The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1962, the latest event was in 2024
Seven milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
1977 – ALT-9, Captive/Active Flight #1A, Enterprise Shuttle/Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Dryden Research Center, Edwards AFB – Crew: Fred Haise, Gordon Fullerton. 14,000 feet. Approach and Landing Test Program.
1983 – LAUNCH: STS-7 (Challenger), LC39A, KSC – 5 person crew, deployed Palapa B1, Anik C2, other experiments. Crew: Robert Crippen, Frederick Hauck, John Fabian, Sally Ride, Norman Thagard. First US woman in space.
Military and Classified Programs:
1962 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, Thor/Lockheed Agena B, SLC1E, VAFB
1964 – LAUNCH: DMSP-1, Thor SLV-2A/Lockheed Agena D, SLC1W, VAFB – MILESTONE: 60 years ago
1965 – LAUNCH: Test mission, MM Titan IIIC/Transtage, LC40, CCAFS – First launch of a MM Titan IIIC to demonstrate the capabilities – MILESTONE: 60 years ago
1975 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, GD Atlas SLV-3A/Lockheed Agena D, LC13, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 50 years ago
1980 – LAUNCH: Classified mission, MM Titan IIID, SLC4E, VAFB – MILESTONE: 45 years ago
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
2009 – LAUNCH: LRO, LCROSS, ULA Atlas V 401, LC41, CCAFS – Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Crater Observation & Sensing Satellite (impact probe) – LRO still in operation
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
2024 – Lockheed Martin selected by NASA to develop and build the nation’s next generation weather satellite constellation, Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The baseline contract is for three spacecraft with options for four additional spacecraft. The total estimated value of the contract including options is $2.27 billion.
Commercial Programs:
1998 – LAUNCH: LM Intelsat 805, LM Atlas IIAS, LC36A, CCAFS
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1964 – LAUNCH: GD Atlas D, 576-A1, VAFB
1968 – LAUNCH FAILURE: Lockheed Polaris A2E, SSBN610, ETR
1970 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, UK S27, ETR – MILESTONE: 55 years ago
1975 – LAUNCH (5): Lockheed Polaris A3, SSBN602, ETR – MILESTONE: 50 years ago
1983 – LAUNCH: MM Peacekeeper, TP-01, VAFB
1985 – LAUNCH (4): Lockheed Trident I C4, SSBN633, ETR – MILESTONE: 40 years ago
1993 – LAUNCH (4): Lockheed Trident II D5, SSBN736, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photos today are of three events:
The first photo is the first Titan IIIC/Transtage on the pad just before the first launch (a demonstration launch) in 1965. Photo found in the archives for the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum; released for public use.
In 1983, STS-7 was launched. The mission deployed two spacecraft and included the first space flight by an American woman (Sally Ride). Photos include the launch, the crew and Challenger in orbit photographed by the SPAS-1 Pallet payload. Photo Credits: NASA.
In 2009, Atlas V 401 launched the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) and LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation & Sensing Satellite) missions to the moon. The photos include that launch and an image of the descent stage for Apollo 17 on the surface of the moon taken by LRO. LRO is still in operation as of 6/18/2025. Photo Credits: NASA/Tom Farrar, Kevin O’Connell (launch photo) – released to public domain. LRO photo credit NASA.
