2003 in spaceflight
This article outlines notable events occurring in 2003 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs.
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
On Saturday, February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the atmosphere over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven astronauts on board. It was the second Space Shuttle mission to end in disaster, after the loss of Challenger and crew in 1986.
Final Columbia mission
Columbia at approximately 13:57 UTC on 1 February. Debris is starting to come off from the left wing.
First human spaceflight mission from China
Shenzhou 5 (Chinese: 神舟五号; pinyin: Shénzhōu Wǔ Hào, see § Etymology) was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights of uncrewed Shenzhou missions since 1999. China became the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight capability after the Soviet Union (later, Russia) and the United States. As of May 2025, this mission marks the last time an astronaut was launched alone to conduct an entirely solo orbital mission.
Orbital launches
Suborbital launches
Deep Space Rendezvous
EVAs
Orbital launch statistics
By country
For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport.
By rocket
By family
By type
By configuration
By spaceport
5
10
15
20
25
30
Brazil
China
France
India
International waters
Japan
Kazakhstan
Russia
United States
By orbit
- Transatmospheric
- Low Earth
- Low Earth (ISS)
- Low Earth (SSO)
- Low Earth (retrograde)
- Medium Earth
- Geosychronous
(transfer) - Inclined GSO
- High Earth
- Heliocentric
