1953 in spaceflight

1953 in spaceflight
	Launch of a Deacon Rockoon, several such launches occurred in 1953
Rockets
Maiden flights	R-5 Pobeda
Retirements	Aerobee RTV-A-1; Aerobee XASR-SC-1; Aerobee XASR-SC-2;
	v; t; e;

The year 1953 saw the rockoon joining the Aerobee sounding rocket beyond the 100 kilometres (62 mi) boundary of space (as defined by the World Air Sports Federation),^[1]. Both the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics continued their development of ballistic missiles, the United States Air Force with its Atlas ICBM, the United States Army with its Redstone SRBM, the Soviet OKB-1 with its R-5 IRBM, and Factory 586 with its R-12 IRBM.

Space exploration highlights

U.S. Navy

On 25 May, 1953, Viking 10, originally planned to be the last of the Naval Research Laboratory-built Viking rockets, arrived at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. A successful static firing on 18 June cleared the way for a 30 June launch date, a schedule that had been made months prior, before the rocket had even left the Glenn L. Martin Company plant where it had been built.

At the moment of liftoff, the tail of Viking 10 exploded, setting the rocket afire. Water was immediately flooded into the rocket's base in an attempt to extinguish the fire, but flames continued to burn in the East Quadrant of the firing platform. Half an hour after launch, two of the launch team under manager Milton Rosen were dispatched to put out the fire to salvage what remained of the rocket.

Their successful efforts were then threatened by a slow leak in the propellant tank. The vacuum created by the departing fuel was causing the tank to dimple with the danger of implosion that would cause the rocket to collapse. Lieutenant Joseph Pitts, a member of the launch team, shot a rifle round into the tank, equalizing the pressure and saving the rocket.

Three hours after the attempted launch, the last of the alcohol propellant had been drained from Viking 10. The launch team was able to salvage the instrument package of cameras, including X-ray detectors, cosmic ray emulsions, and a radio-frequency mass-spectrometer, valued at tens of thousands of dollars, although there was concern that the rocket was irreparable.

A thorough investigation of the explosion began in July, but a conclusive cause could not be determined. In a reported presented in September, Milton Rosen noted that a similar occurrence had not happened in more than 100 prior tests of the Viking motor. It was decided to rebuild Viking 10, and a program for closer monitoring of potential fail points was implemented for the next launch, scheduled for 1954.^[2]

American civilian efforts

After the successful field tests of balloon-launched rockets (rockoons) the previous year, the University of Iowa physics team lead by Professor James Van Allen, embarked on a second rockoon expedition aboard the USS Staten Island in summer 1953 with improved equipment. The new Skyhook balloons increased the rocket firing altitude from 40,000 feet (12,000 m) to 50,000 feet (15,000 m) affording a peak rocket altitude of 57 miles (92 km). The total payload weights were increased by 2 pounds (0.91 kg) to 30 pounds (14 kg). Between 18 July and 5 September, the Iowa team launched 16 rockoons from a variety of latitudes, seven of which reached useful altitudes and returned usable data. An NRL team aboard the same vessel launched six rockoons, of which half were complete successes. Data from these launches provided the first evidence of radiation associated with aurora borealis.^[3]

Soviet Union

The R-5 missile, able to carry the same 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) payload as the R-1 and R-2 but over a distance of 1,200 kilometres (750 mi)^[4]^: 242 underwent its first series of eight test launches from 15 March to 23 May, 1953. After two failures, the third rocket, launched 2 April, marked the beginning of streak of success. Seven more missiles were launched between 30 October and December, all of which reached their targets. A final series of launches, designed to test modifications made in response to issues with the first series, was scheduled for mid-1954.^[5]^{: 100–101}

Vehicle development

U.S. Air Force

Development of the Atlas, the nation's first ICBM proceeded slowly throughout 1953. Without firm figures as to the weight and dimension of a thermonuclear device (the U.S. tested its first H-Bom in November 1952, the U.S.S.R. announced their first successful test in August 1953), it was not known if the Atlas could deliver an atomic bomb payload.

