1961 in spaceflight

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1961 in spaceflight
Vostok 1 after landing.jpg
The Vostok 1 spacecraft, aboard which Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth on 12 April 1961
Orbital launches
First31 January
Last22 December
Total50
Successes28
Failures20
Partial failures2
Catalogued 36
National firsts
SpaceflightFlag of Italy.svg  Italy
Space traveller Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Rockets
Maiden flights Atlas LV-3A Agena-B
Kosmos-2I 63S1
Saturn I (suborbital test)
Retirements Atlas LV-3A Agena-A
Juno II
Crewed flights
Orbital2
Suborbital2
Total travellers4

Deep Space Rendezvous

Date (GMT)SpacecraftEventRemarks
19 May Venera 1 First flyby of Venus Spacecraft was already non-functional as communication had been lost en route, closest approach: 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) [1]

Notable creations of orbital debris

Date/Time (UTC)Source objectEvent typePieces trackedRemarks
29 June [2] Thor-Able upper stage of Transit 4A navigation satelliteRocket explosion294 [2] First explosion of a rocket stage in orbit creating hundreds of debris pieces

Orbital launch summary

By country

1961 Launches.svg
  Soviet Union
  United States
Orbital launch attempts by country in 1961
CountryLaunchesSuccessesFailuresPartial
failures		Remarks
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 9540
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4123162

By rocket

RocketCountryLaunchesSuccessesFailuresPartial failuresRemarks
Atlas LV-3A Agena-A Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1100Retired
Atlas LV-3A Agena-B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 7241Maiden flight
Atlas LV-3B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3210First orbital launch
RM-90 Blue Scout II Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1010First orbital launch
Juno II Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3120Retired
Kosmos-2I 63S1Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2020Maiden flight
Molniya 8K78Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2110
Scout X-1 Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3120
Thor DM-21 Ablestar Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3201
Thor DM-21 Agena-B Flag of the United States.svg  United States 171160
Thor DM-19 Delta Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3300
Vostok-K 8K72KFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 5410

By orbit

Orbital regimeLaunchesAchievedNot AchievedAccidentally AchievedRemarks
Low Earth 4128133
Medium Earth 1100
High Earth 6240Including Highly elliptical orbits
Heliocentric 2110

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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 March 1965. For launches in the rest of the year, see 1965 in spaceflight (April–June), 1965 in spaceflight (July–September) and 1965 in spaceflight (October–December). For an overview of the whole year, see 1965 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 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 April and June 1965. For launches in the rest of the year, see 1965 in spaceflight (January–March), 1965 in spaceflight (July–September) and 1965 in spaceflight (October–December). For an overview of the whole year, see 1965 in spaceflight.

References

Generic references:

RocketSunIcon.svg  Spaceflightportal

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Venera 1". NSSDCA Master Catalog. NASA. 1961-003A. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 Orbital Debris: A Chronology (PDF). NASA JSC. January 1999. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2000. Retrieved 13 February 2016. Two hours after separating from the U.S. Transit 4-A satellite, its Able Star upper stage becomes the first known artificial object to break up unintentionally in space. The cause of the explosion is unknown. The event produces at least 294 trackable pieces, more than tripling the number of known satellites of Earth.


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