List of space shuttle missions

Start of Columbia

View of the Launch Complex 39 . At the top of the picture you can see the two launch sites 39A (right) and 39B (left).

The following list of space shuttle missions shows the start of the US space shuttle program in chronological order. All space shuttle launches were manned and carried out by NASA . All launches were from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) from the launch facilities LC-39A and LC-39B. From 2007 only LC-39A was used.

Naming and numbering

All missions began with the abbreviation STS, which stood for "Space Transportation System". Originally the following number simply referred to the start number, e.g. B. STS-9 . Starting with the fiscal year 1984, an alternative flight numbering consisting of two digits and one letter was introduced.

The first digit counted the fiscal year of the shuttle program. The fiscal year 1984, which began in October 1983, was the fourth of the program, so all flights planned for this period were preceded by a "4". The second digit of the flight number marked the launch site: 1 for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and 2 for Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Vandenberg was never used. Previously, flight numbers for both take-off sites were only differentiated by the additional letter "V" for Vandenberg, i.e. for example STS-V4.

The final letter indicated the intended starting order. For example, 51-G was scheduled to be the seventh flight of the fifth fiscal year program from the Kennedy Space Center .

STS-10 had already been canceled when the new system was introduced, and the launch of STS-9 had been postponed from the 1983 fiscal year to the following year. And in fact, there are NASA documents that state STS-9 as 41-A. However, the new system was only able to establish itself with STS-11. This flight took place as 41-B.

The first digit of the flight number is not simply the last digit of the fiscal year, which is often falsely claimed. This correspondence only applies to the years from 1984 to 1989. If this system had been retained, the fiscal year 1990 would have started with flight 101-A for KSC and flight 102-A for Vandenberg.

After the Challenger disaster ( STS-51-L ) they returned to consecutive numbering, with the number “frozen” 17 months before the start and no longer changed.

However, special circumstances required the assignment of flight numbers out of sequence. When it was discussed in 2001 to launch the DSP-22 satellite with Columbia in 2003, this flight was given the identifier STS-999 as a placeholder in the manifest for planning purposes. Years earlier, STS-250 was prepared. If the Russian service module for the ISS had failed, STS-250 would have brought the Interim Control Module, or ICM, to the station as a replacement.

After the Columbia disaster ( 2003 ), STS-300 was a potential Discovery rescue mission ( STS-114 , 2005 ) to be carried out by Atlantis in case the Discovery was damaged and could not have returned to Earth. Also during the mission STS-121 of Discovery ( 2006 ) retained Atlantis 's role as a rescue shuttle and the associated mission number STS-300.

For the mission of the Atlantis ( STS-115 ) the Discovery was available for a possible rescue mission. This rescue mission was numbered STS-301 .

From mission STS-116 ( Discovery ) a new number system was used for the rescue missions. The Atlantis then served as a rescue shuttle and was given the number STS-317 . This new numbering method made more sense as the Atlantis was being prepared for its assigned flight STS-117 at this point . In the case of a rescue mission, only the first digit would have changed from 1 to 3.

