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| 1961 - Launches to Orbit and Beyond
Listed are launches, irrespective of outcome, that were irretrievably committed to flight towards orbit or intended to accelerate the payload to escape velocity. The following notes should help with understanding the launch lists.
Launch times are in UTC and are from the launching agency or estimated by 'walking back' along the ground track to the launch site.
Most orbit data and decay information comes from SpaceTrack but it occasionally contains inconsistencies (eg - incorrect re-entry dates or early sets of elements allocated to the wrong object) that need to be corrected from other sources.
To fill the gaps where elements are not formally published, usually because they have a classification of "Secret", some orbits are based on amateur observations using visual and radio techniques. Such data is published near-daily by Mike McCants, and the source observations along with observers' derived orbits can often be found in the web-based Seesat-L discussion group. Occasionally, early orbit data are published by satellite owners. In extreme cases, orbits are estimated from public data.
Space-Track occasionally fails to allocate names to objects in its catalogue. The SATNOGS online database of radio observations sometimes provides pointers to which Catalogue Number belongs to a satellite being tracked by its contributors.
Apogee and perigee are measured against a spherical Earth situated at the focus of the orbital ellipse and with a radius of 6378.145 km. Shown is the Anomalistic Period, or time to complete one circuit of the ellipse. It is not the same as the time taken to complete one circuit of the Earth. Care should be exercised when comparing with other published orbits because they may have been derived using a different model.
1961-001 Atlas-Agena A US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Jan 31, 20:21 | SAMOS 2 (Satellite & Missile Observation System/E1-2) 1961 α1 70 |
Re-entered - 1973 Oct 21 Life 4646 days
|
Satellite And Missile Obervation System - photographic reconnaissance satellite using TV relay. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Feb 02, 03:27 | 6892 | 0.0058 | 475 | 554 | 94.91 | 97.40 | 191 | | | |
1961-002 Molniya 8K78 Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1961 Feb 4, 01:18 | Venera (1VA № 1) 1961 β1 71 |
Re-entered - 1961 Feb 26 Life 22 days
|
Combined Venus exploration craft and final rocket stage, left in LEO when the rocket stage failed to fire. The Spacecraft remained attached to the rocket. Catalogued by NORAD as Sputnik 7. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Feb 05, 11:38 | 6645 | 0.0070 | 220 | 313 | 89.84 | 65.10 | 27 | | | |
1961-003 Molniya 8K78 Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1961 Feb 12, 00:34 | Venera (1VA № 2) 1961 γ1 80 |
in space
|
Venus exploration spacecraft. It passed close to Venus around 1961 Jun 2 but radio communication had ceased 1961 Feb 17. |
Heliocentric orbit | |
1961-004 Scout X-1 Wallops Flight Facility | 1961 Feb 16, 13:05 | Explorer 9 (S-56A) 1961 δ1 81 |
Re-entered - 1964 Apr 9 Life 1148 days
|
Science satellite for atmospheric density measurements- part of the payload was a 4m diameter balloon. Replacement for satellite lost 1960 Dec 4. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Feb 16, 14:42 | 7992 | 0.1224 | 636 | 2592 | 118.50 | 38.63 | 99 | | | |
1961-005 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Feb 17, 20:25 | Discoverer 20 (Corona 9014A/KH-5) 1961 ε1 83 |
Re-entered - 1962 Jul 28 Life 526 days
|
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle did not separate. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Feb 18, 05:25 | 6914 | 0.0364 | 284 | 787 | 95.35 | 80.91 | 124 | | | |
1961-006 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Feb 18, 22:58 | Discoverer 21 (Corona RM-2) 1961 ζ1 84 |
Re-entered - 1962 Apr 20 Life 426 days
|
Instrumented Agena-B rocket stage testing sensors for the MIDAS missile early warning satellite programme. Also used to demonstrate the Agena re-start capability. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Feb 18, 23:58 | 7032 | 0.0589 | 239 | 1068 | 97.81 | 80.74 | 141 | | | |
1961-007 Thor Ablestar Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Feb 22, 03:45 | Transit 3B/LOFTI 1961 η1 87 |
Re-entered - 1961 Mar 30 Life 36 days
|
Experimental navigation satellite. The LOFTI (Low Frequency Trans-Ionospheric) satellite failed to separate from Transit. It was used for experiments in the possibility of using LF radio to communicate with submerged submarines but two of the LF aerials could not be deployed. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Feb 22, 05:03 | 6965 | 0.0571 | 189 | 984 | 96.41 | 28.38 | 33 | | | |
