar IX \| Kosmos 2399 \| SCISAT-1 \| Kosmos 2400 · Kosmos 2401 \| Spitzer \| Progress M-48 \| USA-170 \| USA-171 \| PS-2 \| Mozhaets-4 · NigeriaSat-1 · UK-DMC · BILSAT-1 · Larets · STSAT-1 · Rubin-4 \| e-Bird · INSAT-3E · SMART-1 \| Galaxy 13/Horizons 1 \| Shenzhou 5 \| Resourcesat-1 \| Soyuz TMA-3 \| USA-172 \| CBERS-2 · Chuang Xin 1 \| SERVIS-1 \| FSW-18 \| Shen Tong 1 \| Yamal-201 · Yamal-202 \| IGS-2A · IGS-2B \| USA-173 \| Gruzomaket \| Kosmos 2402 · Kosmos 2403 · Kosmos 2404 \| USA-174 \| USA-175 \| Amos-2 \| Ekspress AM22 \| Tan Ce 1

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( \| ). Manned flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets.

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