Flight list

Flights completed

No.	Start date ( UTC )	designation	space shuttle	Starting place	Landing site	annotation
01	April 12, 1981	STS-1	Columbia	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	First space flight of a reusable spacecraft
02	November 12, 1981	STS-2	Columbia	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Shuttle test mission, Canadarm successfully tested
03	March 22, 1982	STS-3	Columbia	LC-39A	White Sands	Shuttle test mission, only shuttle landing at White Sands
04th	June 27, 1982	STS-4	Columbia	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Shuttle test mission, DoD's secret payload
05	November 11, 1982	STS-5	Columbia	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Several communications satellites ANIK C-3 and SBS-C exposed
06th	April 4th 1983	STS-6	Challenger	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	TDRS-1 exposed, first spacecraft mission on a shuttle mission through Story Musgrave
07th	June 18, 1983	STS-7	Challenger	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Communications satellites ANIK C-2 and PALABA B-1 exposed, Sally Ride is the first American woman in space
08th	August 30, 1983	STS-8	Challenger	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Communications satellite INSAT-1B suspended
09	November 28, 1983	STS-9	Columbia	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	First Spacelab mission, six astronauts on the shuttle for the first time, a non-American on board a space shuttle for the first time
10	3rd February 1984	STS-41-B	Challenger	LC-39A	KSC	Communications satellites WESTAR-VI and PALABA-B2 suspended, successful MMU test
11	April 6, 1984	STS-41-C	Challenger	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	LDEF suspended, recovery from Solar Maximum Mission
12	August 30, 1984	STS-41-D	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Communications satellites SBS-D, TELSTAR-3C and IVSYNCOM IV-2 exposed
13	5th October 1984	STS-41-G	Challenger	LC-39A	KSC	Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Suspended
14th	November 8, 1984	STS-51-A	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Communication satellites TELESAT-H and SYNCOM IV-1 suspended, retrieval of PALABA-B2 and WESTAR-IV
15th	January 25, 1985	STS-51-C	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Magnum exposed
16	April 12, 1985	STS-51-D	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Communication satellite TELESAT-1 suspended, SYNCOM-IV3 fails to start due to faulty ignition switch
17th	April 29, 1985	STS-51-B	Challenger	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Spacelab mission, GLOMR not suspended
18th	June 17, 1985	STS-51-G	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Communications satellites ARABSAT-A , MORELOS-A and TELSTAR-3D exposed
19th	July 29, 1985	STS-51-F	Challenger	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Spacelab mission. The only abort-to-orbit with only two engines and the only abort after take-off. The mission could still be carried out.
20th	August 27, 1985	STS-51-I	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Communications satellites ASC-1, AUSSAT-1 and SYNCOM-IV4 suspended
21st	3rd October 1985	STS-51-J	Atlantis	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Two DSCS satellites exposed
22nd	October 30, 1985	STS-61-A	Challenger	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	D-1 Spacelab mission, GLOMR suspended
23	November 27, 1985	STS-61-B	Atlantis	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Communications satellites MORELOS-B, AUSSAT-2 and SATCOM KU-2 suspended
24	January 12, 1986	STS-61-C	Columbia	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	SATCOM KU-1 communications satellite suspended
25th	January 28, 1986	STS-51-L	Challenger	LC-39B	-	Start of 2nd TDRS planned, too low temperature destroys sealing ring of one of the SRBs , ET explodes, crew is killed and shuttle is lost
26th	September 29, 1988	STS-26	Discovery	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	TDRS-3 exposed
27	2nd December 1988	STS-27	Atlantis	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Lacrosse 1 spy satellite exposed
28	March 13, 1989	STS-29	Discovery	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Exposed to TDRS-4, experiments with chicken embryos
29	May 4th 1989	STS-30	Atlantis	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Venus probe Magellan exposed
30th	August 8, 1989	STS-28	Columbia	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	SDS-2 exposed
31	October 18, 1989	STS-34	Atlantis	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Jupiter's probe Galileo exposed, first photos of lightning bolts leaving the storm clouds upwards
32	November 23, 1989	STS-33	Discovery	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Magnum satellite exposed
33	January 9, 1990	STS-32	Columbia	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	SYNCOM IV-5 suspended,
34	February 28, 1990	STS-36	Atlantis	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	KH-11 Kennan exposed
35	April 24, 1990	STS-31	Discovery	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Hubble Space Telescope exposed
36	October 6, 1990	STS-41	Discovery	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Ulysses solar probe exposed
37	November 15, 1990	STS-38	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	Magnum satellite exposed
38	2nd December 1990	STS-35	Columbia	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	ASTRO-1 observatory used
