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This was the final year of the Soviet Union, and thus the end of the Cold War competition between the two space superpowers. The number of launches subsequently declined in the 1990s, and 2018 was the first year since 1990 to have more than 100 orbital launches.
 The crew of STS-37 deploys the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. | |
| Orbital launches | |
|---|---|
| First | 8 January |
| Last | 28 December |
| Total | 91 |
| Successes | 86 |
| Failures | 3 |
| Partial failures | 2 |
| National firsts | |
| Space traveller |  Austria United Kingdom |
| Rockets | |
| Maiden flights | Ariane 4 44P Atlas II |
| Retirements | Vostok-2M |
| Crewed flights | |
| Orbital | 8 |
| Total travellers | 36 |