Previous Spaceflight Launches

Filter by Agency, Locations or Vehicles

Show All Launches

Full Launch History

View all launches available - including launches from the past and utilize powerful search filters.

Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 1

Chrysler | United States of America
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
Nov. 21, 1960, 2 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

Mercury-Redstone 1 (MR-1) was the first Mercury-Redstone uncrewed flight test in Project Mercury and the first attempt to launch a Mercury spacecraft with the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle. Intended to be an uncrewed sub-orbital spaceflight, it was launched on November 21, 1960 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The launch failed in abnormal fashion: immediately after the Mercury-Redstone rocket started to move, it shut itself down and settled back on the pad, after which the capsule jettisoned its escape rocket and deployed its recovery parachutes. The failure has been referred to as the "four-inch flight", for the approximate distance traveled by the launch vehicle.

Suborbital
Explore Share

Thor DM-21 Agena-B | Discoverer 17

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Nov. 12, 1960, 8:42 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Discoverer 17 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The mission was classed as a failure. Orbit was entered successfully however the film was separated before any camera operation leaving only 0.5m of film in the capsule.

Low Earth Orbit
Explore Share

Little Joe | LJ-5

North American Aviation | United States of America
Wallops Island, Virginia, USA
Nov. 8, 1960, 3:18 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

Suborbital test flight of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. The objective was to test a production Mercury capsule and the launch escape system during an ascent abort at maximum dynamic pressure. Sixteen seconds after liftoff, the escape rocket and the tower jettison rocket both fired prematurely. Furthermore, the booster, capsule, and escape tower failed to separate as intended. The entire stack was destroyed on impact with the Atlantic Ocean.

Suborbital
Explore Share

Juno II | Explorer 8

Army Ballistic Missile Agency | United States of America
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
Nov. 3, 1960, 5:23 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

A research satellite intended to study a number of space phenomenon.

Medium Earth Orbit
Explore Share

Thor DM-21 Agena-B | Discoverer 16

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Oct. 26, 1960, 8:26 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

Discoverer 16 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The launch failed when the Agena stage failed to seperate from Thor.

Low Earth Orbit
Explore Share

Molniya 8K78 | Mars-1b

Strategic Rocket Forces | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Oct. 14, 1960, 1:51 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

A Russian mars flyby probe intended to photograph Mars. The third stage failed to ignite.

Mars flyby
Explore Share

Atlas Agena A | Samos 1

Convair | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Oct. 11, 1960, 8:33 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

A Satellite and Missile Observation satallite which failed to enter orbit due to a failure in the launch vehicle guidance system

Low Earth Orbit
Explore Share

Molniya 8K78 | Mars-1a

Strategic Rocket Forces | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Oct. 10, 1960, 2:27 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

A Russian mars flyby probe intended to photograph Mars. The second stage failed.

Mars flyby
Explore Share

Thor DM-21 Ablestar | Courier 1B

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
Oct. 4, 1960, 5:50 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

An active repeater communications satellite. The vehicle succesfully launched and successfully operated for a few weeks proving the experimental system.

Low Earth Orbit
Explore Share

Scout X-1 | ST-2

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Wallops Island, Virginia, USA
Oct. 4, 1960, 3:23 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

A radiation probe plasma mission.

Low Earth Orbit
Explore Share

Get it on Google Play
Get it on the App Store