Previous Spaceflight Launches
Filter by Agency, Locations or Vehicles
Show All Launches
Thor DM-21 Agena-B | Discoverer 26
United States Air Force | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
July 7, 1961, 11:29 p.m.
Scout X-1 | S-55
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaWallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
June 30, 1961, 5:09 p.m.
Thor DM-21 Ablestar | Transit 4A & Injun-1 & Solrad 3
United States Air Force | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
June 29, 1961, 4:23 a.m.
Thor DM-21 Agena-B | Discoverer 25
United States Air Force | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
June 16, 1961, 11:02 p.m.
Thor DM-21 Agena-B | KH-5 3
United States Air Force | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
June 8, 1961, 9:16 p.m.
Juno II | S-45A
Army Ballistic Missile Agency | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
May 24, 1961, 7:48 p.m.
Redstone MRLV | Mercury-Redstone 3
Chrysler | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
May 5, 1961, 2:34 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
Mercury-Redstone 3, or Freedom 7, was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first manned flight of Project Mercury, the objective of which was to put an astronaut into orbit around the Earth and return him safely. Shepard's mission was a 15-minute suborbital flight with the primary objective of demonstrating his ability to withstand the high g-forces of launch and atmospheric re-entry.
Suborbital
Little Joe | LJ-5B
North American Aviation | United States of AmericaWallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
April 28, 1961, 2:03 p.m.
Juno II | Explorer 11
Army Ballistic Missile Agency | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
April 27, 1961, 2:16 p.m.
Atlas LV-3B | Mercury-Atlas 3
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
April 25, 1961, 4:15 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:
Uncrewed test flight of the Mercury program. The launch proceeded normally until about T+20 seconds when the pitch and roll sequence failed to initiate and the vehicle instead just continued flying straight upward, requiring early termination of the flight.
Suborbital