In spring 1953, Colonel Bernard Schriever, an assistant in development planning at The Pentagon and a proponent of long-ranged ballistic missiles, pushed to obtain accurate characteristics of a nuclear payload. Trevor Gardner, special assistant for research and development to the new Secretary of the Air force, Harold Talbott, responded by organizing the Strategic Missiles Evaluation Committee or "Teapot Committee" comprising eleven of the top scientists and engineers in the country. Their goal would be to determine if a nuclear payload could be made small enough to fit on the Atlas rocket. If so, the importance of the committee's members would allow such findings to accelerate Atlas development. By October, committee member John von Neumann had completed his report on weights and figures indicating that smaller, more powerful warheads within Atlas' launch capability would soon be available. Pending test verification of von Neumann's theoretical results, the Air Force began revising the Atlas design for the projected nuclear payload.^[6]

U.S. Army

The first production Redstone, a surface-to-surface missile capable of delivering nuclear or conventional warheads to a range of 200 miles (320 km), was delivered on 27 July 1953. A Redstone R&D missile was flight tested on 20 August 1953.^[7]

Soviet Union

In his brief tenure as Director of NII-88, responsible for the production of all Soviet ballistic missiles, engineer Mikhail Yangel chafed professionally with OKB-1 (formerly NII-88 Section 3) Chief Designer, Sergei Korolev, whom he had previously reported to as Deputy Chief Designer of the bureau. To relieve this tension, on 4 October 1953, Yangel was demoted to NII-88 Chief Engineer and assigned responsibility for production of missiles at State Union Plant No. 586 in Dnepropetrovsk. This plant under, Vasiliy Budnik, had been tasked on 13 February 1953 with developing the R-12 missile, possessing a performance similar to that of the R-5 (range of 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) vs. 1,200 kilometres (750 mi)) but using storable propellants so that it could be stored at firing readiness for extended periods of time.^[5]^{: 113–114}

At the end of 1953, at a meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, it was determined that a transportable thermonuclear device be developed (as opposed to the one detonated in August, which was stationary). It as further determined that an ICBM be developed to carry said bomb. As no ICBMs existed at the time, in reality or even in planning, development of a nuclear capable R-5 (dubbed the "R-5M") was ordered.^[4]^: 275

Launches

← Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec →


Date and time (UTC)	Rocket		Flight number	Launch site		LSP
		Payload (⚀ = CubeSat)	Operator	Orbit	Function	Decay (UTC)	Outcome
		Remarks
February
10 February 21:09	Aerobee RTV-N-10			White Sands - Launch Complex 35		NRL

			NRL	Suborbital	Mass spectrometry	10 February	Successful
		Apogee: 137 kilometres (85 mi)^[8]
12 February 07:09	Aerobee RTV-N-10			White Sands LC-35		NRL

			NRL	Suborbital	Mass spectrometry	12 February	Successful
		Apogee: 137.3 kilometres (85.3 mi)^[8]
18 February 06:50	Aerobee XASR-SC-2			White Sands LC-35		US Air Force

		GRENADES	US Air Force	Suborbital	Aeronomy	18 February	Successful
		Apogee: 106.9 kilometres (66.4 mi)^[8]
18 February 06:50	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman AFB Launch Complex A		ARDC

			ARDC	Suborbital	Test	18 February	Successful
		Apogee: 117.5 kilometres (73.0 mi)^[8]
March
1 March	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 March	Successful^[9]
5 March	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	5 March	Successful^[9]
15 March	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	15 March	Launch failure
		Maiden flight of R-5 Pobeda^[10]
18 March	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	18 March	Launch failure^[10]
19 March	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	19 March	Successful^[9]
April
2 April	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	2 April	Successful
		First successful R-5 launch^[10]
8 April	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	8 April	Launch failure
14 April 15:47	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman AFB Launch Complex A		ARDC

