1958 in spaceflight

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1958 in spaceflight

A Juno I launches the first American satellite, Explorer 1

Orbital launches
First| 1 February
Last| 18 December
Total| 28
Successes| 6
Failures| 20
Partial failures| 2
Catalogued| 8
National firsts
Spaceflight|  Canada
Satellite|  United States
Orbital launch|  United States
Rockets
Maiden flights| Juno I
Sputnik 8A91
Pilot
Thor-Able
Luna
Juno II
Atlas B
Retirements| Sputnik 8A91
Pilot
Juno I

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Explorer 1 was the first American satellite to reach orbit on 31 January 1958.

1958 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight

<- 1957

1959 ->

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Timeline of spaceflight

* Spaceflight before 1951

1950s|

* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959

1960s|

* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969

1970s|

* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

1980s|

* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989

1990s|

* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999

2000s|

* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009

2010s|

* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019

2020s|

* 2020
* 2021 (H1, H2)
* 2022 (H1, H2)
* 2023 (H1, H2)
* 2024 (H1, H2)
* 2025 (H1, H2)
* 2026
* 2027
* 2028
* 2029

* Future

## Overview

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## Orbital and Suborbital flights

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Main articles: 1958 in spaceflight (January–June) and 1958 in spaceflight (July–December)

## Orbital launch summary

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### By country

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|  |  |  |  Soviet Union

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|  United States
Orbital launch attempts by country in 1958
Country  | Launches  | Successes  | Failures  | Partial failures  | Remarks

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Soviet Union | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
United States | 23 | 5 | 16 | 2 | First successful orbital launch

### By rocket

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#### By type and configuration

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Rocket  | Country  | Type  | Family  | Launches  | Successes  | Failures  | Partial failures  | Remarks

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Atlas B |  United States | SM-65 Atlas | Atlas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight, only orbital launch
Juno I |  United States | Jupiter-C | Redstone | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | Maiden flight
Juno II |  United States | Juno | Jupiter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Maiden flight
Luna |  Soviet Union | Vostok | R-7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Maiden flight
Pilot II |  United States | Pilot | NOTS-EV | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Only flights
Sputnik 8A91 |  Soviet Union | Sputnik | R-7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Only flights
Thor DM-18 Able-I |  United States | Thor-Able | Thor | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Maiden flight
Vanguard |  United States | Vanguard | Viking | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 |

#### By family

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Family  | Country  | Launches  | Successes  | Failures  | Partial failures  | Remarks

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Atlas |  United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | First orbital launch
Redstone |  United States | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | First orbital launch
Jupiter |  United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Maiden flight
NOTS-EV |  United States | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Only orbital launches
R07R-7 |  Soviet Union | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Thor |  United States | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Maiden flight
Viking |  United States | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 |

### By launch site

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Site  | Country  | Launches  | Successes  | Failures  | Partial failures  | Remarks

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Baikonur |  Soviet Union | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Cape Canaveral |  United States | 17 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
Point Mugu |  United States | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |

### By orbit

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Orbital regime  | Launches  | Successes  | Failures  | Accidentally
Achieved  | Remarks

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Catalogued Suborbital | 0 N/A | 0 N/A | 0 N/A | 2  | Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 3 went more than 100'000 km on their way to the Moon but were ultimately suborbital due to insufficient velocity.
Low Earth | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Medium Earth | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0 |
Heliocentric | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |

## See also

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* Timeline of spaceflight

## References

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* Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
* Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
* Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.
* Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
* Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
* McDowell, Jonathan. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
* Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
* Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
* Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
* Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
* "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
* "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
* "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
* "Rocket Launch Manifest". Next Spaceflight.

Generic references:

* view
* talk
* edit

Spaceflight portal

### Footnotes

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

Timeline of spaceflight

* Spaceflight before 1951

1950s|

* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959

1960s|

* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969

1970s|

* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

1980s|

* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989

1990s|

* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999

2000s|

* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009

2010s|

* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019

2020s|

* 2020
* 2021 (H1, H2)
* 2022 (H1, H2)
* 2023 (H1, H2)
* 2024 (H1, H2)
* 2025 (H1, H2)
* 2026
* 2027
* 2028
* 2029

* Future

* v
* t
* e

← 1957

Orbital launches in 1958

1959 →

* Explorer 1
* Vanguard TV3BU
* Explorer 2
* Vanguard 1
* Explorer 3
* ISZ D-1 No.1
* Vanguard TV5
* Sputnik 3
* Vanguard SLV-1
* Vanguard SLV-2
* Pilot-1
* Explorer 4
* Pilot-2
* Pioneer 0
* Pilot-3
* Explorer 5
* Pilot-4
* Pilot-5
* Pilot-6
* Luna E-1 No.1
* Vanguard SLV-3
* Pioneer 1
* Luna E-1 No.2
* Beacon 1
* Pioneer 2
* Luna E-1 No.3
* Pioneer 3
* SCORE

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).
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