2019 in spaceflight

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2019 in spaceflight
ChangE-4, Yutu-2 (cropped).png
Crew Dragon at the ISS for Demo Mission 1 (cropped).jpg
LightSail 2 with deployed solar sail.png
Ascent Abort-2 Liftoff.jpg
Highlights from spaceflight in 2019 [a]
Orbital launches
First10 January
Last27 December
Total102
Successes97
Failures5
Catalogued 97
National firsts
Spaceflight
Satellite
Space traveller
Rockets
Maiden flights
Retirements
Crewed flights
Orbital3
Suborbital1 (private)
Total travellers12 (3 suborbital)
EVAs 11
2019 in spaceflight
  2018
2020  

This article documents notable spaceflight events during the year 2019.

Contents

Overview

Astronomy and astrophysics

The Russian-German X-ray observing satellite Spektr-RG was launched on 13 July.

Lunar exploration

The Chinese probe Chang'e 4 made humanity's first soft landing on the far side of the Moon on 3 January and released its Yutu 2 rover to explore the lunar surface on the far side for the first time in human history.

The first panorama from the far side of the moon.jpg
The first panorama from the far side of the Moon, captured by Chang'e 4 lander

Israel's SpaceIL, one of the participants in the expired Google Lunar X Prize, [1] launched the first private mission to the Moon in February. The Beresheet lander from SpaceIL made the landing attempt in April, but crashed onto the Moon. [2] India launched the delayed Chandrayaan-2 lunar orbiter/lander/rover in July; the orbiter reached lunar orbit in September, but the Vikram lander crashed onto the lunar surface. [3]

Exploration of the Solar System

The probe New Horizons encountered the Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth on 1 January. This is the farthest object from the Sun ever to have a close encounter with a spacecraft. [4] The Japanese asteroid exploration mission Hayabusa2 made a second touchdown with 162173 Ryugu to collect samples, [5] and departed for Earth on 12 November. [6] NASA declared the Mars rover Opportunity's mission over on 13 February. [7] The InSight lander observed the first recorded Marsquake in April. [8]

Human spaceflight

The first Commercial Crew Development test missions flew this year, aiming to restore United States human spaceflight capability following Space Shuttle retirement in 2011. In an uncrewed test flight, SpaceX SpaceX Dragon 2 successfully flew on a Falcon 9 to the International Space Station on 3 March 2019; the crewed mission was delayed when the recovered capsule exploded during testing on 20 April. [9] Boeing's CST-100 Starliner launched a similar uncrewed test flight on an Atlas V on 20 December, but an anomaly during launch meant that it could not reach the ISS and had to land only 2 days later. [10]

Rocket innovation

At the beginning of the year, around 100 small satellite launchers were in active use, in development, or were recently cancelled or stalled. [11] Three Chinese manufacturers launched their first orbital rocket in 2019: The maiden flight of OS-M1 in March failed to reach orbit, [12] the maiden flights of Hyperbola-1 in July [13] and of Jielong 1 in August [14] were successful. The PSLV-DL and PSLV-QL variants of the Indian PSLV first flew in January and April respectively.

SpaceX began testing of the SpaceX Starship in 2019, with an uncrewed prototype "Starhopper" flying 150m in the air in a suborbital test flight on 27 August. [15] The heavy-lift Long March 5 made its return to flight in December, more than two years after the July 2017 launch failure that grounded the vehicle and forced an engine redesign. [16]

The "single stick" Delta IV was retired in August, [17] and the analog-controlled Soyuz-FG was retired in September. [18] Due to Ukraine banning control system exports to Russia, Rokot was retired after a final flight in December. [19]

Orbital and suborbital launches

List of orbital launches
MonthNum. of successesNum. of failures
January 71
February 51
March 81
April 70
May 81
June 60
July 111
August 120
September 60
October 50
November 120
December 150
Total1025

