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Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
12:00:04
Sunday April 12, 1981
Watch Replay
Official Livestream
First flight of the Space Shuttle. First flight of a reusable orbital spacecraft.
STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, Columbia, launched on 12 April 1981 and returned on 14 April, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 36 times. Columbia carried a crew of two – mission commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen.
Low Earth Orbit
4,909 kilograms
Agency
NASAPrice
$450.00 million
Rocket
Height: 56.1m
Payload to Orbit
LEO: 27,500 kg
GTO: 3,810 kg
Liftoff Thrust
30,250 Kilonewtons
Stages
2
Strap-ons
2
1st
Mission
1st
Mission of 1981
36th
Orbital launch attempt