Portal:Spaceflight/Spaceflight news/2008 archive
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- 14 January - MESSENGER flys past Mercury at an altitude of 200 kilometres.
- 15 January - The first orbital launch of 2008 is made by a Sea Launch Zenit 3SL, with the Thuraya 3 satellite, the first Zenit-3SL launch since a failure in January 2007.[1]
- 21 January - A PSLV launches the Israeli TecSAR spy satellite.
- 28 January - A Proton-M launches the Ekspress AM-33 communication satellite.
- 4 February - The Iranian Space Agency launches a sub-orbital rocket, Kavoshgar-1.[2]
- 5 February - A Soyuz-U launches a Progress spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome on a mission to resupply the ISS.[3]
- 7 February - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-122 to deliver the Columbus module to the International Space Station.[4]
- 11 February - A Proton-M launches the Thor 5 communication satellite.
- 20 February - Space Shuttle Atlantis has landed at KSC, completing mission STS-122.
- 21 February - An SM-3 missile destroys the USA-193 satellite.
- 23 February - An H-IIA rocket launches the WINDS communication satellite[5]
- 9 March - The Ariane 5ES makes its maiden flight, launching the first ATV, Jules Verne to resupply the ISS. http://www.esa.int/esaMI/ATV/SEMDYOK26DF_0.html]
- 11 March - Space Shuttle Endeavour launches from Kennedy Space Center on the STS-123 mission to the International Space Station.[6]
- 13 March - The Atlas V makes its thirteenth launch, and its first from Vandenberg Air Force Base, launching a classified NRO payload.
- 14 March - A Proton-M/Briz-M fails to launch the AMC-14 communication satellite, due to a malfunction of the Briz-M stage.[7]
- 15 March - A Delta II launches the GPS IIR-19 satellite.
- 16 March - Retired astronaut G. David Low dies of colon cancer.
- 19 March - A Sea Launch Zenit-3SL launches the DirecTV-11 communications satellite.
- 27 March - Space Shuttle Endeavour lands at the Kennedy Space Center completing the STS-123 mission.
- 27 March - A Kosmos-3M launches the SAR-Lupe 4 satellite.
- 8 April - A Soyuz-FG launches the Soyuz TMA-12 mission to the ISS, with the first South Korean in space, and the first second-generation space traveller.
- 14 April - An Atlas V launches the ICO G1 satellite, the heaviest commercial spacecraft to be launched towards geosynchronous orbit.
- 16 April - A Pegasus-XL launches C/NOFS
- 18 April - An Ariane 5ECA launches Star One C-2, and Vinasat-1, Vietnam's first satellite.
- 19 April - Soyuz TMA-11 lands in Russia, following a ballistic re-entry.
- 25 April - The Long March 3C makes its maiden flight, launching the Tianlian 1 satellite.
- 26 April - A Soyuz-FG/Fregat launches GIOVE-B.
- 27 April - The Mobile Service Structure at Cape Canaveral LC-40 is demolished.
- 28 April - A PSLV launches ten satellites.
- 28 April - The Zenit-3SLB makes its maiden flight, and the first Land Launch flight, launching the AMOS-3 satellite.
- 14 May - A Soyuz-U launches Progress M-64 to resupply the ISS.
- 21 May - A Zenit-3SL launches the Galaxy 18 satellite.
- 23 May - A Rokot launches three Gonets satellites and Yubileiny.[8]
- 25 May - The Phoenix robotic spacecraft lands on Mars.
- 27 May - A Long March 4C launches the Fengyun-3A weather satellite.[9]
- 31 May - Space Shuttle Discovery launches on mission STS-124 to deliver the Japanese Experiment Module PM to the ISS
- 9 June - CGWIC uses a Long March 3B lifting off from Xichang to launch Chinasat-9.[10]
- 11 June - A Delta II 7920H-10C launches the GLAST space telescope.
