During NASA's Space Shuttle program, several missions were canceled. Many were canceled as a result of the Challenger and the Columbia disasters or due to delays in the development of the shuttle. Others were canceled because of changes in payload and mission requirements.
Canceled due to the late development of the Space Shuttle In 1972, NASA's planners had projected 570 Space Shuttle missions between 1980 and 1991.Turnill, p.73 Later, this estimate was lowered to 487 launches between 1980 and 1992.Turnill, inner cover The details of the first 23 projected missions, listed in the third edition of Manned Spaceflight (Reginald Turnill, 1978) and the first edition of the STS Flight Assignment Baseline, an internal NASA document published in October 1977, are:
MissionOriginallaunch date(s) Shuttle Landing siteMission details STS-1AOFT-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. The crew was not named at the initial announcement, but John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen were announced as the STS-1 crew in March 1978, when the shuttle was still scheduled for a 1979 launch. STS-2AOFT-2 July 19796 March 1980 Columbia Edwards Originally scheduled as the third orbital flight test, then the second flight. The five-day mission was to have Fred Haise and Jack R. Lousma take the Teleoperator Retrieval System (TRS) to the Skylab space station and 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 Remote Manipulator System (RMS) for the first time. This re-manifested STS-2 launched on 12 November 1981, with Joe Engle and Richard H. Truly in place of Haise and Lousma, respectively. STS-3OFT-3 September 1979 Columbia Edwards Originally scheduled as the third orbital flight test. The 7-day mission was to see the two-man crew (commander and pilot) test shuttle maneuvering and remote manipulator systems. STS-4OFT-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-5OFT-5 February 1980 Columbia Kennedy Originally scheduled as the fifth orbital flight test. The crew was to consist of commander Ken Mattingly, pilot Henry W. Hartsfield Jr. and one or two mission specialists. The mission was to last 7 days. First landing at Kennedy Space Center. STS-6OFT-6 March 1980 Columbia Edwards Originally scheduled as the sixth orbital flight test. The crew of four were to conduct the first test of operational payloads and conduct the first EVA from the shuttle. The mission was to last seven days. STS-7 30 May 198027 February 1981 Columbia Kennedy First operational flight. The crew of three were to place the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) satellite into orbit and the mission was to last five days. The LDEF was eventually released in 1984 from Challenger during STS-41C. By 1979, when it became clear that the original launch schedule could not be kept, 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 International plant at Palmdale, California for removal of the ejection seats and test instrumentation and would receive higher capacity fuel cells 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-51E but became re-manifested on STS-51L, 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 (8.16 mt) could accommodate a communications satellite. The crew of five was to include two payload specialists. STS-17 16 July 1981 Enterprise Edwards Originally expected as the first spaceflight of the shuttle Enterprise, it was to place an Intelsat V satellite into orbit and retrieve the LDEF. Enterprise never launched, 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 military payload was planned for the Department of Defense, which would make it the first one 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 intended to carry an ESA-operated Spacelab module and additional pallet. STS-23 5 January 1982 Columbia Edwards Was to launch the Galileo probe (then named the "Jupiter Orbiter and 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 crewed Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, as a sub-orbital test of the Return to Launch Site (RTLS) flight profile devised for an emergency abort. 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 Challenger disaster (1986)
MissionOriginallaunch date(s) Shuttle CrewMission details STS-10 November 1983 Challenger Thomas K. Mattingly II (Commander) Loren J. Shriver (Pilot) Ellison S. Onizuka (Mission Specialist) James F. Buchli (Mission Specialist) Gary E. Payton (Payload Specialist) Originally to be the first classified mission for the Department of Defense; canceled due to concerns with the payload's Inertial Upper Stage booster. The entire crew, which had been assigned in October 1982, flew on STS-51-C in January 1985. STS-12 March 1984 Discovery Henry W. Hartsfield Jr. (Commander) Michael L. Coats (Pilot) Richard M. Mullane (Mission Specialist) Steven A. Hawley (Mission Specialist) Judith A. Resnik (Mission Specialist) Originally to be the maiden flight of Discovery. Its original mission was to deploy a TDRS satellite, which was canceled due to concerns with the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) that was to be used in the mission. The crew (along with payload specialist Charles D. Walker) eventually flew on STS-41-D in August 1984. STS-41-E July 1984 Challenger Thomas K. Mattingly II (Commander) Loren J. Shriver (Pilot) Ellison S. Onizuka (Mission Specialist) James F. Buchli (Mission Specialist) Jeffrey E. Detroye (Payload Specialist) A mission to deploy a DOD satellite; was canceled due to problems with the IUS upper stage that was to be used in the mission. STS-41-F 29 August 1984 Discovery Karol J. Bobko (Commander) Donald E. Williams (Pilot) M. Rhea Seddon (Mission Specialist) S. David Griggs (Mission Specialist) Jeffrey A. Hoffman (Mission Specialist) Canceled after STS-41-D was delayed due to its RSLS abort. Most of STS-41-F's payloads were added to the STS-41-D mission and eventually launched in August 1984. STS-41-F was scheduled to launch at 13:35 UTC on 29 August 1984, and land on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base at 11:32 UTC on 4 September. STS-51-E March 1985 Challenger Karol J. Bobko (Commander) Donald E. Williams (Pilot) M. Rhea Seddon (Mission Specialist) S. David Griggs (Mission Specialist) Jeffrey A. Hoffman (Mission Specialist) Patrick Baudry (Payload Specialist) Edwin J. Garn (Payload Specialist) Mission objective was to deploy the TDRS-B communication satellite, canceled due to IUS failure. Most of the crew would be reassigned to STS-51-D which flew in April 1985 (except for Patrick Baudry, who was reassigned to STS-51-G which flew in June 1985). STS-51-D March 1985 Discovery Daniel C. Brandenstein (Commander) John O. Creighton (Pilot) Steven R. Nagel (Mission Specialist) John M. Fabian (Mission Specialist) Shannon W. Lucid (Mission Specialist) Gregory B. Jarvis (Payload Specialist) Charles D. Walker (Payload Specialist) Mission objectives were to deploy a Syncom communication satellite and retrieval of the Long Duration Exposure Facility. Most of the crew would fly on STS-51-G in June, with Walker remaining on the remanifested STS-51-D flight and Jarvis eventually bumped to STS-51-L, in which he was killed during the Challenger disaster. STS-51-H November 1985 Atlantis Vance D. Brand (Commander) Michael J. Smith (Pilot) Robert C. Springer (Mission Specialist) Owen K. Garriott (Mission Specialist) Claude Nicollier (Mission Specialist) Michael Lampton (Payload Specialist)