1971 in spaceflight

1971 in spaceflight

Salyut 1, the first space station and Soyuz 11, the first mission to successfully dock with it, were launched in 1971. The crew were killed during reentry when their spacecraft depressurised
Orbital launches
First	12 January
Last	29 December
Total	133
Successes	118
Failures	15
Catalogued	120
National firsts
Orbital launch	United Kingdom
Rockets
Maiden flights	Soyuz-M Delta M6 Thor LV-2F Burner IIA Titan III(24)B Titan III(33)B Titan IIID
Retirements	Black Arrow Delta E1 Delta M Delta M6 Delta N6 Europa Long March 1 R-36OM Soyuz-L Thor LV-2F Burner II Thorad SLV-2G Agena-D Titan III(23)B
Manned flights
Orbital	4
Total travellers	12

1971 saw the last three known deaths of cosmonauts of the Soviet space program and the only deaths in space. Their mission was to man humanity's first space station. The experimental bay door failed to separate so the first crew failed to dock and second crew were killed on re-entry. 1971 also saw the launch of the first and only British satellite on top of a British rocket after that success the program was cancelled.