1970 Rocket Launch Recap

Our roundup of all the launches that happened in 1970, along with key stats, trends and info. You can learn more about our data, and how we present it here.

Include notable suborbital launches

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124

Total Launches

113

Successful Launches

Failed Launches

91.13%

Success Rate

Humans launched to space

Notable 1970 Achievements

🌕 First robotic rover on another celestial body (the Moon)

🪐 First soft landing on another planet (Venus)

🪐 First signal received from another planet's surface (Venus)

How 1970 Compares to Previous Years

There were 113 successful launch attempts in 1970 and 11 failed launch attempts. These figures include test/development launches, which are more prone to failure.

Rocket Launches by Year

By RocketLaunch.org

Launches by Nation in 1970

In 1970, companies and agencies from 5 Nations attempted launches, including Russia (87 launches), the United States (30 launches) and Europe (3 launches).

Total Rocket Launches by Nation in 1970

By RocketLaunch.org

Launches by Launch Service Providers in 1970

8 Launch Service Providers completed launches in 1970, including Soviet Space Program (87 launches), United States Air Force (27 launches) and NASA (3 launches).

Top Space Launch Service Providers in 1970 by total launch count

By RocketLaunch.org

Launches by Launch Vehicle in 1970

29 different Launch Vehicles launched off in 1970. The top 3 were the Voskhod (30 launches), Kosmos 11K63 (20 launches) and Kosmos-3M (11K65M) (12 launches) launch vehicles.

Top 10 Launch Vehicles in 1970 by total launch count

By RocketLaunch.org

Launches by Launch Sites in 1970

Rockets launched from 12 Launch Sites in 1970. The most active launch sites were Plesetsk Cosmodrome (53 launches), Baikonur Cosmodrome (29 launches) and Vandenberg SFB (17 launches).

Top 10 Launch Sites in 1970

By RocketLaunch.org

Astronauts Launched by Nationality in 1970

In 1970, 5 humans from 2 nations were launched into space. These nations were the United States (3 astronauts) and Russia (2 astronauts).

Astronauts Launched by Nationality in 1970

By RocketLaunch.org

Where we launched to in 1970

We launched off to 4 different locations beyond earth in 1970 (including flybys). Most launches were to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) (109 launches), Geostationary Orbit (GEO) (8 launches) and The Moon (4 launches).