39	April 5, 1991	STS-37	Atlantis	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Compton Gamma Ray Observatory exposed
40	April 28, 1991	STS-39	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	Mission for the Department of Defense (DoD)
41	June 5, 1991	STS-40	Columbia	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Spacelab mission
42	2nd August 1991	STS-43	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	TDRS exposed
43	September 12, 1991	STS-48	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite suspended
44	November 24, 1991	STS-44	Atlantis	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Defense Support Program satellite suspended
45	January 22, 1992	STS-42	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1)
46	March 24, 1992	STS-45	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-1)
47	May 7, 1992	STS-49	Endeavor	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Repair of Intelsat VI
48	June 25, 1992	STS-50	Columbia	LC-39A	KSC	United States Microgravity Laboratory-1 (USML-1)
49	July 31, 1992	STS-46	Atlantis	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Tethered Satellite System-1 (TSS-1); European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA)
50	September 12, 1992	STS-47	Endeavor	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Spacelab-J
51	October 22, 1992	STS-52	Columbia	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	US Microgravity Payload-1 (USMP-1); Laser Geodynamic Satellite-II (LAGEOS-II)
52	2nd December 1992	STS-53	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Secret Mission for the Department of Defense (DoD)
53	January 13, 1993	STS-54	Endeavor	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	TDRS exposed
54	April 8, 1993	STS-56	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-2 (ATLAS-2)
55	April 26, 1993	STS-55	Columbia	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	D-2 Spacelab mission
56	June 21, 1993	STS-57	Endeavor	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Spacehab -1; European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) recovered
57	September 12, 1993	STS-51	Discovery	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS)
58	October 18, 1993	STS-58	Columbia	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Spacelab SLS-2
59	2nd December 1993	STS-61	Endeavor	LC-39B	KSC	Maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope
60	3rd February 1994	STS-60	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	Wake Shield Facility, Spacehab
61	March 4, 1994	STS-62	Columbia	LC-39B	KSC	United States Microgravity Payload-2
62	April 9, 1994	STS-59	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	Space Radar Laboratory-1
63	July 8, 1994	STS-65	Columbia	LC-39A	KSC	International Microgravity Laboratory-2 (IML-2)
64	September 9, 1994	STS-64	Discovery	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	LIDAR In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE)
65	September 30, 1994	STS-68	Endeavor	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Space Radar Laboratory-2
66	November 3, 1994	STS-66	Atlantis	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Sciences-3 (ATLAS-03)
67	3rd February 1995	STS-63	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	Me rendezvous, Spacehab
68	March 2, 1995	STS-67	Endeavor	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	ASTRO-2
69	June 27, 1995	STS-71	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	1. Shuttle-Mir Docking
70	July 13, 1995	STS-70	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	Tracking Data and Relay Satellite-G
71	September 7, 1995	STS-69	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	SPARTAN 201-03 ; Wake Shield Facility-2
72	October 20, 1995	STS-73	Columbia	LC-39B	KSC	United States Microgravity Laboratory-2 (USML-2)
73	November 12, 1995	STS-74	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	2. Shuttle-Mir docking
74	January 11, 1996	STS-72	Endeavor	LC-39B	KSC	Space Flyer Unit
75	February 22, 1996	STS-75	Columbia	LC-39B	KSC	Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R)
76	March 22, 1996	STS-76	Atlantis	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	3. Shuttle-Mir Docking, Spacehab
77	May 19, 1996	STS-77	Endeavor	LC-39B	KSC	SPARTAN , Spacehab
78	June 20, 1996	STS-78	Columbia	LC-39B	KSC	Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS)
79	September 16, 1996	STS-79	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	4. Shuttle-Mir Docking, Spacehab
80	November 19, 1996	STS-80	Columbia	LC-39B	KSC	ORFEUS SPAS II
81	January 12, 1997	STS-81	Atlantis	LC-39B	KSC	5. Shuttle-Mir Docking, Spacehab
82	February 11, 1997	STS-82	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	Maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope
83	April 4, 1997	STS-83	Columbia	LC-39A	KSC	Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1)
84	May 15, 1997	STS-84	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	6. Shuttle-Mir Docking, Spacehab
85	July 1, 1997	STS-94	Columbia	LC-39A	KSC	Microgravity Science Laboratory-1
86	August 7, 1997	STS-85	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	CRISTA-SPAS-2
87	September 26, 1997	STS-86	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	7. Shuttle-Mir Docking, Spacehab
88	November 19, 1997	STS-87	Columbia	LC-39B	KSC	United States Microgravity Payload-4
89	January 23, 1998	STS-89	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	8. Shuttle-Mir Docking, Spacehab
90	April 17, 1998	STS-90	Columbia	LC-39B	KSC	Spacelab
