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Orbital Launches of the 1950s

7,332 orbital launches since 1957

Search, filter and explore every orbital launch ever attempted — cross-linked to the satellites they deployed, the rockets that flew them and the operators behind them. Built on GCAT & Launch Library 2.

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7,332
Total launches
149
This year
92.8%
Success rate
159
Crewed
1957
Since

Orbital Radar lists 56 orbital launches across the 1950s, part of 7,332 orbital launches catalogued since 1957. Every entry links to the rocket, the operator and the satellites it deployed.

2020s 2010s SpaceX Falcon 9 Soyuz Failures Cape Canaveral ⬡ Crewed only

Featured & milestone launches

56 launches
DateMissionVehicleOperatorLaunch sitePayloadsOrbitOutcome
1959-11-26Able IVB1959-F09Atlas AbleUS Air ForceCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1959-11-20CORONA C-51959 LAMThor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOsuccess
1959-11-07CORONA C-41959 KAPThor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOsuccess
1959-10-13NASA S-1A1959 IOTJuno IIABMACape Canaveral—LEOsuccess
1959-10-04E-2A1959 THEVostok-L 8K72MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—HEOsuccess
1959-09-24Able IVA1959-E02Atlas C AbleUS Air ForceCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1959-09-18Magne-Ray satellite1959 ETAVanguard X-248NRLCape Canaveral—MEOsuccess
1959-09-17Transit 1A1959-F08Thor Able II M1US Air ForceCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1959-09-12E-1 No. 71959 XIVostok-L 8K72MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—HEOsuccess
1959-08-19CORONA C-31959 ZETThor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOsuccess
1959-08-15Beacon1959-F07Juno II (3)ABMACape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1959-08-13CORONA C-21959 EPSThor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOsuccess
1959-08-07NASA S-21959 DELThor Able IIIUS Air ForceCape Canaveral—HEOsuccess
1959-07-16NASA S-11959-F05Juno IIABMACape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1959-06-25CORONA C-11959-U01Thor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOfailure
1959-06-22Radiation Balance sat1959-F03VanguardNRLCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1959-06-18E-1 No. 51959-F06Vostok-L 8K72MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—LEOfailure
1959-06-03CORONA BIO 21959-F02Thor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOfailure
1959-04-14Magnetometer satellite1959-F01VanguardNRLCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1959-04-13CORONA BIO 11959 GAMThor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOsuccess
1959-03-03Pioneer 41959 NUJuno IIABMACape Canaveral—HEOsuccess
1959-02-28CORONA Test Vehicle 21959 BETThor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOfailure
1959-02-17Cloud cover satellite1959 ALPVanguardNRLCape Canaveral—MEOsuccess
1959-01-21Discoverer 01959-E01Thor Agena AUS Air ForceVandenberg SFB—LEOfailure
1959-01-02E-1 No. 41959 MUVostok-L 8K72MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—HEOsuccess
1958-12-18SCORE1958 ZETAtlas BUS Air ForceCape Canaveral—LEOsuccess
1958-12-06Pioneer 31958 THEJuno IIABMACape Canaveral—HEOsuccess
1958-12-04E-1 No. 31958-F20Vostok-L 8K72MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—LEOfailure
1958-11-08Able 31958-F19Thor Able IUS Air ForceCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1958-10-23Beacon1958-F18Jupiter C JunoIABMACape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1958-10-11E-1 No. 21958-F17Vostok-L 8K72MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—LEOfailure
1958-10-11Able 21958 ETAThor Able IUS Air ForceCape Canaveral—HEOsuccess
1958-09-26Cloud cover satellite1958-U01VanguardNRLCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1958-09-23E-1 No. 11958-F15Vostok-L 8K72MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—LEOfailure
1958-08-28Radiation Payload 31958-F14NOTS EV1NOTSChina Lake—LEOfailure
1958-08-26Radiation Payload 21958-F13NOTS EV1NOTSChina Lake—LEOfailure
1958-08-25Radiation Payload 11958-F12NOTS EV1NOTSChina Lake—LEOfailure
1958-08-24Explorer 51958-F11Jupiter C JunoIABMACape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1958-08-22Diagnostic Payload 31958-F10NOTS EV1NOTSChina Lake—LEOfailure
1958-08-17Able 11958-F09Thor Able IUS Air ForceCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1958-08-12Diagnostic Payload 21958-F08NOTS EV1NOTSChina Lake—LEOfailure
1958-07-26Explorer 41958 EPSJupiter C JunoIABMACape Canaveral—MEOsuccess
1958-07-25Diagnostic Payload 11958-F07NOTS EV1NOTSChina Lake—LEOfailure
1958-06-26X-ray satellite1958-F06VanguardNRLCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1958-05-28Lyman Alpha satellite1958-F05VanguardNRLCape Canaveral—MEOfailure
1958-05-15D-1 No. 21958 DELSputnik 8A91MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—LEOsuccess
1958-04-29X-ray satellite1958-F04VanguardNRLCape Canaveral—LEOfailure
1958-04-27D-1 No. 11958-F03Sputnik 8A91MVSBaikonur Cosmodrome—LEOfailure
1958-03-26Explorer 31958 GAMJupiter C JunoIABMACape Canaveral—MEOsuccess
1958-03-17Vanguard Test Satellite1958 BETVanguardNRLCape Canaveral—MEOsuccess