Deep-space rendezvous

Date (UTC)SpacecraftEventRemarks
1 January New Horizons Flyby of Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth The observed planetesimal, consisting of two spheroid pieces, was initially nicknamed Ultima Thule.
3 January [20] Chang'e 4 Landing at Von Kármán crater First landing on the far side of the Moon, coordinates 45°27′25″S177°35′20″E / 45.457°S 177.589°E / -45.457; 177.589 .
12 February Juno 18th perijove of Jupiter
21 February Hayabusa2 First sample collection from asteroid Ryugu [21]
4 April Parker Solar Probe Second perihelion
4 April Beresheet Lunar orbital insertion
5 AprilHayabusa2Release of Small Carry-On Impactor (SCI) on the surface of RyuguSCI created a crater for further investigation. A dedicated DCAM-3 camera was deployed to observe the impact.
6 AprilJuno19th perijove
11 AprilBeresheetLunar landingCrashed due to gyroscope failure [22]
29 MayJuno20th perijove
11 JulyHayabusa2Second sample collection from Ryugu
21 JulyJuno21st perijove
20 August Chandrayaan-2 Lunar orbital insertion
1 SeptemberParker Solar ProbeThird perihelion
6 SeptemberChandrayaan-2Lunar landingVikram lander crashed after it lost attitude and contact at an altitude of 2.3 km. [23]
12 SeptemberJuno22nd perijove
2 OctoberHayabusa2Deployment of ROVER-2 (MINERVA-II-2) Rover failed before deployment, it was deployed in orbit around the asteroid to perform gravitational measurements before it impacted on 8 October.
3 NovemberJuno23rd perijove
13 NovemberHayabusa2Departure from Ryugu
26 DecemberParker Solar ProbeSecond gravity assist at Venus
26 DecemberJuno24th perijove

Extravehicular activities (EVAs)

Start Date/TimeDurationEnd TimeSpacecraftCrewRemarks
22 March 12:016 hours

39 minutes

18:40 Expedition 59

ISS Quest

Flag of the United States.svg Anne McClain

Flag of the United States.svg Nick Hague

  • connected 3 new Li-ion batteries to replace 6 old Ni-H batteries on power channel 4A of the P4 truss segment. [24]
  • cleaned up debris on Unity's common berthing mechanism using Kapton tape [25]
  • secured a tieback for restraints on the solar array blanket box. [24]
29 March 11:426 hours

45 minutes

18:27 Expedition 59

ISS Quest

Flag of the United States.svg Nick Hague

Flag of the United States.svg Christina Koch

  • connected 3 new Li-ion batteries to replace 6 old Ni-H batteries on power channel 2A of the P4 truss segment.
  • disconnected cables and relocated an adapter plate to enable Canadarm2 to remove a failed Li-ion battery. [26]
8 April 11:316 hours 29 minutes18:00 Expedition 59

ISS Quest

Flag of the United States.svg Anne McClain

Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg David Saint-Jacques

  • installed jumper cables between the Unity module and the S0 truss to establish redundant power to Canadarm2.
  • installed cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex. [24]
  • relocated an adapter plate from the 22 March spacewalk in preparation for future battery upgrade operations [27]
29 May 15:426 hours 1 minute21:43 Expedition 59

ISS Pirs

Flag of Russia.svg Oleg Kononenko

Flag of Russia.svg Aleksey Ovchinin

  • removed experiments from the Pirs docking compartment and cleaned the windows.
  • installed a handrail to connect Zarya to Poisk and re-positioned the Plume Measuring Unit.
  • moved to the Zvesda Service Module and removed and jettisoned the Plasma Monitoring Units.
  • wished happy birthday to Alexei Leonov who is the first spacewalker and is celebrating his 85th birthday on 30 May. Also brought a picture of Leonov into space with them.
21 August 12:276 hours 32 minutes18:59 Expedition 60

ISS Quest

Flag of the United States.svg Nick Hague

Flag of the United States.svg Andrew R. Morgan

Hague and Morgan installed the final International Docking Adapter on the Harmony Module. The task for this spacewalk was identical to Spacewalk 194 and required work by both spacewalkers and Dextre to get the docking port installed in preparation for the Boeing CST-100 Starliner orbital flight test, which will occur by the end of December. The crew also routed cables and installed Wi-Fi routers for upcoming experiments. [28]

6 October 11:397 hours 01 minutes18:40 Expedition 61

ISS Quest

Flag of the United States.svg Christina Koch

Flag of the United States.svg Andrew R. Morgan

This spacewalk was the first of Expedition 61 and the first in a series of five to replace and improve ISS batteries on the P6 truss. [29]