91	June 2, 1998	STS-91	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	9. Shuttle-Mir Docking, Spacehab
92	October 29, 1998	STS-95	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	Spacehab
93	4th December 1998	STS-88	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	1st ISS mission ( Unity node )
94	May 27, 1999	STS-96	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission, Spacehab
95	July 23, 1999	STS-93	Columbia	LC-39B	KSC	Chandra X-ray Telescope
96	December 20, 1999	STS-103	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	Maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope
97	February 11, 2000	STS-99	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
98	May 19, 2000	STS-101	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission, Spacehab
99	September 8, 2000	STS-106	Atlantis	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission, Spacehab
100	October 11, 2000	STS-92	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	ISS mission (Z1 support structure , docking nozzle )
101	December 1, 2000	STS-97	Endeavor	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission (P6 support structure with solar cell system)
102	February 7, 2001	STS-98	Atlantis	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	ISS mission (US laboratory Destiny )
103	March 8, 2001	STS-102	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission: logistics module Leonardo , Spacehab
104	April 19, 2001	STS-100	Endeavor	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	ISS mission: Raffaello logistics module , robot arm
105	July 12, 2001	STS-104	Atlantis	LC-39B	KSC	ISS Mission (Airlock Quest )
106	August 10, 2001	STS-105	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission: logistics module Leonardo, Spacehab
107	December 5, 2001	STS-108	Endeavor	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission: Raffaello logistics module
108	March 1, 2002	STS-109	Columbia	LC-39A	KSC	Maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope
109	April 8, 2002	STS-110	Atlantis	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission (S0 carrier structure)
110	June 5, 2002	STS-111	Endeavor	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	ISS mission: logistics module Leonardo
111	October 7, 2002	STS-112	Atlantis	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission (S1 carrier structure)
112	November 24, 2002	STS-113	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission (P1 carrier structure)
113	January 16, 2003	STS-107	Columbia	LC-39A	-	FREESTAR, Spacehab, Shuttle destroyed and partially burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere
114	July 26, 2005	STS-114	Discovery	LC-39B	Edwards AFB	ISS mission: Raffaello logistics module, Spacehab
115	4th July 2006	STS-121	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission ULF1.1: logistics module Leonardo, Spacehab
116	September 9, 2006	STS-115	Atlantis	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission 12A: P3 / P4 support structure with solar cell system, Spacehab
117	December 10, 2006	STS-116	Discovery	LC-39B	KSC	ISS mission 12A.1: P5 support structure and Spacehab-SM
118	June 8, 2007	STS-117	Atlantis	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	ISS mission 13A: S3 / S4 carrier structure with solar cell system
119	August 8, 2007	STS-118	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission 13A.1: S5 support structure, Spacehab-SM and ESP3
120	October 23, 2007	STS-120	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	ISS Mission 10A: Harmony
121	February 7, 2008	STS-122	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission 1E: ESA Columbus module
122	March 11, 2008	STS-123	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission 1J / A: JAXA experiment logistics module
123	May 31, 2008	STS-124	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission 1J: JAXA module Kibo and Japanese robotic arm
124	November 15, 2008	STS-126	Endeavor	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	ISS mission ULF2: Logistics module Leonardo
125	March 15, 2009	STS-119	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission 15A: S6 support structure with the last solar cell system
126	May 11, 2009	STS-125	Atlantis	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	Last maintenance on the Hubble Space Telescope
127	July 15, 2009	STS-127	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	ISS Mission 2J / A: Jap. Experiment and logistics platform , DRAGONSat , ANDE-2
128	August 29, 2009	STS-128	Discovery	LC-39A	Edwards AFB	ISS Mission 17A: Logistics Module Leonardo
129	November 16, 2009	STS-129	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission ULF3: EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 and 2
130	February 8, 2010	STS-130	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	ISS Mission 20A: Tranquility and Cupola (viewing dome)
131	April 5, 2010	STS-131	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	ISS Mission 19A: Logistics Module Leonardo
132	May 14, 2010	STS-132	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission ULF4: logistics flight, ICC-VLD, Rasswet
133	February 24, 2011	STS-133	Discovery	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission ULF5: Permanent Multi-Purpose Module Leonardo , EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 4
134	May 16, 2011	STS-134	Endeavor	LC-39A	KSC	ISS mission ULF6: Alpha-Magnet-Spectrometer , EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 3
135	July 8, 2011	STS-135	Atlantis	LC-39A	KSC	ISS Mission (Payload: MPLM with LMC )

