Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100. Among the dead is Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is reported to have occurred in a plane crash.

Baikonur Cosmodrome
Soviet Union
Ballistic missile
R-16 (missile)
Nedelin catastrophe