1968 in spaceflight
The crew of Apollo 8 were the first humans to witness Earthrise, photographed by William Anders on 24 December 1968 | |
| Orbital launches | |
|---|---|
| First | 7 January |
| Last | 26 December |
| Total | 128 |
| Successes | 119 |
| Failures | 9 |
| Partial failures | 3 |
| Rockets | |
| Maiden flights | Delta M Delta N |
| Retirements | Delta J Kosmos-3 |
| Crewed flights | |
| Orbital | 3 |
The United States National Space Science Data Center catalogued 157 spacecraft placed into orbit by launches, which occurred in 1968. The first crewed Apollo missions occurred in 1968. It was also the year in which Earth lifeforms first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Zond 5 mission to the Moon and the Zond 6 lunar mission which crashed upon return, and the year that humans first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Apollo 8 mission to the Moon.