			ARDC	Suborbital	Test	14 April	Successful
		Apogee: 122.3 kilometres (76.0 mi)^[8]
23 April 19:33	Aerobee XASR-SC-2			White Sands - Launch Complex 35		US Air Force

		SPHERE	US Air Force	Suborbital	Aeronomy	23 April	Successful
		Apogee: 124 kilometres (77 mi)^[8]
24 April 10:19	Aerobee XASR-SC-2			White Sands LC-35		US Air Force

		GRENADES	US Air Force	Suborbital	Aeronomy	24 April	Successful
		Apogee: 107.8 kilometres (67.0 mi)^[8]
April	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test		Successful
		Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)
May
11 May	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	19 March	Successful^[9]
20 May 14:04	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman AFB Launch Complex A		ARDC

		Airglow-3	ARDC	Suborbital	Aeronomy	20 May	Successful
		Apogee: 114.3 kilometres (71.0 mi)^[8]
21 May 15:47	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman LC-A		ARDC

		Airglow-4	ARDC	Suborbital	Aeronomy	21 May	Successful
		Apogee: 114.3 kilometres (71.0 mi)^[8]
23 May	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	23 May	Successful
		Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)
May	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test		Successful
		Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)
May	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test		Successful
		Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)
June
3 June	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	3 June	Successful
		Apogee: 150 kilometres (93 mi)
26 June 19:10	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman AFB Launch Complex A		ARDC

		AF / Utah Ionosphere 3 Ionosphere mission	ARDC	Suborbital	Ionospheric	26 June	Successful
		Apogee: 135.2 kilometres (84.0 mi)^[8]
July
1 July 17:52	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman AFB Launch Complex A		ARDC

		AF / Utah Ionosphere 4 Ionosphere mission	ARDC	Suborbital	Ionospheric	1 July	Successful
		Apogee: 138.4 kilometres (86.0 mi)^[8]
6 July	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	6 July	Successful^[9]
14 July 15:30	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman LC-A		ARDC

			ARDC	Suborbital	Solar UV	14 July	Successful
		Apogee: 103 kilometres (64 mi)^[8]
18 July 22:27	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 1		US Navy

		SUI-8	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	18 July	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
19 July 10:30	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 2		US Navy

		SUI-9	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	19 July	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
19 July 15:53	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 3		US Navy

		SUI-10	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	19 July	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
19 July 21:57	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 4		US Navy

		SUI-11	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	19 July	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
23 July 09:47	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman LC-A		ARDC

			ARDC	Suborbital	Aeronomy	23 July	Successful
		Apogee: 95.6 kilometres (59.4 mi)^[8]
24 July 16:40	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 5		US Navy

		SUI-12	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	24 July	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
29 July 09:41	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 6		US Navy

		SUI-13	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	29 July	Successful
		Apogee: 90 kilometres (56 mi)^[11]
August
3 August 18:28	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 7		US Navy

		SUI-14	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	3 August	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
5 August 21:54	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 21		US Navy

			Naval Research Laboratory	Suborbital	Aeronomy	5 August
		Apogee: 80 kilometres (50 mi);^[11] first of six 1953 flights, three of which reached altitude and returned data^[3]
6 August 15:07	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 8		US Navy

		SUI-15	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	6 August	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
6 August 18:40	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 9		US Navy

		SUI-16	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	6 August	Launch failure
		Apogee: 96 kilometres (60 mi)^[11]
8 August 15:09	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 22		US Navy

			Naval Research Laboratory	Suborbital	Aeronomy	8 August
		Apogee: 80 kilometres (50 mi);^[11] second of six 1953 flights, three of which reached altitude and returned data^[3]
9 August 05:54	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 10		US Navy

		SUI-17	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	9 August	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)^[11]
9 August 19:15	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 23		US Navy

			Naval Research Laboratory	Suborbital	Aeronomy	9 August	Launch failure
		Apogee: 38 kilometres (24 mi);^[11] third of six 1953 flights, three of which reached altitude and returned data^[3]
11 August 17:09	Deacon Rockoon			USS Staten Island, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 24		US Navy

