1958 in spaceflight explained

Year:	1958
First:	1 February
Last:	18 December
Total:	28
Success:	6
Failed:	20
Partial:	2
Catalogued:	8
Maidens:	Juno I Sputnik 8A91 Pilot Thor-Able Luna Juno II Atlas B
Retired:	Sputnik 8A91 Pilot Juno I
Firstflight:
Firstlaunch:
Firstsat:

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

Orbital launches

January-December

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Suborbital launches

January

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February

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March

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April

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May

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June

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July

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August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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Orbital launch summary

By country

scope=col	Country	scope=col	Launches	scope=col	Successes	scope=col	Failures	scope=col	Partial failures	scope=col	Remarks
	5	1	4	0
	23	5	16	2	First successful orbital launch

By rocket

By family

scope=col	Family	scope=col	Country	scope=col	Launches	scope=col	Successes	scope=col	Failures	scope=col	Partial failures	scope=col	Remarks
		1	1	0	0	First orbital launch
		6	3	3	0	First orbital launch
		1	0	0	1	Maiden flight
NOTS-EV		6	0	6	0	Only orbital launches
R07		5	1	4	0
		3	0	2	1	Maiden flight
		6	1	5	0

By type and configuration

scope=col	Rocket	scope=col	Country	scope=col	Type	scope=col	Family	scope=col	Launches	scope=col	Successes	scope=col	Failures	scope=col	Partial failures	scope=col	Remarks
		SM-65 Atlas	Atlas	1	1	0	0	Maiden flight, only orbital launch
Juno I			Redstone	6	3	3	0	Maiden flight
Juno II		Juno	Jupiter	1	0	0	1	Maiden flight
Luna			R-7	3	0	3	0	Maiden flight
		Pilot	NOTS-EV	6	0	6	0	Only flights
Sputnik 8A91		Sputnik	R-7	2	1	1	0	Only flights
			Thor	3	0	2	1	Maiden flight
		Vanguard	Viking	6	1	5	0

By launch site

scope=col	Site	scope=col	Country	scope=col	Launches	scope=col	Successes	scope=col	Failures	scope=col	Partial failures	scope=col	Remarks
Baikonur		5	1	4	0
		17	5	10	2
		6	0	6	0

By orbit

scope=col	Orbital regime	scope=col	Launches	scope=col	Successes	scope=col	Failures	scope=col	Accidentally Achieved	scope=col	Remarks
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

• Timeline of spaceflight

References

Footnotes