1991 in spaceflight

For launches in the first half of the year, see 1991 in spaceflight (January–June), for launches in the second half, see 1991 in spaceflight (July–December).

This was the final year of the Soviet Union, and thus the end of the Cold War competition between the two space superpowers. The launch rate declined drastically from the initial three decades of the Space Age to the modern average of about eighty orbital launches per year worldwide.

1991 in spaceflight
Orbital launches
The crew of STS-37 deploys the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.
First	8 January
Last	28 December
Total	91
Successes	86
Failures	3
Partial failures	2
National firsts
Space traveller	Austria United Kingdom
Rockets
Maiden flights	Ariane 4 44P Atlas II
Retirements	Vostok-2M
Manned flights
Orbital	8
Total travellers	36

Deep Space Rendezvous in 1991

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
29 October	Galileo	First flyby of asteroid - 951 Gaspra	Closest approach: 1,600 kilometres (990 mi)

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
7 January 17:03	5 hours 18 minutes	22:21	Mir EO-8	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov	Successfully repaired the damaged hatch on the Kvant-2 airlock and also positioned equipment for installation in a later EVA.
23 January 10:59	5 hours 33 minutes	16:32	Mir EO-8 Kvant-2	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov	Installed the new Stela boom on the base block.
26 January 09:00	6 hours 20 minutes	15:20	Mir EO-8 Kvant-2	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov	Installed supports on Kvant-1 to hold the solar arrays installed on Kristall.
7 April	4 hours 26 minutes		STS-37 Atlantis	Jerry L. Ross Jerome Apt	When the boom antenna on the GRO satellite would not extend, Ross and Apt exited the shuttle on an unplanned EVA to extend the boom to prepare for final release into orbit.^[1]
8 April	5 hours 47 minutes		STS-37 Atlantis	Jerry L. Ross Jerome Apt	Installed and tested several monorail-type mobility tools for future space station construction.^[1]
25 April 20:29	3 hours 34 minutes	26 April 00:03	Mir EO-8 Kvant-2	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov	Inspected and filmed the Kurs antenna on Kvant-1, finding that one of the antenna dishes was missing and then re-installed the camera on Kvant-2 that was removed and repaired.
24 June 21:11	4 hours 58 minutes	25 June 02:09	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Replaced the damaged Kurs antenna on Kvant-1 and performed assembly tests on an experimental structural joint.
28 June 19:02	3 hours 24 minutes	22:26	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Attached TREK, a type of cosmic ray detector developed at the University of California, to the outside of Mir.^[2]
15 July 11:45	5 hours 56 minutes	17:41	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Moved ladders and the base platform parts for the Sofora girder using the Strela boom from the airlock at Kvant-2 and installed them on Kvant-1.
19 July 11:10	5 hours 28 minutes	16:38	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Started construction of the Sofora girder by installing three of 20 structural pieces.
23 July 09:15	5 hours 42 minutes	14:57	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Continued the construction of the Sofora girder by installing eleven more of the 20 girder pieces.
27 July 08:44	6 hours 49 minutes	15:33	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Completed assembly of the Sofora girder and mounted a small Russian flag on top of the structure. Artsebarsky had trouble with fogging on his visor, due to overexertion, but Krikalyov was able to lead him back to the airlock.

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

1 2 "Space Shuttle Flight 39 (STS-37)". Space Shuttle Video Library. National Space Society. 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
↑ Price, P. B.; Lowder, D. M.; Westphal, A. J.; Wilkes, R. D.; Brennen, R. A.; Afanasyev, V. G.; Akimov, V. V.; Rodin, V. G.; Baryshnikov, G. K.; Gorshkov, L. A.; Shvets, N. I.; Tsigankov, O. S. (1992). "TREK: A cosmic-ray experiment on the Russian space station MIR". Astrophysics and Space Science. 197: 121. doi:10.1007/BF00645077.

Timeline of spaceflight
1940s					1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
1950s	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
1960s	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
1970s	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
1980s	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
1990s	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
2000s	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
2010s	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019

← 1990 · Orbital launches in 1991 · 1992 →

NATO 4A \| Progress M-6 \| Italsat 1 · Eutelsat-2 F2 \| Kosmos 2121 \| Kosmos 2122 \| Informator No.1 \| Kosmos 2123 \| Kosmos 2124 \| Kosmos 2125 · Kosmos 2126 · Kosmos 2127 · Kosmos 2128 · Kosmos 2129 · Kosmos 2130 · Kosmos 2131 · Kosmos 2132 \| Kosmos 2133 \| Kosmos 2134 \| Molniya 1-80 \| Kosmos 2135 \| Gran' No.38L \| Astra 1B · Meteosat 5 \| Kosmos 2136 \| USA-69 \| Inmarsat-2 F2 \| Nadezhda No.409 \| Progress M-7 \| Kosmos 2137 \| Molniya-3 No.55 \| Kosmos 2138 \| Almaz 1 \| Kosmos 2139 · Kosmos 2140 · Kosmos 2141 \| Anik E2 \| STS-37 (Compton GRO) \| ASC-2 \| Kosmos 2142 \| BS-3h \| Meteor-3 No.6 \| STS-39 (IBSS/SPAS (CRO-A · CRO-B · CRO-C) · USA-70) \| NOAA-12 \| Kosmos 2143 · Kosmos 2144 · Kosmos 2145 · Kosmos 2146 · Kosmos 2147 · Kosmos 2148 \| Soyuz TM-12 \| Resurs-F2 No.6 \| Kosmos 2149 \| Satcom C5 \| Progress M-8 \| Okean-O1 No.6 \| STS-40 \| Kosmos 2150 \| Kosmos 2151 \| Molniya 1-81 \| Unnamed \| Resurs-F1 No.52 \| REX \| Gorizont No.34L \| USA-71 · Losat-X \| Kosmos 2152 \| Kosmos 2153 \| ERS-1 · Orbcomm-X · SARA · Tubsat-A · UoSAT-5 \| Microsat 1 · Microsat 2 · Microsat 3 · Microsat 4 · Microsat 5 · Microsat 6 · Microsat 7 \| Resurs-F1 No.53 \| Molniya 1-82 \| STS-43 (TDRS-5) \| Intelsat VI F5 \| Meteor-3 No.5 \| Progress M-9 \| Resurs-F2 No.7 \| Kosmos 2154 \| Yuri 3b \| IRS-1B \| Yohkoh \| Unnamed \| STS-48 (UARS) \| Kosmos 2155 \| Molniya-3 No.48 \| Kosmos 2156 \| Anik E1 \| Kosmos 2157 · Kosmos 2158 · Kosmos 2159 · Kosmos 2160 · Kosmos 2161 · Kosmos 2162 \| Soyuz TM-13 \| Foton No.7L \| Kosmos 2163 \| Kosmos 2164 \| Progress M-10 \| Gorizont No.35L \| Intelsat VI F1 \| USA-72 · USA-74 · USA-76 · USA-77 \| Kosmos 2165 · Kosmos 2166 · Kosmos 2167 · Kosmos 2168 · Kosmos 2169 · Kosmos 2170 \| Kosmos 2171 \| Kosmos 2172 \| STS-44 (USA-75) \| Kosmos 2173 \| USA-73 \| Eutelsat-2 F3 \| Telecom 2A · Inmarsat-2 F3 \| Kosmos 2174 \| Interkosmos 25 · Magion 3 \| Gran' No.39L \| Zhongxing-4

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( \| ). Manned flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in brackets.

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