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Thor Able II | Transit 1A

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Sept. 17, 1959, 2:34 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

The Transit satellite system was the first satellite navigation system to be used operationally. The system was used to provide accurate location for the US Navy ships. Transit 1A failed to make orbit.

Low Earth Orbit
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Vostok-L 8K72 | Luna-2

Energia | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Sept. 12, 1959, 6:39 a.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Luna 2 successfully impacted the Moon's surface making it the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon and the first human-made object to make contact with another celestial body.

Lunar Impactor
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Atlas LV-3B | Big Joe 1

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Sept. 9, 1959, 8:19 a.m.
Status: Launch was a Partial Failure
Mission:

Suborbital flight with the objective of testing the Mercury spacecraft ablative heat shield. The Atlas booster section failed to jettison, leading to a lower apogee. It was nonetheless sufficient to satisfy the Mercury spacecraft team.

Suborbital
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Little Joe | LJ-1

North American Aviation | United States of America
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
Aug. 21, 1959, noon
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

Little Joe 1 (LJ-1) was a failed launch of a Little Joe by NASA, a solid fuel rocket that was designed for a Max Q abort and Launch Escape System test for Mercury capsule. The objective was to determine how well the escape rocket would function under the most severe dynamic loading conditions anticipated during a Mercury-Atlas launching.

Suborbital
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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 6

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Aug. 19, 1959, 7:24 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Discoverer 6 was the sixth in a series of reconnaissance satellites, however, it failed to return its capsule when the retrorocket failed to deorbit the capsule.

Polar Orbit
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Juno II | Beacon

Army Ballistic Missile Agency | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Aug. 15, 1959, 12:31 a.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

Beacon 2 was launched an a three stage Juno 2 rocket. The vehicle ran into trouble three minutes into flight and an array of failures caused the GNC system to fail causing the satellite to fall short of orbit.

Low Earth Orbit
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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 5

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Aug. 13, 1959, 7 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Discoverer 5 was the fifth in a series of reconnaissance satellites, however, it failed to return its capsule when it was accidentally sent into a higher orbit.

Polar Orbit
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Thor Able III | Explorer 6

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Aug. 7, 1959, 2:24 p.m.
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

Explorer 6 was an American satellite designed to study trapped radiation of various energies, galactic cosmic rays, geomagnetism, radio propagation and the flux of micrometeorites. It also tested a scanning device designed for photographing the Earth's cloud cover, and transmitted the first pictures of Earth from a satellite.

Elliptical Orbit
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Juno II | NASA S-1

Army Ballistic Missile Agency | United States of America
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
July 16, 1959, 5:37 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

The S-1 satellite was a geoscience satellite equipped with a suite of scientific instruments to study the environment around the Earth. It was destroyed 5 seconds into launch when the launch vehicle exploded due to an issue with the launch vehicles power supply.

Elliptical Orbit
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Thor Agena A | Discoverer 4

McDonnell Douglas | United States of America
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
June 25, 1959, 10:47 p.m.
Status: Launch Failure
Mission:

Discoverer 4 was the fourth in a series of reconnaissance satellites, however, it failed to reach orbit when the Agena engine underperformed and failed to place the capsule into orbit.

Polar Orbit
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