1961-F01 - failed to reach orbit Juno II Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Feb 25, 00:13 | |
|
Science satellite for ionosphere research. Lost when the launch vehicle failed. |
|
1961-008 Vostok 8K72K Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1961 Mar 9, 06:29 | Korabl Sputnik 4 (Vostok-3 №1) 1961 θ1 91 |
Re-entered - 1961 Mar 9 Life <1 day
Returned to Earth |
Carried a dog - Chernushka, and the instrumented mannequin 'Ivan Ivanovich' plus other biological specimens. The mannequin was ejected from the capsule and landed by parachute. Chernushka landed inside the cabin. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Mar 09, 07:48 | 6545 | 0.0070 | 121 | 213 | 87.83 | 64.93 | 95 | | | |
1961-009 Vostok 8K72K Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1961 Mar 25, 05:54 | Korabl Sputnik 5 (Vostok-3 №2) 1961 ι1 95 |
Re-entered - 1961 Mar 25 Life <1 day
Returned to Earth |
Carried a dog - Zvezdochka, and the instrumented mannequin 'Ivan Ivanovich' on it's second flight. The mannequin was ejected from the capsule and landed by parachute. Zvezdochka landed inside the cabin. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Mar 25, 05:53 | 6574 | 0.0050 | 163 | 229 | 88.42 | 64.90 | 60 | | | |
1961-010 Thor Delta Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Mar 25, 15:17 | Explorer 10 (P-14) 1961 κ1 98 |
Re-entered - 1961 Jun 30 Life 97 days
|
Science satellite to investigate the magnetic field between the Earth and Moon. Barycentric trajectory equated to an orbit approx 150 x 215,000 km at 32° inclination. |
Earth-Moon Barycentric Orbit | |
1961-F02 - failed to reach orbit Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Mar 30, 20:34 | Discoverer 22 (Corona 9015/KH-2) |
|
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Satellite lost when upper stage of the launch vehicle failed. |
|
1961-011 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Apr 8, 19:21 | Discoverer 23 (Corona 9016A/KH-5) 1961 λ1 100 |
Re-entered - 1962 Apr 16 Life 373 days
|
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle boosted to a higher orbit when stabilisation of the main vehicle failed. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Apr 08, 23:30 | 6850 | 0.0258 | 295 | 648 | 94.03 | 82.31 | 168 | | | |
1961-012 Vostok 8K72K Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1961 Apr 12, 06:07 | Vostok (Vostok-3A №3) 1961 μ1 103 |
Re-entered - 1961 Apr 12 Life <1 day
Returned to Earth |
First piloted spaceflight for a single orbit of the Earth - carried Yuri Gagarin. Retro fire came 1961 Apr 12, 07:25 UTC. After re-entry, Gagarin was ejected from the cabin and landed under a separate parchute. The cabin used its own parachute system. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Apr 12, 06:00 | 6619 | 0.0110 | 168 | 314 | 89.33 | 64.95 | 60 | | | |
1961-F03 - failed to reach orbit Atlas D Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Apr 25, 16:15 | |
|
Single orbit mission of the Mercury spacecraft to verify the launching system and the retro-fire, re-entry and recovery sequence. It failed when Range Safety destroyed the launch vehicle but the Mercury Launch Escape System meant that the spacecraft was recovered intact. |
|
1961-013 Juno II Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Apr 27, 14:16 | Explorer 11 (S-15) 1961 ν1 107 |
in space
|
Science satellite for Gamma ray astronomy. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Apr 28, 07:53 | 7514 | 0.0846 | 501 | 1772 | 108.04 | 28.80 | 125 | | | |
1961-F04 - failed to reach orbit Juno II Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 May 24, 19:48 | |
|
Science satellite for ionosphere research. Lost when the launch vehicle failed. |
|
1961-F05 - failed to reach orbit Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Jun 8, 21:16 | Discoverer 24 (Corona 9018A/KH-5) |
|
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Lost when launch vehicle failed. |
|
1961-014 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Jun 16, 23:02 | Discoverer 25 (Corona 9017/KH-2) 1961 ξ1 108 |
Re-entered - 1961 Jul 12 Life 26 days
Returned to Earth |
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle recovered 1961 Jun 18. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Jun 17, 03:03 | 6692 | 0.0136 | 223 | 405 | 90.81 | 82.11 | 178 | | | |
1961-015 Thor Ablestar Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Jun 29, 04:22 | |
