1972 in spaceflight

1972 saw the final flight of the Saturn V rocket and humanity's last moonshot of the 20th century.

Launches

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1972.

Launch Date/Time	Rocket	Launch Site	Launch Contractor	Payload	Operator	Orbit	Mission/ Function	Re-Entry/ Destruction	Outcome	Remarks
January 23 00:12 GMT	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur	LC-36B, Cape Canaveral		Intelsat 4 F-4	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Comsat	Still in orbit	Successful
January 31 17:20 GMT	Thor Delta L	SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB		HEOS 2	ESRO	High eccentricity LEO/HEO	Particle and field research	August 2, 1974	Successful	Final flight of Thor Delta L
February 14 03:27 GMT	Proton 8K82K	LC-81, Baikonur	RVSN	Luna 20	RVSN	Lunar	Lunar sample return	February 21, 1972 (at Moon)	Successful
February 22	Luna 20 ascent stage	Luna 20 Apollonius highlands The Moon	RVSN	Luna 20	RVSN	Lunar	Lunar sample return	February 25, 1972 (Earth)	Successful
March 3 01:49 GMT	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur	LC-36A, Cape Canaveral		Pioneer 10	NASA	Heliocentric to Solar Escape	Jupiter flyby	N/A	Successful	First spacecraft to cross asteroid belt First flyby of Jupiter First probe to leave Solar System
March 12 01:55 GMT	Thor Delta N	SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB		TD-1A	ESRO	LEO	Technology research	January 9, 1980	Successful	Final flight of Thor Delta N
March 24 08:46 GMT	Thor Burner II	SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	DMSP 5B F2	US Air Force	LEO	Weather satellite	Still in orbit	Successful
April 16 17:45 GMT	Saturn V	LC-39A, Kennedy	NASA	Apollo 16 CSM "Casper" 3 astronauts	NASA	Lunar	Manned Lunar orbiter	April 27, 1972	Successful	Penultimate Moonshot
				Apollo 16 Lunar Module "Orion"	NASA	Lunar	Manned Lunar landing	April 20, 1972 14:23 GMT (at Moon)	Successful
				Apollo 16 Subsatellite	NASA	Lunar	Study lunar particles	May 29, 1972 (at Moon)	Partial Failure	Deployed on April 24 Placed in wrong orbit, shorter lifespan than planned
April 19 21:43 GMT	Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H	SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	KH-4B 1116	US Air Force	LEO	Surveillance satellite	May 12, 1972
April 23 23:26 GMT	Apollo 16 Lunar Module "Orion" ascent stage	Apollo 16 Lunar Module "Orion" descent stage Descartes The Moon	NASA	Apollo 16, 2 astronauts	NASA	Lunar	Return Apollo 16 astronauts to CSM in orbit.	Unknown	Successful
May 25 18:41 GMT	Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H	SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	KH-4B 1117	US Air Force	LEO	Surveillance satellite	June 4, 1972	Successful	Final flight of Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H
June 13 21:53 GMT	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur	LC-36B, Cape Canaveral		Intelsat 4 F-5	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Comsat	Still in orbit	Successful
June 26 14:53 GMT	R-7 11A511 (Soyuz/A-2)	LC-1/5, Baikonur	RVSN	Kosmos 496 (Soyuz 7K-T)	RVSN	LEO	Test redesigned Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft	July 2, 1972	Successful
July 23 18:41 GMT	Delta 0100 (0900)	SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB		Landsat 1	NASA	LEO	Earth resources satellite	Still in orbit	Successful	Maiden flight of Delta 0100
August 21 10:28 GMT	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur	LC-36B, Cape Canaveral		OAO 3	NASA	LEO	Ultraviolet astronomy	Still in orbit	Successful	Final flight of Atlas SLV-3C Centaur
September 23 01:20 GMT	Delta 1000 (1604)	LC-17B, Cape Canaveral		Explorer 47	NASA	HEO	Magnetosphere research satellite	Still in orbit	Successful	Maiden flight of Delta 1000 Maiden flight of Extended Long-Tank Thor
October 2 20:09 GMT	Atlas F	BMRS-A1, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	OPS 8180 (RADCAT)	US Air Force	LEO	Technology research	2 August 2012	Successful
				Radsat	US Air Force	LEO	Technology research	Still in orbit	Successful
October 15 17:19 GMT	Delta 0100 (0300)	SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB		NOAA 2 (ITOS-B)	NOAA	LEO	Weather satellite	Still in orbit	Successful
				Amsat-Oscar 6	Amsat	LEO	Amateur comsat	Still in orbit	Successful
November 9 03:23 GMT	Thor Burner II	SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	DMSP 5B F3	US Air Force	LEO	Weather satellite	Still in orbit	Successful
November 10 01:14 GMT	Delta 1000 (1914)	LC-17B, Cape Canaveral		Anik A1	Telesat	Geosynchronous	Comsat	Still in orbit	Successful
December 7 05:33 GMT	Saturn V	LC-39A, Kennedy	NASA	Apollo 17 CSM "America" 3 astronauts	NASA	Lunar	Manned Lunar orbiter	December 19, 1971	Successful	Final Moonshot Final flight of Saturn V
				Apollo 17 Lunar Module "Challenger"	NASA	Lunar	Manned Lunar landing	December 14, 1971 GMT (at Moon)	Successful
December 11 07:56 GMT	Delta 0100 (0900)	SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB		Nimbus 5	NASA	LEO	Environmental research satellite	Still in orbit	Successful
December 14 22:55 GMT	Apollo 17 Lunar Module "Challenger" ascent stage	Apollo 17 Lunar Module "Challenger" descent stage Taurus-Littrow The Moon	NASA	Apollo 17, 2 astronauts	NASA	Lunar	Return Apollo 17 astronauts to CSM in orbit.	December 15, 1972	Successful
December 16	Scout	Western Space and Missile Center at Vandenberg AFB	NASA	Aeros 1	NASA				Successful
December 20 22:20 GMT	Atlas-Agena SLV-3A	LC-13, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	OPS 9390 Canyon 5	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Military Comsat	Still in orbit	Successful

Deep Space Rendez-vous in 1972

• February 21 — Luna 20, 55g from Appollonius Crater (sample return mission)
• April 21 — Apollo 16, 95 kg from Descartes Highland (sample return mission)
• July 22 — Venera 8 atmospheric probe worked for 50 min on the Venerian surface
• December 11 — Apollo 17, 111 kg from Taurus-Littrow (sample return mission)

References

Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches". Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report". Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive". Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica". Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive". "NASASpaceFlight.com". "Spaceflight Now". "Space Information Center". JAXA. "Space Calendar". NASA JPL. "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101. "Launch Forecast". Space.com. Clark, Stephen. "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. "U.S. Space Objects Registry". "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. Cosmoworld.ru (in Russian).

Generic references:

Footnotes