Canceled Space Shuttle missions
During the Space Shuttle program, several missions were canceled. Many were canceled as a result of the Challenger and the Columbia disasters. Many early missions were canceled due to delays in the development of the shuttle. Others were canceled because of changes in payload and missions requirements.
Canceled due to the late development of the Space Shuttle
In 1972, NASA's planners had projected for 570 Space Shuttle missions between 1980 and 1991. Later, this estimate was lowered to 487 launches between 1980 and 1992. The details of the first 23 projected missions, listed in the third edition of Manned Spaceflight and the first edition of the STS Flight Assignment Baseline, an internal NASA document published in October 1977, are presented below.| Mission | Original launch date | Shuttle | Landing site | Mission details |
| STS-1A OFT-1 | June 1979 | Columbia | Edwards | Originally scheduled as the first orbital test. The crew was to consist of a commander and pilot, and the test flight was to last 2 days and 5 hours. No crew was named at the initial announcement of the mission, but John Young and Robert Crippen were officially announced as the STS-1 crew in March 1978, when the shuttle was still originally scheduled for a 1979 launch. |
| STS-2A OFT-2 | July 1979 6 March 1980 | Columbia | Edwards | Originally scheduled as the third orbital flight test, then the second flight. The five-day mission was to see the crew of Fred Haise and Jack Lousma take the Teleoperator Retrieval System to the Skylab space station in order to boost it into a higher orbit. Vance D. Brand and C. Gordon Fullerton were their backups. By April 1979, when it was understood that the Shuttle could not be launched in time to rendezvous with Skylab, STS-2 was rescheduled for a 6 March 1980 launch, carrying the OSTA-1 payload and the RMS for the first time. This re-manifested STS-2 finally launched on 12 November 1981, with Joe Engle and Richard Truly in place of Haise and Lousma, respectively. |
| STS-3 OFT-3 | September 1979 | Columbia | Edwards | Originally scheduled as the third orbital flight test. The 7-day mission was to see the two-man crew test shuttle maneuvering and remote manipulator systems. |
| STS-4 OFT-4 | December 1979 | Columbia | Edwards | Originally scheduled as the fourth orbital flight test. The crew was to consist of a commander and pilot, and the mission was to last seven days. |
| STS-5 OFT-5 | February 1980 | Columbia | Kennedy | Originally scheduled as the fifth orbital flight test. The crew was to consist of commander Ken Mattingly, pilot Henry Hartsfield and one or two mission specialists. The mission was to last 7 days. First landing at Kennedy Space Center. |
| STS-6 OFT-6 | March 1980 | Columbia | Edwards | Originally scheduled as the sixth orbital flight test. The crew of four were to conduct first test of operational payloads and conduct the first EVA from the shuttle. The mission was to last seven days. |
| STS-7 | 30 May 1980 27 February 1981 | Columbia | Kennedy | First operational flight. The crew of three were to place the LDEF satellite into orbit and the mission was to last five days. The LDEF was eventually released in 1984 from Challenger during STS-41-C. By 1979, when it became clear that the original launch schedule could not be kept to, STS-7 was re-manifested with the TDRS-A satellite and scheduled to launch on 27 February 1981 with a crew of four and a duration of two days. This rescheduled STS-7 would also have landed at Kennedy Space Center. |
| STS-8 | 1 July 1980 | Columbia | Edwards | The crew of three were to place the satellites TDRS-A and SBS-A into orbit during the 2-day mission. TDRS-A was sent into orbit on Challenger's maiden flight, STS-6, in April 1983. |
| STS-9 | 1 August 1980 | Columbia | Edwards | The crew of three were to place the satellites GOES 4 and Anik-C1 into orbit during the 3-day mission. GOES 4 was launched atop a Delta 3914 a month after its originally scheduled launch on the shuttle. After this mission, Columbia would be returned to the Rockwell plant at Palmdale for removal of the ejection seats and test instrumentation and would receive higher capacity fuel cells, all in preparation for the first Spacelab mission. |