			Naval Research Laboratory	Suborbital	Aeronomy	11 August
		Apogee: 80 kilometres (50 mi);^[11] fourth of six 1953 flights, three of which reached altitude and returned data^[3]
30 August 14:00	Deacon Rockoon			USS Eastwind, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 11		US Navy

		SUI-18	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	30 August	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
30 August 16:20	Deacon Rockoon			USS Eastwind, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 12		US Navy

		SUI-19	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	30 August	Launch failure
		Apogee: 11 kilometres (6.8 mi)^[11]
30 August 20:46	Deacon Rockoon			USS Eastwind, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 13		US Navy

		SUI-20	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	30 August	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)^[11]
September
1 September 05:05	Aerobee XASR-SC-2			White Sands - Launch Complex 35		US Air Force

		GRENADES	US Air Force	Suborbital	Aeronomy	1 September	Successful
		Apogee: 107.8 kilometres (67.0 mi)^[8]
3 September 09:50	Deacon Rockoon			USS Eastwind, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 14		US Navy

		SUI-21	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	3 September	Successful
		Apogee: 90 kilometres (56 mi)^[8]
3 September 11:51	Deacon Rockoon			USS Eastwind, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 15		US Navy

		SUI-22	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	3 September	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)^[8]
3 September 14:05	Deacon Rockoon			USS Eastwind, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 16		US Navy

		SUI-23	University of Iowa	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	3 September	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)^[8]
4 September 03:59	Deacon Rockoon			USS Eastwind, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 25		US Navy

			Naval Research Laboratory	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	4 September
		Apogee: 70 kilometres (43 mi);^[11] fifth of six 1953 flights, three of which reached altitude and returned data^[3]
4 September 15:51	Deacon Rockoon			USS Eastwind, Atlantic Ocean Launch Site 11, Launch Point 26		US Navy

			Naval Research Laboratory	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Ionospheric	4 September
		Apogee: 70 kilometres (43 mi);^[11] sixth of six 1953 flights, three of which reached altitude and returned data^[3]
5 September 05:36	Aerobee XASR-SC-1			White Sands LC-35		US Air Force

		GRENADES	US Air Force	Suborbital	Aeronomy	5 September	Successful
		Apogee: 105.5 kilometres (65.6 mi)^[8]
15 September 15:02	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman AFB Launch Complex A		ARDC

		Airglow-5	ARDC	Suborbital	Aeronomy	15 September	Partial launch failure
		Apogee: 32.2 kilometres (20.0 mi) (Early cut-off due to a thrust chamber burn-through; subsequent shots incorporated improved chamber cooling)^[8]
29 September 20:05	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman LC-A		ARDC

		Sphere	ARDC	Suborbital	Aeronomy	29 September	Successful
		Apogee: 58 kilometres (36 mi)^[8]
October
1 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 October	Successful^[12]
1 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 October	Successful^[12]
1 October	R-2			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 October	Successful^[13]
1 October	R-2			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 October	Successful^[13]
7 October 17:00	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman AFB Launch Complex A		ARDC

			ARDC	Suborbital	Solar	7 October	Successful
		Apogee: 99.8 kilometres (62.0 mi)^[8]
10 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	10 October	Successful
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
10 October	R-2			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	10 October	Successful^[13]
16 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	16 October	Successful^[9]
17 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	17 October	Successful^[9]
19 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	19 October	Successful^[9]
20 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	20 October	Successful^[9]
24 October	R-2			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	24 October	Successful^[13]
26 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	26 October	Successful^[9]
27 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	27 October	Successful^[9]
28 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful^[9]
28 October	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	28 October	Successful^[9]
30 October	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	30 October	Successful
		Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)
November
1 November	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 November	Successful^[12]
1 November	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 November	Successful^[12]
1 November	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 November	Successful^[12]
1 November	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	1 November	Successful^[12]
2 November 18:32	Aerobee RTV-A-1a			Holloman AFB Launch Complex A		ARDC

