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Orbital launches | |
---|---|
First | 1 February |
Last | 18 December |
Total | 28 |
Successes | 6 |
Failures | 20 |
Partial failures | 2 |
Catalogued | 8 |
National firsts | |
Spaceflight | Canada |
Satellite | United States |
Orbital launch | United States |
Rockets | |
Maiden flights | Juno I Sputnik 8A91 Pilot Thor-Able Luna Juno II Atlas B |
Retirements | Sputnik 8A91 Pilot Juno I |
Explorer 1 was the first American satellite to reach orbit on 31 January 1958.
| ||||||
Orbital launch attempts by country in 1958 |
Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Soviet Union | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
United States | 23 | 5 | 16 | 2 | First successful orbital launch |
Family | Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlas | United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | First orbital launch |
Redstone | United States | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | First orbital launch |
Jupiter | United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Maiden flight |
NOTS-EV | United States | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Only orbital launches |
R-7 | Soviet Union | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
Thor | United States | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Maiden flight |
Viking | United States | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
Rocket | Country | Type | Family | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlas B | United States | SM-65 Atlas | Atlas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight, only orbital launch |
Juno I | United States | Jupiter-C | Redstone | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | Maiden flight |
Juno II | United States | Juno | Jupiter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Maiden flight |
Luna | Soviet Union | Vostok | R-7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Maiden flight |
Pilot II | United States | Pilot | NOTS-EV | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Only flights |
Sputnik 8A91 | Soviet Union | Sputnik | R-7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Only flights |
Thor DM-18 Able-I | United States | Thor-Able | Thor | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Maiden flight |
Vanguard | United States | Vanguard | Viking | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
Site | Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baikonur | Soviet Union | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
Cape Canaveral | United States | 17 | 5 | 10 | 2 | |
Point Mugu | United States | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
Orbital regime | Launches | Successes | Failures | Accidentally Achieved | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Catalogued Suborbital | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2 | Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 3 went more than 100'000 km on their way to the Moon but were ultimately suborbital due to insufficient velocity. |
Low Earth | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
Medium Earth | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0 | |
Heliocentric | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
The year 1967 in spaceflight saw the most orbital launches of the 20th century and more than any other year until 2021, including that of the first Australian satellite, WRESAT, which was launched from the Woomera Test Range atop an American Sparta rocket. The United States National Space Science Data Center catalogued 172 spacecraft placed into orbit by launches which occurred in 1967.
The United States National Space Science Data Center catalogued 157 spacecraft placed into orbit by launches which occurred in 1968. The first crewed Apollo missions occurred in 1968. It was also the year in which Earth lifeforms first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Zond 5 mission to the Moon and the Zond 6 lunar mission which crashed upon return, and the year that humans first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Apollo 8 mission to the Moon.
Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to leave the gravitational influence of Earth. Also in 1959, Luna 2 was the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another celestial body, impacting the Moon, and Luna 3 returned the first images of the far side of the Moon.
The following is an outline of 1981 in spaceflight.
The following is an outline of 1983 in spaceflight.
This article outlines notable events occurring in 1994 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs.
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 following is an outline of 1989 in spaceflight.
Spaceflight in 1977 included some important events such as the roll out of the Space Shuttle orbiter, Voyager 1 and Voyager space probes were launched. NASA received the Space Shuttle orbiter later named Enterprise, on 14 January. This unpowered sub-orbital space plane was launched off the top of a modified 747 and was flown uncrewed until 13 August until a human crew landed the Enterprise for the first time.
1978 saw the launch of the Pioneer Venus missions launched by the United States, on 20 May and 8 August. The Pioneer Venus Multiprobe landed four spacecraft on the planet, one of which transmitted data for 67 minutes before being destroyed by atmospheric pressure. ISEE-C, which was launched on 8 December, flew past comet 21P/Giacobini–Zinner in 1985, and Halley's Comet in 1986.
The following is an outline of 1976 in spaceflight.
The following is an outline of 1979 in spaceflight.
The following is an outline of 1980 in spaceflight.
The following is an outline of 1987 in spaceflight.
The following is an outline of 1988 in spaceflight.