| STS-10 | 14 November 1980 | Columbia | Edwards | Originally scheduled for launch in 1980. The crew of three were to place the satellites TDRS-B and SBS-B into orbit during the 3-day mission. TDRS-B was rescheduled for STS-51-E but became re-manifested on STS-51-L, where it was destroyed along with Challenger on 28 January 1986. |
| STS-11 | 18 December 1980 | Columbia | Edwards | Scheduled to carry the European Spacelab-1 science module. The crew of five were to consist of three NASA astronauts and two European payload specialists. The mission was to last seven days. This first Spacelab mission was later launched as STS-9 in November 1983. |
| STS-12 | 30 January 1981 | Columbia | Edwards | The crew of three were to place the satellites TDRS-C and Anik-C2 into orbit during the 2-day mission. An alternate mission was also planned which replaced the TDRS-C with an Intelsat-V satellite, and would last five days instead of two. TDRS-C was eventually made as the replacement for the destroyed TDRS-B and launched from Discovery on STS-26 in September 1988. |
| STS-13 | 3 March 1981 | Columbia | Edwards | The crew of three were to place the GOES-E satellite into orbit during the 5-day mission. GOES-E was eventually launched on a Delta 3914 over two months after its originally scheduled launch on the shuttle. |
| STS-14 | 7 April 1981 | Columbia | Edwards | Scheduled to carry four Spacelab instrumentation pallets and a pressurized "igloo" used to support the payloads. The crew of five was to consist of two payload specialists. The mission was to last 12 days. |
| STS-15 | 13 May 1981 | Columbia | Edwards | During this mission, the satellites TDRS-D and SBS-C would be placed into orbit. The Anik-C3 satellite could be substituted in place of SBS-C. TDRS-D was launched from Discovery on STS-29 in March 1989, with SBS-C being launched on Columbia's first operational mission, STS-5, in November 1982. |
| STS-16 | 16 June 1981 | Columbia | Edwards | Originally scheduled for launch on 16 June 1981, carrying the Spacelab-3 science module. A "payload of opportunity" of 9 tons also existed, which could accommodate a communications satellite. The crew of five was to consist of two payload specialists. |
| STS-17 | 16 July 1981 | Enterprise | Edwards | Originally to be the first spaceflight of the shuttle Enterprise. It was to place an Intelsat V satellite into orbit and retrieve the LDEF. Enterprise never flew in space, and instead its place as the second shuttle in the fleet was taken by Challenger. |
| STS-18 | 29 July 1981 | Columbia | Edwards | Scheduled to carry a Spacelab pallet and pressurized "igloo". A tentative planned payload would be flown for the Department of Defense, which would make it the first such payload flown on the Shuttle. |
| STS-19 | 2 September 1981 | Columbia | Edwards | Was to carry a series of five Spacelab pallets. |
| STS-20 | 30 September 1981 | Enterprise | Edwards | Originally scheduled for launch on 30 September 1981, carrying the Spacelab-4 life-science module and an unpressurized Spacelab pallet. |
| STS-21 | 14 October 1981 | Columbia | Edwards | A crew of three was to retrieve the Solar Maximum Mission satellite and bring it back to Earth after a five-day mission. Columbia would have carried an "OMS Kit" which contained additional fuel for the shuttle's Orbital Maneuvering System, necessary to safely reach the SMM's orbit. The SMM, launched in February 1980, was eventually retrieved and repaired in orbit on STS-41-C in 1984, and continued operating until 1989. |
| STS-22 | 25 November 1981 | Enterprise | Edwards | Was planned to carry an ESA-operated Spacelab module and additional pallet. |
| STS-23 | 5 January 1982 | Columbia | Edwards | Was to launch the Galileo probe to Jupiter using a modified IUS booster. Galileo was eventually delivered to orbit by Atlantis during STS-34, launched 18 October 1989, after lengthy delays. |
Later in the development process, NASA suggested using the first manned Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, as a sub-orbital test of the Return to Launch Site flight profile devised for emergency abort scenarios. Columbia would have launched from Kennedy Space Center, then executed a 180-degree turn at a speed of, or 6.7 times the speed of sound, in order to land at the Kennedy Space Center runway. The mission was canceled when astronauts refused to fly it, having deemed the plan to be too dangerous. STS-1 commander John W. Young recalled that "I said no. I said let's not practice Russian roulette, because you may have a loaded gun there. So we didn't."