in space
|
Navigation satellite. First satellite to carry a nuclear power source. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Jul 09, 06:00 | 7317 | 0.0080 | 880 | 998 | 103.82 | 66.81 | 289 | | | | |
in space
|
Pair of satellites that separated from Transit 4A but not from each other. GRAB 3 was a US Naval Laboratory satellite with a SIGINT mission. Injun was a USN satellite investigating radiation in the magnetosphere. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Jul 06, 08:47 | 7318 | 0.0078 | 882 | 997 | 103.83 | 66.82 | 288 | | | |
1961-F06 - failed to reach orbit Scout X-1 Wallops Flight Facility | 1961 Jun 30, 17:09 | |
|
Science satellite launched to evaluate the Scout launch vehicle and to investigate micrometeoroids. It was lost when the launch vehicle third stage failed to ignite. |
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1961-016 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Jul 7, 23:29 | Discoverer 26 (Corona 9019/KH-2) 1961 π1 160 |
Re-entered - 1961 Dec 5 Life 151 days
Returned to Earth |
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle recovered 1960 Jul 10. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Jul 08, 08:26 | 6895 | 0.0417 | 229 | 804 | 94.96 | 82.94 | 160 | | | |
1961-017 Thor Delta Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Jul 12, 10:25 | |
in space
|
Television Infrared Observation Satellite meteorological satellite for obtaining TV images of cloud patterns. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | Desc Node Local Time | |
1961 Jul 15, 13:34 | 7156 | 0.0061 | 735 | 822 | 100.41 | 47.90 | 54 | 13:59 | | |
1961-018 Atlas-Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Jul 12, 15:11 | |
in space
|
Satellite of the Missile Defense and Early Warning System equipped with infrared sensors and intended to work in conjunction with the land-based BMEWS system. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Jul 15, 22:32 | 9823 | 0.0020 | 3426 | 3464 | 161.49 | 91.17 | 342 | | | |
1961-F07 - failed to reach orbit Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Jul 21, 22:35 | Discoverer 27 (Corona 9020A/KH-5) |
|
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Lost when Range Safety destroyed the launch vehicle soon after lift-off. |
|
1961-F08 - failed to reach orbit Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Aug 4, 00:01 | Discoverer 28 (Corona 9021/KH-2) |
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US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Satellite lost when upper stage of the launch vehicle failed. |
|
1961-019 Vostok 8K72K Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1961 Aug 6, 06:00 | Vostok 2 (Vostok-3A №4) 1961 τ1 168 |
Re-entered - 1961 Aug 7 Life 1 day
Returned to Earth |
Second piloted orbital mission of the Vostok - carried Gherman Titov on a one day flight. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Aug 06, 14:42 | 6574 | 0.0034 | 173 | 218 | 88.40 | 64.87 | 26 | | | |
1961-020 Thor Delta Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Aug 16, 03:21 | Explorer 12 (EPE-A/S-3) 1961 υ1 170 |
Re-entered - 1963 Sep 30 Life 775 days
|
Science satellite researching energetic particles in near-Earth space. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Sep 20, 08:07 | 45192 | 0.8487 | 457 | 77170 | 1593.50 | 33.43 | 160 | | | |
1961-021 Atlas-Agena B Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Aug 23, 10:04 | Ranger 1 (P-32/RA-1) 1961 φ1 173 |
Re-entered - 1961 Aug 30 Life 7 days
|
Sytems test of a hard-impact lunar photographic spacececraft. The intention was to enter a highly elliptical orbit with apogee around 500,000 km, followed by re-entry into the atmosphere after about 50 days. It failed when the Agena upper stage shut down immediately on commencing its second burn, leaving the vehcle in LEO. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Aug 23, 11:07 | 6717 | 0.0248 | 172 | 506 | 91.31 | 32.93 | 199 | | | |
1961-022 Scout X-1 Wallops Flight Facility | 1961 Aug 25, 18:29 | Explorer 13 (S-55A) 1961 χ1 180 |
Re-entered - 1961 Aug 28 Life 3 days
|
Science satellite for micrometeoroid research. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Aug 26, 18:13 | 6966 | 0.0320 | 365 | 810 | 96.43 | 36.42 | 275 | | | |
1961-023 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Aug 30, 20:00 | Discoverer 29 (Corona 9023/KH-3) 1961 ψ1 181 |
Re-entered - 1961 Sep 10 Life 11 days
Returned to Earth |
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle recovered 1961 Sep 1 - all film frames were found to be out of focus. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Aug 31, 07:41 | 6724 | 0.0292 | 149 | 542 | 91.45 | 82.14 | 83 | | | |