11 October 11:386 hours 45 minutes18:23 Expedition 61

ISS Quest

Flag of the United States.svg Andrew R. Morgan

Flag of the United States.svg Christina Koch

This spacewalk was the second of Expedition 61 and the second in a series of five to replace and improve ISS batteries on the P6 truss. Before they went out to the hatch, Mission Control Moscow relayed to the crew that Alexei Leonov had died and that this spacewalk was dedicated to him. As the crew came in and took off their suits, each gave a few words in memory of Leonov before station commander Luca Parmitano said "Farewell Alexei, and ad astra." [30] [31]

18 October

11:38

7 hours 17 minutes18:55 Expedition 61

ISS Quest

Flag of the United States.svg Christina Koch

Flag of the United States.svg Jessica Meir

This spacewalk was the third of Expedition 61 and the third in a series of five to replace and improve ISS batteries on the P6 truss. Some of the battery swaps were delayed to EVA 222 due to a power failure in a Battery Charge Discharge Unit in slots 5 and 6 on the P6 Truss taking the 4B battery channel offline. Koch and Meir replaced the failed unit and brought it back inside. The battery swap was moved to EVA 222 to save time and Meir and Koch wrapped up the spacewalk by installing a stanchion on the Columbus Module and tightening the bolts on the S0 Truss, which had come loose. This spacewalk was the first all-female spacewalk. During the spacewalk, President Trump called the station and congratulated Koch and Meir on this milestone. [32]

15 November

11:39

6 hours 39 minutes18:18 Expedition 61

ISS Quest

Flag of Italy.svg Luca Parmitano

Flag of the United States.svg Andrew Morgan

First of a series of four spacewalks to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer which suffered a power failure last year in one of its four cooling pumps limiting the operation of the experiment. Parmitano and Morgan went outside and removed a cover plate from AMS and jettisoned it into space to make way for a cryo pump that they will assemble between spacewalks. Some of the bolts put up a fight but Parmitano got them all out. The highlight of the spacewalk is when Andrew Morgan threw the cover plate overboard and it drifted off aft of the station into the vacuum of space. The plate will stay in orbit for a few days until the end of December when it enters the atmosphere and burns up. The crew also removed several carbon fiber strips around fluid lines and installed handrails and grapple bars as get-ahead task. This spacewalk marks Parmitano's return to spacewalking after the Water in the Helmet Incident during EVA 171. [33]

22 November

12:02

6 hours 33 minutes16:35 Expedition 61

ISS Quest

Flag of Italy.svg Luca Parmitano

Flag of the United States.svg Andrew Morgan

The second in a series of four spacewalks to repair the AMS. Parmitano and Morgan cut fluid lines and installed a vent on the AMS Experiment to prep the old cooling pump for removal on the third spacewalk. Parmitano and Morgan also routed cables and installed a new power supply to power the pumps when they are installed on the third spacewalk. [34]

2 December

11:31

6 hours 2 minutes17:33 Expedition 61

ISS Quest

Flag of Italy.svg Luca Parmitano

Flag of the United States.svg Andrew Morgan

The third in a series of four spacewalks to repair the AMS. Parmitano and Morgan went out on the third spacewalk and installed the cryo pump and routed fluid and electrical lines to power the pump. Flight controllers in Houston, Huntsville, and at CERN activated the experiment and radioed to the crew that AMS passed with flying colors. The crew finished the spacewalk by doing a get-ahead task by covering AMS with thermal blanket. [35]

