The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.
The earliest event was in 1966, the latest event was in 2015
Three milestone events (5 to 65+ years ago)
Human Spaceflight:
NONE
Military and Classified Programs:
1974 – LAUNCH: NTS-1, GD Atlas F/PTS, SLC3W, VAFB – early navigation satellite (precursor to GPS)
1983 – LAUNCH: NAVSTAR 8, GD Atlas E/SGS-2, SLC3W, VAFB
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1967 – LAUNCH: Surveyor 4, GD Atlas D/Centaur, LC37B, CCAFS
2015 – New Horizons flies by dwarf planet Pluto (launched by LM Atlas vehicle in 2006) – MILESTONE: 10 years ago
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
1966 – LAUNCH (Partial failure): OV1-7, -8, GD Atlas D, 576-B3, VAFB
Commercial Programs:
2000 – LAUNCH: Echostar 6, LM Atlas IIAS, LC36B, CCAFS – MILESTONE: 25 years ago
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1977 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A3, UK S22, ETR
1979 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Trident C4, SSBN547, ETR
1980 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN634, ETR – MILESTONE: 45 years ago
1993- LAUNCH: MM Peacekeeper, LF05, VAFB
Other:
NONE
The photo today is a first image of dwarf planet Pluto in 2015 by the New Horizons spacecraft, which was launched on an LM Atlas vehicle in 2006. New Horizons is still active as of 7/14/2025, doing outer solar system exploration. Photo Credit: NASA/JHUAPL (Johns-Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory).
