On June 15, 2021 at 13:35 UTC the "Minotaur-1” rocket-carrier was launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. It is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Delmarva Peninsula south of Chincoteague, Virginia, USA. The rocket was launched by Northrop Grumman. The rocket orbited 3 top secret spacecraft for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. The mission was designated NROL-111.

Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, passed away on 15 June 2021 at the age of 93. He had performed three space flights. In 1969 he became the first person in the world who received mail (letters and newspapers) in space.

On June 13, 2021, mounted on the belly of an L-1011 carrier aircraft, the 24-ton “Pegasus XL” rocket departed Vandenberg Space Force Base on California’s Central Coast about an hour before launch. The L-1011 aircraft, named “Stargazer,” flew to the Pegasus drop zone about 250 kilometers off the California coast and lined up on the launch trajectory heading south. The flight crew commanded release of the 17-meter rocket at 08:11 UTC as the L-1011 flew at an altitude of 39,000 feet (11,900 meters). After a five-second free fall, the Pegasus ignited its solid-fueled first stage engine to begin the climb into space. The rocket orbited the US “Odyssey” military space surveillance satellite.