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Thor DM-21 Agena-B | Discoverer 19

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Dec. 20, 1960, 8:32 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Discoverer 19 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. It was part of the Missile Defence Alarm System.

Low Earth Orbit
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Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 1A

Chrysler | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Dec. 19, 1960, 4:15 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Mercury-Redstone 1A (MR-1A) was launched on December 19, 1960 from LC-5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission objectives of this uncrewed suborbital flight were to qualify the spacecraft for space flight and qualify the system for an upcoming primate suborbital flight.

Suborbital
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Atlas-Able | P-31

Convair | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Dec. 15, 1960, 9:10 a.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

An intended lunar orbiter the vehicle was destroyed when the launch vehicle exploded due to a malfunction in the first stage.

Lunar Orbit
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Thor DM-21 Agena-B | Discoverer 18

United States Air Force | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Dec. 7, 1960, 8:20 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Discoverer 18 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. This was the first successful mission employing the KH-2 camera system

Low Earth Orbit
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Scout X-1 | NASA S-56

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
Dec. 4, 1960, 9:14 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

An American satellite launched by NASA as part of the Explorers program. It failed to reach orbit when the second stage didn't ignite.

Low Earth Orbit
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Vostok 8K72 | Korabl'-Sputnik-3

RKK Energiya | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Dec. 1, 1960, 7:30 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Another test of the Vostok capsule which had a successful flight into orbit but during re-entry the engine failed to cut off and burned to completion resulting in an incorrect entry trajectory. The vehicle was destroyed in order to ensure the vehicle didn't fall into enemy hands.

Low Earth Orbit
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Thor DM-21 Ablestar | Transit 3A

United States Air Force | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Nov. 30, 1960, 7:50 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

Transit 3A was a US Navy navigation satellite that was destroyed by range safety when the launch vehicle shut down too early.

Polar Orbit
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Thor Delta | Tiros 2

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Nov. 23, 1960, 11:13 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

A spin stabilized meteorological satellite. The second in a series of Television Infrared Observation Satellites.

Low Earth Orbit
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Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 1

Chrysler | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, 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
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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
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