1961-F09 - failed to reach orbit Atlas-Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Sep 9, 19:28 | SAMOS (Satellite and Missile Observation System/E2-1) |
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Satellite And Missile Obervation System - photographic reconnaissance satellite intended to return film in a re-entry vehicle. Lost when the launch vehicle exploded on the pad. |
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1961-024 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Sep 12, 19:59 | Discoverer 30 (Corona 9022/KH-3) 1961 ω1 182 |
Re-entered - 1961 Dec 11 Life 90 days
|
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle recovered 1961 Sep 1 - all film frames were found to be out of focus (similar to Discoverer 29). |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Sep 13, 13:55 | 6767 | 0.0250 | 220 | 558 | 92.34 | 82.58 | 142 | | | |
1961-025 Atlas D Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Sep 13, 14:04 | Mercury (MA-4) 1961 αα1 183 |
Re-entered - 1961 Sep 13 Life <1 day
Returned to Earth |
Single orbit mission of the Mercury spacecraft to verify the launching system and the retro-fire, re-entry and recovery sequence. Mission successful - Mercury spacecraft recovered after 109 minutes, at the end of a single circuit of the Earth. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Sep 13, 14:09 | 6573 | 0.0070 | 149 | 241 | 88.40 | 32.54 | 70 | | | |
1961-026 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Sep 17, 21:00 | Discoverer 31 (Corona 9024/KH-3) 1961 αβ1 186 |
Re-entered - 1961 Oct 26 Life 39 days
|
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle not released due to a power failure 1961 Sep 9. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Sep 18, 07:04 | 6696 | 0.0127 | 233 | 403 | 90.89 | 82.70 | 146 | | | |
1961-027 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Oct 13, 19:22 | Discoverer 32 (Corona 9025/KH-3) 1961 αγ1 189 |
Re-entered - 1961 Nov 13 Life 31 days
Returned to Earth |
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle recovered 1961 Oct 14 - most film frames were found to be out of focus (as with both previous missions). |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Oct 14, 02:24 | 6691 | 0.0118 | 234 | 392 | 90.78 | 81.69 | 158 | | | |
1961-028 Atlas-Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Oct 21, 13:53 | |
in space
|
Experimental satellite of the Missile Defense and Early Warning System equipped with infrared sensors and intended to work in conjunction with the land-based BMEWS system. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | Desc Node Local Time | |
1961 Dec 17, 00:11 | 10004 | 0.0122 | 3504 | 3748 | 165.96 | 95.90 | 334 | 02:51 | | |
1961-F10 - failed to reach orbit Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Oct 23, 19:23 | Discoverer 23 (Corona 9026/KH-3) |
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US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Satellite was lost when the launch vehicle failed. |
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1961-F11 - failed to reach orbit Cosmos 63S1 Kapustin Yar Cosmodrome | 1961 Oct 27, 16:30 | |
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Technology test satellite. Lost when the launch vehicle failed to reach orbital velocity. |
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1961-F12 - failed to reach orbit Blue Scout II Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Nov 1, 15:32 | |
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Small satellite to be used in testing the Project Mercury communications networ. Lost when the launch vehicle broke up after 26s. |
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1961-029 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Nov 5, 20:00 | Discoverer 34 (Corona 9027/KH-3) 1961 αε1 197 |
Re-entered - 1962 Dec 7 Life 397 days
|
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Guidance error at launch meant the orbit was too elliptical and re-entry vehicle recovery was not attempted. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Nov 07, 21:36 | 6994 | 0.0558 | 226 | 1006 | 97.01 | 82.52 | 145 | | | |
1961-030 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Nov 15, 21:23 | Discoverer 35 (Corona 9028/KH-3) 1961 αζ1 201 |
Re-entered - 1961 Dec 3 Life 18 days
Returned to Earth |
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle recovered 1961 Nov 16. Designation and catalogue number are out of sequence. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Nov 16, 04:20 | 6647 | 0.0054 | 233 | 304 | 89.89 | 81.63 | 140 | | | |
