Previous Spaceflight Launches
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Vostok-L 8K72 | Luna-4b
Energia | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
April 16, 1960, 4:07 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:
Luna 1960B was the third Soviet attempt to photograph the far side of the Moon, the first being the highly successful Luna 3 mission and the second being the unsuccessful Luna 1960A. Luna 1960B was launched on April 16, 1960. It was designed to replicate the Luna 3 mission, but with higher resolution cameras and a closer approach to the Moon.
Lunar flybyThor Agena A | Discoverer 11
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
April 15, 1960, 8:30 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
Discoverer 11 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The eighth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series, it successfully employed the first space-worthy camera film; however, Discoverer's film return capsule was lost during reentry on 16 Apr when the satellite's spin motors exploded.
Low Earth OrbitVostok-L 8K72 | Luna-4a
Energia | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
April 15, 1960, 3:06 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:
Luna 1960A was the second Soviet attempt to photograph the far side of the Moon. The first being the highly successful Luna 3 mission. Luna 1960A was designed to replicate the Luna 3 mission, but with higher resolution cameras and a closer approach to the Moon.
Lunar flyby
Thor DM-21 Ablestar | Transit 1B
United States Air Force | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
April 13, 1960, 12:02 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:
The Transit system was the first satellite navigation system to be used operationally. The system was primarily used by the U.S. Navy to provide accurate location information to its Polaris ballistic missile submarines, and it was also used as a navigation system by the Navy's surface ships, as well as for hydrographic survey and geodetic surveying.
Polar OrbitThor Able II | Tiros 1
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
April 1, 1960, 11:40 a.m.
Juno II | NASA S-46
Army Ballistic Missile Agency | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
March 23, 1960, 1:35 p.m.
Thor Able IV | Pioneer V
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
March 11, 1960, 1 p.m.
Atlas Agena A | Midas 1
Convair | United States of AmericaCape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Feb. 26, 1960, 5:25 p.m.
Thor Agena A | Discoverer 10
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Feb. 19, 1960, 8:15 p.m.
Thor Agena A | Discoverer 9
McDonnell Douglas | United States of AmericaVandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Feb. 4, 1960, 6:51 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:
Discoverer 9 was an American optical reconnaissance satellite, the sixth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series, and the first of them to be equipped with a new, vacuum-proof, polyester-based film. The satellite was not successfully orbited.
Low Earth Orbit
