Unable to reach orbital velocity, the Vostok prototype separated while the third stage was still firing. While the ejection seat failed to operate, the capsule did make a hard landing in severe winter conditons in Siberia. It was recovered after some time, and the dogs Kometa and Shutka were alive. As a result of this flight the ejection seat was developed with a heat shield designed to protect the pilot in the event of a launch vehicle failure up to shut down of the first stage. Additional Details: here....

First generation photo surveillance; return of camera and film by capsule; SAMOS type satellite. Reached orbit but failed to deorbit and be recovered. In his memoirs Sergei Khrushchev recounts recovery of what he believed to be a recoverable Samos, except the date given is the winter before tests of this configuration actually started. He relates that a second American capsule was recovered in the spring of 1961. It was equipped with a 30 cm lens and 100's of metres of 10 cm wide film. Also recovered were a pear-shaped module made of fibreglass, and an inertial orientation system powered by electric motors. It may have been a SAMOS prototype. The capsule was found by tractor drivers, who disassembled it and used the film to wrap around the frame of their outhouse to provide some privacy in the treeless area. Unfortunately this ruined the film, preventing the Russians from developing it and discovering the technical capabilities of the system.

United Technology Center (UTC) successfully fired its 120-inch diameter, one million-pound thrust, solid-propellant rocket motor at Edwards AFB. This was the fourth static test firing of the motor within two months, and it completed the development phase of the Titan III solid-rocket motor (SRM) program.

Headquarters USAF directed that the Titan I ICBMs be retired from the operational inventory by 30 June 1965. There were then six Titan I Strategic Missile Squadrons of nine missile launchers each. Headquarters USAF directed that the Titan I ICBMs be retired from the operational inventory by 30 June 1965. There were then six Titan I Strategic Missile Squadrons of nine missile launchers each.

In this test, an additional wire neutralizer was incorporated and was immersed in the ion beam to provide a higher probability of adequate neutralization. The contact ion engine only achieved about 20% of full-thrust before reentry into the atmosphere. The short test time was due to a very short burn of the Scout vehicle's third stage. The high voltage was applied to the engine 7 minutes into the flight when the altitude was 490 km. Engine operation ended after 4 minutes when the altitude was only 80 km.

The two have a difficult discussion over crewing for Voskhod 3. Korolev has found that Katys has been taken out of training for the mission. He does not agree with Kamanin's all-military pilot crew of Volynov and Gorbatko. Kamanin is tired of Korolev's caprices and his endless fighting with Glushko, Pilyugin, Voronin, Kosberg, and other chief designers. Korolev has had it with the military excluding civilians and civilian objectives from manned space.

The first fire-in-the-hole test was successfully completed at the White Sands Test Facility (WSTF). The vehicle test configuration was that of LM-2 and the test cell pressure immediately before the test was equivalent to a 68,850-meter altitude. All test objectives were satisfied and video tapes of TV monitors were acquired. Test firing duration was 650 milliseconds with zero stage separation.

Apollo 8 has been launched. Kamanin recalls that he first saw a model of the Saturn V during his visit to Washington DC with Titov in 1962. At that time the Soviet Union planned to fly the N1 in four years, but the only manned spacecraft on the drawing boards after Voskhod was the Sever. Khrushchev didn't give a go-ahead for the lunar program until 1964. In the gap between Voskhod and Soyuz flights, when the American Gemini program seized the lead, the USSR could have achieved a record by flying Volynov for 18 days in Voskhod 3. But this was cancelled at the last minute by the leadership because the Voskhod had 'no development potential'. Ustinov, Smirnov, Pashkov were responsible for this decision, which put the USSR permanently behind in the space race.

Celesco Industries was issued a letter contract to activate an Athena launch complex on Wake Island and to launch 11 Athena H missiles in support of the HAVE MILL program. This program was managed by SAMSO's Deputy for Reentry Systems (RS) for the Army's Safeguard Systems Command (SAFSCOM).

Investigation of the corpuscular and electromagnetic radiation of the sun and of solar plasma fluxes, study of the magnetic fields in circumterrestrial space in order to determine the effects of solar activity on the interplanetary medium and in the magne tosphere of the earth.

Statsionar-1. Provision of uninterrupted round-the-clock telephone and telegraph radio-communications system in the USSR, transmission of USSR central television programmes to stations in the Orbita network and international cooperation. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean at 85 deg E in 1975-1978? As of 27 August 2001 located at 70.55 deg E drifting at 0.084 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 85.79E drifting at 0.009E degrees per day.

Reserve Phase 2 DSP ballistic missile launch detection satellite fitted with Block 14 sensors, remained in service for nearly eighteen years. Observed Scud launches during Gulf War. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 155 deg W in 1985-1988; 65 deg E in 1988-1991; 145 deg E in 1991-1992; 105 deg E in 1992-1993; 5 deg E in 1993-1994.

Operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio communications system in the USSR; transmission of USSR Central Television programmes to stations in the Orbita network and within the framework of international cooperation. First launch from LC43/3 since it was damaged by a booster accident in June 1987.

The Ariane third stage placed the PAS 6B into a 228 km x 35717 km x 7.0 degree orbit. The satellite's on board rocket system will move it into its final geostationary position over South America. PAS 6B will provide direct TV broadcasting service in replacement of PAS 6, a Loral satellite which had problems with its solar arrays. The new satellite had 32 Ku-band transponders. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 43 deg W in 1999. As of 3 September 2001 located at 43.17 deg W drifting at 0.020 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 43.11W drifting at 0.015W degrees per day.

Communications satellite. Third Ariane launch within three weeks. First Hughes HS 702 bus satellite, for PanAmSat Corporation to expand video and telecommunications services to North America and Brazil. The 20-watt C-band transponders will be used primarily for cable television customers. The Ku-band payload offers two power levels: 140 watts for video distribution, and 75 watts for data networks and other general communications services. This gives Galaxy 11 a total payload of 64 active transponders. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 99 deg W in 2000. As of 4 September 2001 located at 91.01 deg W drifting at 0.010 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 91.01W drifting at 0.008W degrees per day.

The sixteen-year old missile was launched from an operational ICBM base and its dummy warheads impacted in the test range on the Kamchatka Peninsula after a 6,000 kilometer flight. The test was touted as a demonstration of use of the surplus ICBM's, launched directly from their silos, for launch of commerical orbital payloads, in lieu of more expensive decommissioning. Others saw it as the beginning of the development of Dombarovskiy into a new spaceport, on Russian soil, in replacement of Baikonur.

SpaceX launched their first Falcon 9 since the CRS-7 failure. Core F9-021 was also the first 'full thrust' Falcon 9 with improved performance. The primary payload was a cluster of Orbcomm OG2 comm satellites. The 11 OG2s and one non-separating mass simulator were mounted on the circumference of a dispenser consisting of three ESPA rings attached to the second stage. After the satellites were deployed, the second stage was deorbited. The first stage shut down at an altitude of around 80 km and a velocity of 1.65 km/s (Earth-relative), just before stages 1 and 2 separated. The stage reached an apogee of around 200 km before beginning a boostback burn to kill its eastward velocity and send it back towards Florida. Following a third reentry burn the stage landed back at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 1 (former pad 13). The fully controlled vertical landing came at 0139 UTC Dec 22.