1961-031 Thor Ablestar Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Nov 15, 22:26 | |
in space
|
Navigation satellite with nuclear power source. Sustained damage from the electromagnetic pulse associated with the US "Starfish" high altitude nuclear test 1963 Jul 9. Designation and catalogue number are out of sequence. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Nov 19, 13:53 | 7409 | 0.0129 | 936 | 1127 | 105.79 | 32.42 | 1 | | | | |
in space
|
Tethered satellite experiment - the main body was attached to a mass at the end of a boom and a spring wire. Also carried detectors to measure protons and heavier particles in the van Allen Radiation Belt. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Nov 22, 12:20 | 7410 | 0.0131 | 935 | 1129 | 105.80 | 32.43 | 25 | | | |
1961-032 Atlas-Agena B Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Nov 18, 08:12 | Ranger 2 (P-33/RA-2) 1961 αθ 206 |
Re-entered - 1961 Nov 20 Life 2 days
|
Sytems test of a hard-impact lunar photographic spacececraft. The intention was to enter a highly elliptical orbit with apogee around 500,000 km. It failed when the Agena failed to ignite for its second burn, leaving the vehcle in LEO. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Nov 18, 09:15 | 6576 | 0.0073 | 149 | 246 | 88.45 | 33.34 | 49 | | | |
1961-F13 - failed to reach orbit Atlas-Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Nov 22, 20:45 | SAMOS (Satellite and Missile Observation System/E5-1) |
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Satellite And Missile Obervation System - photographic reconnaissance satellite intended to return film in a re-entry vehicle. Lost when the Agena stage failed to ignite. |
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1961-033 Atlas D Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1961 Nov 29, 15:07 | Mercury (MA-5) 1961 αι1 208 |
Re-entered - 1961 Nov 29 Life <1 day
Returned to Earth |
Intended three orbit mission of the Mercury spacecraft carrying the chimpanzee "Enos". Recovered early after two circuits, because of problems with the attitude control system. Landed 10:28 UTC in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Nov 29, 15:12 | 6576 | 0.0061 | 158 | 238 | 88.45 | 32.63 | 70 | | | |
1961-F14 - failed to reach orbit Vostok 8K72K Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1961 Dec 11, 09:39 | Cosmos (Zenit-2 11Ф61 № 1) |
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Imaging satellite equipped with film cameras for photo-reconnaissance - lost when launch vehicle upper stage cutoff prematurely at T+407 seconds and the spacecraft destruct system activated. The descent module would have landed in Siberia but it was not found. |
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1961-034 Thor Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Dec 12, 20:40 | Discoverer 36 (Corona 9029/KH-3) 1961 ακ1 213 |
Re-entered - 1962 Mar 8 Life 86 days
Returned to Earth |
US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry vehicle re-entered 1961 Dec 16 but the mid-air snatch was missed and it was kept afloat for several hours by frogmen. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Dec 13, 17:33 | 6740 | 0.0187 | 235 | 488 | 91.78 | 81.21 | 138 | | | | |
Re-entered - 1962 Jan 31 Life 50 days
|
Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. First amateur radio satellite - transmitted the letters "HI" in morse code at an amateur frequency near 145 MHz for a period of 20 days. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Dec 15, 13:55 | 6735 | 0.0181 | 235 | 479 | 91.69 | 81.21 | 131 | | | |
1961-F15 - failed to reach orbit Cosmos 63S1 Kapustin Yar Cosmodrome | 1961 Dec 21, 12:30 | |
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Developmental satellite. Lost when the launch vehicle second stage failed to ignite. |
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1961-035 Atlas-Agena B US Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello | 1961 Dec 22, 19:12 | SAMOS 5 (E5-2) 1961 αλ2 218 |
Re-entered - 1961 Dec 31 Life 9 days
|
Satellite And Missile Obervation System - photographic reconnaissance satellite intended to return film in a re-entry vehicle. Retro-fire failed and the satellite eventually decayed naturally. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis ( km ) | ecc | perigee ( km ) | apogee ( km ) | period ( min ) | incl ( ° ) | ω ( ° ) | | |
1961 Dec 25, 21:54 | 6619 | 0.0080 | 188 | 294 | 89.32 | 89.61 | 11 | | | |
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