Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-51D to deploy two communications satellites.
📜 SPACE🌍 UNITED STATES
Space Shuttle orbiter (1984–2011)
Space Exploration History
🌍 World (3)
The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission.
📜 SPACE🌍 GLOBAL
Partially reusable launch system and space plane
Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first crewed orbital flight
📜 SPACE🌍 UNITED STATES
US–USSR spaceflight capability rivalry