		AF / Utah Ionosphere 5 Ionosphere mission	ARDC	Suborbital	Ionospheric	2 November	Successful
		Apogee: 120.7 kilometres (75.0 mi)^[8]
3 November 18:15	Aerobee			Holloman LC-A		ARDC

		AF / Utah Ionosphere 6 Ionosphere mission	ARDC	Suborbital	Ionospheric	3 November	Successful
		Apogee: 121 kilometres (75 mi)^[8]
12 November	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	12 November	Successful^[9]
15 November	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	15 November	Successful^[12]
15 November	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	15 November	Successful^[9]
		Apogee: 100 kilometres (62 mi)
19 November 22:40	Aerobee RTV-N-10			White Sands - Launch Complex 35		NRL

			NRL	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Solar	19 November	Successful
		Apogee: 112.6 kilometres (70.0 mi)^[8]
24 November	R-1			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	24 November	Successful^[9]
25 November 15:46	Aerobee RTV-N-10			White Sands LC-35		NRL

			NRL	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Solar	25 November	Successful
		Apogee: 95.1 kilometres (59.1 mi)^[8]
December
1 December 15:30	Aerobee RTV-N-10			White Sands - Launch Complex 35		NRL

			NRL	Suborbital	Aeronomy/Solar	1 December	Successful
		Apogee: 129.6 kilometres (80.5 mi)^[8]
9 December	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test	9 December	Successful
		Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)
December	R-5 Pobeda			Kapustin Yar		OKB-1

			OKB-1	Suborbital	Missile test		Successful
		Apogee: 300 kilometres (190 mi)

← Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec →

Suborbital launch summary

By country

Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Unknown	Remarks
Soviet Union	44	42	0	2	0
United States	46	41	4	2	0

By rocket

6

12

18

24

30

Rocket	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Viking (second model)	United States	1	0	0	1
Aerobee RTV-N-10	United States	5	5	0	0
Aerobee XASR-SC-1	United States	1	1	0	0
Aerobee XASR-SC-2	United States	4	4	0	0
Aerobee RTV-A-1a	United States	12	11	1	0
UoI Deacon rockoon	United States	16	7	0	9	Maiden flight
NRL Deacon rockoon	United States	7	3	3	1	Maiden flight
R-1	Soviet Union	25	25	0	0
R-2	Soviet Union	4	14	0	0
R-5	Soviet Union	15	13	0	2

References

^ Voosen, Paul (24 July 2018). "Outer space may have just gotten a bit closer". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aau8822. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
^ Milton W. Rosen (1955). The Viking Rocket Story. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 204–221. OCLC 317524549.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g George Ludwig (2011). Opening Space Research. Washington D.C.: geopress. pp. 18–32. OCLC 845256256.
^ ^a ^b Boris Chertok (June 2006). Rockets and People, Volume II: Creating a Rocket Industry. Washington D.C.: NASA. OCLC 946818748.
^ ^a ^b Asif A. Siddiqi. Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974 (PDF). Washington D.C.: NASA. OCLC 1001823253.
^ John L. Chapman (1960). Atlas The Story of a Missile. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 71–73. OCLC 492591218.
^ "Installation History 1953 - 1955". U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command. 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z Wade, Mark. "Aerobee". Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Wade, Mark. "R-1 8A11". Retrieved 7 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wade, Mark. "R-5". Retrieved 2 February 2021.
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[Ludwig-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g George Ludwig (2011). Opening Space Research. Washington D.C.: geopress. pp. 18–32. OCLC 845256256.

[ranp-4] Boris Chertok (June 2006). Rockets and People, Volume II: Creating a Rocket Industry. Washington D.C.: NASA. OCLC 946818748.

[challenge-5] Asif A. Siddiqi. Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974 (PDF). Washington D.C.: NASA. OCLC 1001823253.

[Atlas-6] John L. Chapman (1960). Atlas The Story of a Missile. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 71–73. OCLC 492591218.

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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 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
Future