1963 in spaceflight

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1963 in spaceflight
X15 on B52 wing pylon.jpg
A North American X-15 made two suborbital flights in July and August, becoming the first reusable spacecraft
Orbital launches
First4 January
Last21 December
Total70
Successes50
Failures17
Partial failures3
Catalogued 55
Rockets
Maiden flights Atlas LV-3A Agena-D
Atlas LV-3C Centaur-B
Polyot 11A59
Scout X-2B
Scout X-3M
Scout X-4
Thor DSV-2A Ablestar
TAT SLV-2A Agena-B
TAT SLV-2A Agena-D
Voskhod 11A57
Retirements Atlas LV-3B
Atlas LV-3C Centaur-B
Scout X-2B
Scout X-2M
Scout X-3M
Crewed flights
Orbital3
Suborbital2
Total travellers4

Deep space rendezvous

Date (GMT)SpacecraftEventRemarks
5 April Luna 4 Flyby of the Moon Failed lander, closest approach: 8,336 kilometres (5,180 mi)
19 June Mars 1 First flyby of Mars Closest approach: 193,000 kilometres (120,000 mi), communications system failed before flyby

Notable creations of orbital debris

Date/Time (UTC)Source objectEvent typePieces trackedRemarks
9 May [1] Westford-2 Communications experiment46 [1] As part of an experiment to facilitate international telecommunications, the US Military deployed an artificial space ring consisting of hundreds of millions of tiny copper needles [2] which would act as antennas reflecting radio signals at the target wavelength of 8 GHz. A large proportion of the needles were not dispersed properly and remained stuck in clumps that were discovered and tracked by the SSN between 1966 and 1991. As of October 2013, 46 of the 144 detected debris clumps remain in orbit. [1] The needles that were properly dispersed are believed to have decayed. [1]

This event prompted international protests [3] [4] [5] [6] and influenced the drafting of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. [3]

Contents

Orbital launch summary

By country

1963 Launches.svg
  Soviet Union
  United States
Orbital launch attempts by country in 1963
CountryLaunchesSuccessesFailuresPartial
failures
Remarks
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 241590
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 463583

By rocket

RocketCountryLaunchesSuccessesFailuresPartial failuresRemarks
Atlas LV-3A Agena-B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3111
Atlas LV-3A Agena-D Flag of the United States.svg  United States 5500Maiden flight
Atlas LV-3B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1100Retired
Atlas LV-3C Centaur-B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1100Only flight
Delta B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6600
Delta C Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1100
Kosmos-2I 63S1Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 8440
Molniya 8K78Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1010
Molniya-L 8K78LFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 3120Maiden flight
Polyot 11A59Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1100Maiden flight
Scout X-2B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1010Only flight
Scout X-2M Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1010Retired
Scout X-3 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2011
Scout X-3M Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1100Only flight
Scout X-4 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2101Maiden flight
Thor DSV-2A Ablestar Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2200Maiden flight
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1100
Thor SLV-2 Agena-D (Thor DM-21 Agena-D)Flag of the United States.svg  United States 8620Redesignated midyear
Thrust Augmented Thor SLV-2A Agena-B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1100Maiden flight
Thrust Augmented Thor SLV-2A Agena-D Flag of the United States.svg  United States 10820Maiden flight
Voskhod 11A57Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1100Maiden flight
Vostok-K 8K72KFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2200
Vostok-2 8A92Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 8620

By orbit

Orbital regimeLaunchesAchievedNot AchievedAccidentally
Achieved
Remarks
Low Earth 5744132
Medium Earth 5410
High Earth 5320Including Highly elliptical orbits
Geosynchronous/transfer 2200
Heliocentric 1010

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of spaceflight</span>

This is the timeline of known spaceflights, both crewed and uncrewed, sorted chronologically by launch date. Owing to its large size, the timeline is split into smaller articles, one for each year since 1951. There is a separate list for all flights that occurred before 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1967 in spaceflight</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1958 in spaceflight</span> Spaceflight-related events of 1958

Explorer 1 was the first American satellite to reach orbit on 31 January 1958.

1973 saw the launch of the first American Space station known as Skylab on a Saturn rocket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 in spaceflight</span>

This article outlines notable events occurring in 1996 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1995 in spaceflight</span> Spaceflight-related events of 1995

This article outlines notable events occurring in 1995 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs.

The following is an outline of 1985 in spaceflight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 in spaceflight</span> Spaceflight-related events of 1994

This article outlines notable events occurring in 1994 in spaceflight, including major launches and EVAs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 in spaceflight</span>

The following is an outline of 1990 in spaceflight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 in spaceflight</span>

The following is an outline of 1989 in spaceflight.

This is a list of spaceflights launched between July and September 1962. For launches in the rest of the year, see 1962 in spaceflight (January–March), 1962 in spaceflight (April–June) and 1962 in spaceflight (October–December). For an overview of the whole year, see 1962 in spaceflight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1975 in spaceflight</span>

In 1975 several notable events happened in spaceflight such as the launch and arrival at Venus of Venera 9 and 10, the launch to Mars of the Viking orbiter/landers missions, the joint Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, and the launch of satellite Aryabhatta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1988 in spaceflight</span>

The following is an outline of 1988 in spaceflight.

This is a list of spaceflights launched between January and June 1963. For launches between July and December, see 1963 in spaceflight (July–December). For an overview of the whole year, see 1963 in spaceflight.

This is a list of spaceflights launched between January and June 1961. For launches between July and December, see 1961 in spaceflight (July–December). For an overview of the whole year, see 1961 in spaceflight.

This is a list of spaceflights launched between April and June 1962. For launches in the rest of the year, see 1962 in spaceflight (January–March), 1962 in spaceflight (July–September) and 1962 in spaceflight (October–December). For an overview of the whole year, see 1962 in spaceflight.

This is a list of spaceflights launched between April and June 1964. For launches in the rest of the year, see 1964 in spaceflight (January–March), 1964 in spaceflight (July–September) and 1964 in spaceflight (October–December). For an overview of the whole year, see 1964 in spaceflight.

This is a list of spaceflights launched between October and December 1964. For launches in the rest of the year, see 1964 in spaceflight (January–March), 1964 in spaceflight (April–June) and 1964 in spaceflight (July–September). For an overview of the whole year, see 1964 in spaceflight.

References

Generic references:
RocketSunIcon.svg  Spaceflightportal

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "West Ford Needles: Where are They Now?" (PDF). Orbital Debris Quarterly News. NASA. 17 (4). October 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  2. Shapiro, I. I.; Jones, H. M.; Perkins, C.W. (May 1964), "Orbital properties of the West Ford dipole belt", Proceedings of the IEEE, 52 (5): 469–518, doi:10.1109/proc.1964.2992
  3. 1 2 Terrill Jr., Delbert R. (May 1999), "The Air Force Role in Developing International Outer Space Law" (PDF), Air Force History and Museums Program, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press: 63, archived (PDF) from the original on 17 April 2018, retrieved 13 February 2016
  4. Butrica, Andrew J. (ed.), "Beyond the Ionosphere: The Development of Satellite Communications", history.nasa.gov, The NASA History Series, NASA, archived from the original on 25 December 2017, retrieved 12 July 2017
  5. Bondi, H. (June 1962), "West Ford Project, Introductory Note by the Secretary", Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 3: 99, Bibcode:1962QJRAS...3...99.
  6. "Protests Continue Abroad", The New York Times, London (published 23 October 1961), p. 12, 22 October 1961, ISSN   0362-4331