Rescue missions STS-3xx

STS-3xx ( English S pace T ransportation S ystem ) was NASA's name for the space shuttle rescue missions. These were introduced after the disaster of the Columbia space shuttle on the STS-107 mission to enable the crew to return in the event that the mission shuttle is damaged and safe reentry and landing could not be guaranteed. There was never a rescue operation.

During the last mission of the STS-135 shuttle program , the astronauts would have had to stay on board the ISS in the event of a rescue and would then have been brought back to Earth in Soyuz spaceships in the following months .

Table overview

Status: July 2011 (according to STS-135 )
Shuttle	designated voltage	Flight time ¹	Orbits	back down range (approx)	input rates	Longest use	Crews ²	EVAs ³	MIR - ISS - couplings	Satellites and probes exposed ⁴
Atlantis	OV-104	306 d 14 h 12 min 43 s	4848	203.1 million km	33	13 d 20 h 11 min 34 s	170	43	7/12	14 (1)
Challenger (accident)	OV-099	62 d 07 h 56 min 15 s	996	040.8 million km	10	8 d 05 h 23 min 33 s	60	6th	0/0	9 (1)
Columbia (accident)	OV-102	300 d 17 h 44 min 59 s	4777	196.4 million km	28	17 d 15 h 53 min 19 s	160	7th	0/0	8 ⁵
Discovery	OV-103	364 d 22 h 39 min 29 s	5830	237.5 million km	39	15 d 02 h 22 min 59 s	241	53	1/13	23 (8)
Endeavor	OV-105	296 d 03 h 34 min 02 s	4677	199.5 million km	25th	16 d 15 h 08 min 46 s	160	54	1/12	10 (3)
total		1330 d 18 h 09 min 44 s	21,128	877.3 million km	135	17 d 15 h 53 min 19 s ⁶	791	163	9/37	64 (13)

Remarks: 1: The total flight time of the orbiters is calculated from the sum of the respective individual missions. Due to the inconsistent use of the time of touchdown or taxiing out for landing, deviations can arise. 2: The number given here refers to the sum of the crew members of all missions of the respective orbiter at the start. Multiple flyers are considered several times. 3: Because some shuttle missions were flown for the US Department of Defense, the number of EVAs cannot be given with absolute certainty. The most likely value was included in each case. 4: Satellites and probes are given as a number. The number in brackets indicates the number of platforms exposed with attempts that were disconnected next to the shuttle for several hours and were then recaptured. However, these are not counted as suspended satellites. 5: A tethered satellite was lost during the STS-75 mission . This exposure was not planned. The satellite was not included in the statistics. 6: STS-80

literature

Tony Reichardt: Space Shuttle Experience - Astronauts report , Motorbuch Verlag 1st edition, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-613-02523-X

Web links

Commons : STS missions - collection of images, videos and audio files

Raumfahrer.net: Space Shuttle (German)
NASA: Space Shuttle Launch Archive (English)
NASA: Shuttle Missions (English)