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STS-41-B (Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099) launch | Vance D. Brand | T-Minus Zero

Launch detail

Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-41-B

Name: Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-41-B
Start: 1984-02-03
Location: Launch Complex 39A

Lockheed Space Operations Company • Space Shuttle • Launch Complex 39A (FL)

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STS-41-B

Lockheed Space Operations Company • Space Shuttle • LC-39A

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Mission summary

STS-41-B was the tenth Space Shuttle mission and the fourth of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It deployed 2 communication satellites and inluded the first untethered spacewalk. It was also the first shuttle mission to land at Kennedy Space Center.

Status: Success
Provider: Lockheed Space Operations Company
Vehicle: Space Shuttle
Launch site: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Mission type: Communications
Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
Payloads: Space Shuttle Challenger

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Vehicle details

Stages & recovery

Launch-stage and landing context surfaced from LL2 when it exists.

Presence based

Spacecraft stage

Space Shuttle Challenger

Spaceplane

Low Earth Orbit

Space Shuttle Challenger (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-099) was the second orbiter of NASA's space shuttle program to be put into service, after Columbia. Challenger was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division, in Downey, California. Its maiden flight, STS-6, began on April 4, 1983. The orbiter was launched and landed nine times before breaking apart 73 seconds into its tenth mission, STS-51-L, on January 28, 1986, resulting in the death of all seven crew members, including a civilian school teacher. It was the first of two shuttles to be destroyed in flight, the other being Columbia, in 2003. The accident led to a two-and-a-half-year grounding of the shuttle fleet; flights resumed in 1988, with STS-26 flown by Discovery. Challenger was replaced by Endeavour, which was built from structural spares ordered by NASA in the construction contracts for Discovery and Atlantis.

Successful landing • @ Shuttle Landing Facility

LL2 spacecraft flight

Recovery

Spacecraft recovery

Horizontal Landing • Shuttle Landing Facility

Successful landing • LL2

LL2

Type: Horizontal Landing

Location: Shuttle Landing Facility • Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Coords: 28.615, -80.695

Space Shuttle Challenger successfully landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility after this mission.

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Photos

Mission, booster & pad imagery

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Mission patches

STS-41-B Patch

This mission

Photos: NASA

Payload

Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs)

This rocket: Space Shuttle

Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs)Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0Wikimedia Commons · Public domainWikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Photos: NASA

Launch pad: Launch Complex 39A

Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs)Photos: NASAWikimedia Commons · CC0Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

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Launch info

Provider

Lockheed Space Operations Company

Vehicle

Space Shuttle

Pad

Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A)

State

NET

1984-02-03T13:00:00+00:00

Window start

1984-02-03T13:00:00+00:00

Window end

1984-02-03T13:00:00+00:00

Orbit

Low Earth Orbit

Mission type

Communications

Launch site

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

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Launch story

Mission stats

Provider, rocket, pad, and booster history tied to this launch.

2026 snapshot

Provider legacy

Lockheed Space Operations Company

Launch attempts including this one

1 in 2026

Lockheed Space Operations Company has 1 launches on record, with 1 in 2026.

Rocket track record

Space Shuttle

133

Successful missions

0 in 2026

Space Shuttle has 133 successful missions on record, with 0 in 2026.

Pad history

Launch Complex 39A

Pad launches

1 in 2026

Launch Complex 39A has 22 launches from this pad on record, with 1 in 2026.

Rocket reliability

99% all time

2026: no completed missions yet

Pad turnaround

66d 21h

Reported pad reuse cadence.

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Payload manifest

1 item

Space Shuttle Challenger

Spaceplane→ Low Earth OrbitSpacecraft

Deployment: Unknown

Successful landing (Shuttle Landing Facility)

Deployment notes: No explicit SATCAT deployment evidence is currently available.

LL2 spacecraft flight

Image credit: NASA (NASA Image and Media Guidelines)

Objects from this launch

23 objects

SATCAT inventory for 1984-011

Last checked: 2026-03-17T18:11:05.5+00:00

Last success: 2026-03-17T18:11:05.5+00:00

Last non-empty: 2026-03-17T18:11:05.5+00:00

Latest snapshot: 2026-03-17T18:11:05.5+00:00

Snapshot hash: d2c8a162bc71ce3a6ce9982076bcf073c55f12ac25616239e7e6a47d9ba750bb

LL2 payloads: 0SATCAT payloads: 4Delta: +4RB: 2DEB: 17UNK: 0

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SATCAT payload objects

STS 41B
1984-011ANORAD 14681PAYUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: LANOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 90.16 min
Inc: 28.6°
270 km → 294 km
WESTAR 6
1984-011BNORAD 14688PAYUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 91.77 minRCS: 6.197 m²
Inc: 28.5°
353 km → 369 km
IRT
1984-011CNORAD 14689PAYUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 87.84 min
Inc: 28.4°
167 km → 168 km
PALAPA B2
1984-011DNORAD 14692PAYINDOOps: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 91.78 minRCS: 7.787 m²
Inc: 28.5°
353 km → 371 km

SATCAT non-payload objects

IRT DEB
1984-011GNORAD 14695DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 89.27 min
Inc: 28.4°
236 km → 240 km
IRT DEB
1984-011HNORAD 14696DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 89.84 min
Inc: 28.5°
230 km → 303 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011JNORAD 14698DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 92.06 min
Inc: 28.6°
272 km → 479 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011KNORAD 14765DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 90.60 min
Inc: 28.2°
257 km → 355 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011LNORAD 14766DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 92.50 min
Inc: 28.1°
294 km → 495 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011MNORAD 14767DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 92.70 min
Inc: 28.8°
309 km → 506 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011NNORAD 14768DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 94.00 min
Inc: 28.7°
299 km → 644 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011PNORAD 14769DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 94.60 min
Inc: 28.6°
304 km → 696 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011QNORAD 14770DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 95.40 min
Inc: 28.7°
324 km → 753 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011RNORAD 14771DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 89.70 min
Inc: 28.0°
211 km → 306 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011SNORAD 14772DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 90.40 min
Inc: 28.6°
258 km → 321 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011TNORAD 14773DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 91.70 min
Inc: 28.8°
303 km → 413 km
PALAPA B2 DEB
1984-011UNORAD 14824DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 87.73 minRCS: 0.107 m²
Inc: 27.4°
146 km → 177 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011VNORAD 14970DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 87.96 minRCS: 0.249 m²
Inc: 27.9°
162 km → 185 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011WNORAD 15556DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 88.27 minRCS: 0.110 m²
Inc: 28.2°
175 km → 203 km
WESTAR 6 DEB
1984-011XNORAD 15557DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 88.49 minRCS: 0.250 m²
Inc: 28.2°
186 km → 214 km
PALAPA B2 DEB
1984-011YNORAD 17839DEBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 87.74 minRCS: 0.030 m²
Inc: 28.3°
151 km → 174 km
PALAPA B2 R/B [PAM-D]
1984-011ENORAD 14693RBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 87.01 minRCS: 2.390 m²
Inc: 28.1°
122 km → 131 km
WESTAR 6 R/B [PAM-D]
1984-011FNORAD 14694RBUnited States (US)Ops: D
Technical details
Orbit type: IMPOrbit center: EALaunch site: AFETRPeriod: 87.49 minRCS: 1.829 m²
Inc: 27.6°
140 km → 160 km

Payloads

Space Shuttle Challenger
Spaceplane
Low Earth Orbit
National Aeronautics and Space Administration