Canceled between the first flight of the Space Shuttle (1981) and the [Space [Shuttle Challenger disaster|''Challenger'' disaster]] (1986)
Canceled due to the ''Challenger'' disaster
Canceled between 1988 and the ''Columbia'' disaster">Space Shuttle Columbia disaster">''Columbia'' disaster (2003)
Canceled due to the ''Columbia'' disaster
| Mission | Original launch date | Shuttle | Crew | Mission details |
| STS-114 | 1 March 2003 | Atlantis | ISS mission. It would have carried the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello and carried out a station crew rotation. A similar crew conducted a different mission on Discovery in 2005. | |
| STS-115 | 23 May 2003 | Endeavour | Assembly mission to the International Space Station, which was ultimately launched with the same crew on Atlantis in 2006. | |
| STS-116 | 24 July 2003 | Atlantis | Assembly mission to the International Space Station, delivering the third port truss segment, logistics and supplies. This mission launched with some of the same crew members on Discovery in 2006. It would also have carried out a station crew rotation. | |
| STS-117 | 2 October 2003 | Endeavour | Assembly mission to the International Space Station to conduct ISS-13A, delivering the second starboard truss segment, a solar array set, and batteries. This mission launched with some of the same crew members on Atlantis in 2007. | |
| STS-118 | 13 November 2003 | Columbia | Assembly mission to the International Space Station to conduct ISS-13A.1, delivering the third starboard truss segment and station supplies. It would have been Columbia's first ISS visit. This mission launched with some of the same crew members on Endeavour in 2007. | |
| STS-119 | 15 January 2004 | Atlantis | Assembly mission to the International Space Station to conduct ISS-15A and carry out a station crew rotation. This mission was conducted with a different crew on Discovery in 2009. | |
| STS-120 | 19 February 2004 | Endeavour | Assembly mission to the International Space Station to conduct assembly mission ISS-10A, delivering the second of three station connecting modules, Harmony. With this mission, the ISS US Orbital Segment would have been completed. This mission was carried out with a different crew on Discovery in 2007. Only Stephanie Wilson would be retained on the crew. | |
| STS-121 | 1 July 2004 | Discovery | Assembly mission to the International Space Station to conduct assembly mission ISS-9A.1, delivering the Science Power Platform with four solar arrays to the station, and to have carried out a station crew rotation. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-122 | 15 April 2004 | Columbia | Intended to conduct the fourth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, which was ultimately carried out by STS-125 in 2009. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-123 | October 2004 | Atlantis | Resupply mission ISS-UF4 to the International Space Station. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-124 | December 2004 | Endeavour | Assembly mission ISS-1J/A to the International Space Station, delivering the Japanese JEM ELM PS module and SPP to the station. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-125 | February 2005 | Discovery | Assembly mission ISS-1J to the International Space Station, delivering the Japanese Kibo Experiment Module and JEM RMS to the station. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-126 | April 2005 | Endeavour | Resupply mission ISS-UF3 to the International Space Station. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-127 | June 2005 | Discovery | Assembly mission ISS-1E to the International Space Station, delivering the European Columbus module. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-128 | August 2005 | Columbia | Intended to carry out the fifth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, which ultimately was not conducted. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-129 | October 2005 | Discovery | Assembly mission ISS-2J/A to the International Space Station, delivering the Japanese hardware JEM EF and the Cupola. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-130 | February 2006 | Endeavour | Resupply mission ISS-UF5 to the International Space Station. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-131 | April 2006 | Atlantis | Assembly mission ISS-14A to the International Space Station, delivering 4 SPP arrays and the MMOD. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-132 | June 2006 | Discovery | Resupply mission ISS-UF6 to the International Space Station. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-133 | August 2006 | Endeavour | Assembly mission ISS-20A to the International Space Station, delivering Tranquility. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-134 | October 2006 | Atlantis | Assembly mission ISS-16A to the International Space Station, delivering the Habitation Module. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-135 | February 2007 | Endeavour | Assembly mission ISS-17A to the International Space Station, delivering a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module ) with Destiny lab racks and a CBA to the station. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-136 | April 2007 | Discovery | Assembly mission ISS-18A to the International Space Station, delivering the first US Crew Return Vehicle. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-137 | July 2007 | Atlantis | Assembly mission ISS-19A to the International Space Station, delivering an MPLM and other station hardware. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. | |
| STS-138 | October 2007 | Discovery | Resupply mission ISS-UF7 to the International Space Station. The Centrifuge Accommodations Module would also have been delivered to the station. No crew had been named at the time of cancellation. |