List of orbital rocket launches (1959)

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This list shows all 24 launchers starts and -startversuche of 1959 on, where an Earth orbit or escape path should be achieved. Atmospheric and suborbital test flights are not included. Manned missions and missile first flights are shown in bold .

Start list

January - February - March - April - June - July - August - September - October - November

Date ( UT )	Launcher	Launch site	payload	annotation	ID
January 1959
Jan 2, 1959 16:41	Soviet Union Vostok (8K72)	Baikonur 1	Lunik 1 ( moon probe )	Partial success	12A
Jan. 21, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer (1)	Failure
February 1959
Feb. 17, 1959 3:55 pm	United States Vanguard	CCAFS 18A	Vanguard 2	success	01A
Feb. 28, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer 1	not clear	02A
March 1959
March 3, 1959 5:11 PM	United States Juno II	CCAFS 5	Pioneer 4 (lunar probe)	Partial success	13A
April 1959
April 13, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer 2	success	03A
April 14, 1959 2:49 am	United States Vanguard	CCAFS 18A	Vanguard SLV5 u. Vanguard Balloon	Failure
June 1959
June 3, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer 3	Failure
June 18, 1959	Soviet Union Vostok (8K72)	Baikonur 1	Luna 1959A (moon probe)	Failure
June 22, 1959 8:16 PM	United States Vanguard	CCAFS 18A	Vanguard SLV6	Failure
June 25, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer 4 ( KH-1 )	Failure
July 1959
July 16, 1958 4:48 pm	United States Juno II	CCAFS 5	Explorer S-1 ( research satellite )	Failure
August 1959
Aug 7, 1959 2:24 pm	United States Thor-DM18 Able-2	CCAFS 17A	Explorer 6 (research satellite)	success	04A
Aug 13, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer 5 (KH-1)	success	05A
Aug 15, 1959 12:31 AM	United States Juno II	CCAFS 26B	Beacon 2 ( balloon satellite )	Failure
Aug 19, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer 6 (KH-1)	success	06A
September 1959
Sep 12 1959 06:39	Soviet Union Vostok (8K72)	Baikonur 1	Lunik 2 (moon probe)	success	14A
17 Sep 1959	United States Thor-DM18 Able-2	CCAFS 17A	Transit 1A ( navigation satellite )	Failure
Sep 18 1959 05:20	United States Vanguard	CCAFS 18A	Vanguard 3	Partial success	07A
October 1959
Oct. 4, 1959 12:43 AM	Soviet Union Vostok (8K72)	Baikonur 1	Lunik 3 (moon probe)	success	08A
Oct 13, 1959	United States Juno II	CCAFS 5	Explorer 7 (research satellite)	success	09A
November 1959
Nov 7, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer 7 (KH-1)	success	10A
Nov 20, 1959	United States Thor-Agena	VAFB 75-3-4	Discoverer 8 (KH-1)	Partial success	11A
Nov 26, 1959 7:26 am	United States Atlas Able	CCAFS 14	Pioneer P-3 (lunar probe)	Failure

Remarks

↑ According to a CIA report from 1960 ( PDF , 18 MB, PDF page 31) it is assumed that the satellite did not reach orbit and fell back to Earth. As recorded in the NSSDCA catalog of NASA he reached the other hand, the first satellite has a polar orbit .

Web links

Orbital Launches of 1959 - Gunter's Space Page (English)

[1] According to a CIA report from 1960 ( PDF , 18 MB, PDF page 31) it is assumed that the satellite did not reach orbit and fell back to Earth. As recorded in the NSSDCA catalog of NASA he reached the other hand, the first satellite has a polar orbit .