Launch cadence · 1957 → 2026

Annual orbital launch attempts worldwide. The modern surge is reshaping the record.

19572026

About this database

Every orbital launch since 1957 — 7,332 in total, 159 of them crewed — cross-linked to the rockets, operators and satellites involved. The historical record is built on GCAT and enriched with Launch Library 2, then matched to our live satellite catalogue.

Browse the database

crawlable facet hubs · each its own indexable page

By year

2026 1492025 3302024 2632023 2232022 1862021 1462020 1142019 103

By vehicle

Soyuz 1,177Falcon 9 653Long March 653Kosmos 622Atlas 436Proton 425Thor 331Molniya 320

By operator

Soviet Rocket Forces 1,537Soviet Space Forces 905SpaceX 682CASC 644NASA 462Arianespace 305US Air Force 277Russian Aerospace Forces 272

By outcome / site

Successful 6,805Failed 525Unconfirmed 2Plesetsk Cosmodrome 1,644Baikonur Cosmodrome 1,558Cape Canaveral 1,093
Full launch index (56 launches)
Able IVB (1959-11-26)CORONA C-5 (1959-11-20)CORONA C-4 (1959-11-07)NASA S-1A (1959-10-13)E-2A (1959-10-04)Able IVA (1959-09-24)Magne-Ray satellite (1959-09-18)Transit 1A (1959-09-17)E-1 No. 7 (1959-09-12)CORONA C-3 (1959-08-19)Beacon (1959-08-15)CORONA C-2 (1959-08-13)NASA S-2 (1959-08-07)NASA S-1 (1959-07-16)CORONA C-1 (1959-06-25)Radiation Balance sat (1959-06-22)E-1 No. 5 (1959-06-18)CORONA BIO 2 (1959-06-03)Magnetometer satellite (1959-04-14)CORONA BIO 1 (1959-04-13)Pioneer 4 (1959-03-03)CORONA Test Vehicle 2 (1959-02-28)Cloud cover satellite (1959-02-17)Discoverer 0 (1959-01-21)E-1 No. 4 (1959-01-02)SCORE (1958-12-18)Pioneer 3 (1958-12-06)E-1 No. 3 (1958-12-04)Able 3 (1958-11-08)Beacon (1958-10-23)Able 2 (1958-10-11)E-1 No. 2 (1958-10-11)Cloud cover satellite (1958-09-26)E-1 No. 1 (1958-09-23)Radiation Payload 3 (1958-08-28)Radiation Payload 2 (1958-08-26)Radiation Payload 1 (1958-08-25)Explorer 5 (1958-08-24)Diagnostic Payload 3 (1958-08-22)Able 1 (1958-08-17)Diagnostic Payload 2 (1958-08-12)Explorer 4 (1958-07-26)Diagnostic Payload 1 (1958-07-25)X-ray satellite (1958-06-26)Lyman Alpha satellite (1958-05-28)D-1 No. 2 (1958-05-15)X-ray satellite (1958-04-29)D-1 No. 1 (1958-04-27)Explorer 3 (1958-03-26)Vanguard Test Satellite (1958-03-17)Explorer 2 (1958-03-05)Vanguard Test Satellite (1958-02-05)Explorer 1 (1958-02-01)Vanguard Test Satellite (1957-12-06)PS-2 (1957-11-03)PS-1 (1957-10-04)

Last updated 2026-06-21 · Data: GCAT (J. McDowell, planet4589.org) · Launch Library 2 / The Space Devs — enriched & cross-linked by Orbital Radar.