Space debris events

Date/Time (UTC)Source objectEvent typePieces trackedRemarks
27 March Flag of India.svg Microsat-R (suspected)
and kinetic kill vehicle
2019 Indian anti-satellite missile test 121 [36] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a successful test of an anti-satellite weapon. The test was believed to have destroyed the Microsat-R satellite launched in January. [37] [38]
Early April Flag of the United States.svg A Centaur 3 upper stage
(previously International Designator 2018-079B)
Unknown [39] 54 [40] The upper stage of the Centaur 3 that carried AEHF −4 in high Earth orbit on 17 October 2018 broke up for unknown reasons. [41]
7 May Flag of the United States.svg Titan IIIC Transtage rocket body [42] Titan IIIC Transtage rocket body? [note 1] Energetic fragmentation event by caused the overheating of leftover anhydrous hydrazine(N2H4) Mono Propellant
13 August Flag of France.svg Ariane 42P third stage rocket bodyUnknown7
19 August Flag of Russia.svg SOZ (Sistema Obespecheniya Zapuska) ullage motorProton Block DM fourth stage ? [note 2] Energetic fragmentation event; caused by left over fuel in the ullage motor.
  1. No fragments have entered the SSN catalog as 2/4/20
  2. Due to difficulties in tracking objects in deep space elliptical orbits it is unknown how many fragments were generated

Orbital launch statistics

By country

For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. For example, Soyuz launches by Arianespace in Kourou are counted under Russia because Soyuz-2 is a Russian rocket.

CountryLaunchesSuccessesFailuresPartial
failures
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 343220
Flag of France.svg  France 4400
Flag of India.svg  India 6600
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran 2 [b] 020
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2110
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2200
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 25 [c] 2500
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 27 [d] 2700
World1029750

By rocket

5
10
15
20
25
30
R-7
UR

By family

By type

By configuration

By spaceport

8
16
24
32
40
China
France
India
Iran
Japan
Kazakhstan
New Zealand
SiteCountryLaunchesSuccessesFailuresPartial failuresRemarks
Baikonur Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan 131300
Cape Canaveral Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 131300Includes the 11 October Pegasus XL launch whose carrier aircraft took flight from Cape Canaveral
Jiuquan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 9810
Kennedy Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 3300
Kourou Flag of France.svg  France 9810
Mahia Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 6600
MARS Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 2200
Plesetsk Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 8800
Satish Dhawan Flag of India.svg  India 6600
Semnan Flag of Iran.svg  Iran 2020Additionally, one rocket exploded on the launch pad during a ground test.
Taiyuan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 10910
Tanegashima Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1100
Uchinoura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1100
Vandenberg Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 3300
Vostochny Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1100
Wenchang Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 1100
Xichang Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 131300
Yellow Sea Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 1100
Total1029750

By orbit

10
20
30
40
50
60
70
  •   Low Earth
  •   Low Earth (ISS)
  •   Low Earth (SSO)
  •   Medium Earth
  •   Molniya
  •   Geosychronous (transfer)
  •   Inclined GSO
  •   High Earth
  •   Heliocentric
Orbital regimeLaunchesAchievedNot achievedAccidentally
achieved
Remarks
Transatmospheric0000
Low Earth / Sun-synchronous 666150
Medium Earth 9900
Geosynchronous / GTO 242400Includes two inclined GSO orbits (IGSO)
High Earth / Lunar transfer 2200
Heliocentric / Planetary transfer 1100
Total1029750

Notes

  1. Clockwise from top:
  2. Additionally, one rocket exploded on the launch pad during a ground test.
  3. Includes three European Soyuz launches from Kourou, French Guiana by Arianespace.
  4. Includes six Electron launches from Mahia.

References

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  2. Lidman, Melanie (11 April 2019). "Israel's Beresheet spacecraft crashes into the moon during landing attempt". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  3. Ramesh, Sandhya (12 June 2019). "Why Chandrayaan-2 is ISRO's 'most complex mission' so far". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
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  7. Northon, Karen (13 February 2019). "NASA's Record-Setting Opportunity Rover Mission on Mars Comes to End". NASA (Press release). Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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  31. Malik, Tariq (11 October 2019). "Astronauts Mourn Alexei Leonov, the World's 1st Spacewalker, While On a Spacewalk of Their Own". Space.com . Retrieved 23 November 2019.
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  36. T.S. Kelso [@TSKelso] (22 August 2019). "CelesTrak also has 3 more TLEs for debris from the Indian ASAT test (MICROSAT-R DEB). That brings the total, so far, to 121 pieces (including the original), of which only 65 have decayed —148 days after the event: https://t.co/yHuEC6Ac6l https://t.co/1S52MRjXtk" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2023 via Twitter.
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Generic references:
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