1957 in spaceflight

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The Timeline of Spaceflight WikiProject has identified this article as requiring cleanup and/or expansion to ensure consistency with other timeline aricles. Concerns have been raised that: inconsistent date formats are present in the article (d mmmm format should be used throughout) a large amount of launch information is missing See Wikipedia:WikiProject Timeline of spaceflight for guidelines on how to improve the article.

Contents 1 Launches 2 Orbital launch summary 2.1 By country 2.2 By rocket 2.3 By orbit 3 References

Launches

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1957.

Launch Date/Time	Rocket	Launch Site	Launch Contractor	Payload	Operator	Orbit	Mission/ Function	Re-Entry/ Destruction	Outcome	Remarks
January 26	Thor DM-18	LC-17B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Exploded on pad.
March 1 21:51 GMT	Jupiter	LC-5, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Maiden flight of Jupiter IRBM. Overheated and disintegrated.
April 20 04:33 GMT	Thor DM-18	LC-17B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Maiden flight of Thor IRBM. Tracking error led flight controllers to incorrectly believe rocket was off course, self-destruct activated.
April 26 20:12 GMT	Jupiter	LC-5, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure
May 1 06:29 GMT	Viking	LC-18, Cape Canaveral	US Navy	Vanguard third stage	US Navy	Sub-orbital	Test Vanguard third stage	May 1, 1957	Successful	Final flight of Viking sounding rocket.
May 15 07:55 GMT	Jupiter C (Juno)	LC-6, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Gyro failure at T+134 seconds.
May 15 16:01 GMT	R-7	LC-1, Baikonur	MVS	(none)	N/A	N/A	Test flight	N/A	Failure	Maiden flight of R-7 rocket. Booster rocket tore away at T+98 seconds. Engine fire.
May 22 03:00 GMT	Thor DM-18	LC-17B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Valve malfunction resulted in high internal pressure and ultimately explosion.
May 31 18:08 GMT	Jupiter	LC-5, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Successful
June 11 19:37 GMT	Atlas A	LC-14, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	ICBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Maiden flight of Atlas. Fuel system malfunction.
July 12 12:53 GMT	R-7	LC-1, Baikonur	MVS	(none)	N/A	N/A	Test flight	N/A	Failure	Loss of control. Boosters jettisoned prematurely at T+33 seconds.
August 8 06:59 GMT	Jupiter C (Juno)	LC-6, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Successful	Nosecone recovered, proving re-entry system worked.
August 21 12:25 GMT	R-7	LC-1, Baikonur	MVS	(none)	N/A	N/A	Test flight	N/A	Successful
August 28 21:02 GMT	Jupiter	LC-26A, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Successful
August 30	Thor DM-18	LC-17A, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Disintegrated at T+92 seconds.
September 7 11:39 GMT	R-7	LC-1, Baikonur	MVS	(none)	N/A	N/A	Test flight	N/A	Successful
September 20	Thor DM-18	LC-17B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Successful
September 25 19:57 GMT	Atlas A	LC-14, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	ICBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Fuel system malfunction.
October 3 17:13 GMT	Thor DM-18	LC-17A, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Exploded on pad.
October 4 19:28 GMT	R-7 8K71PS	LC-1, Baikonur	RVSN	Sputnik 1	RVSN	LEO	Demonstrate orbital launch capability	January 3, 1958	Successful	First successful orbital satellite.
October 11 16:29 GMT	Thor DM-18	LC-17B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Partial Failure	Pump gearbox failure, still met test objectives.
October 23 01:07 GMT	Jupiter	LC-26B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Successful
October 23 19:22 GMT	Vanguard Test Article	LC-18, Cape Canaveral	US Navy	(none)	N/A	N/A	Test first stage of Vanguard rocket	N/A	Successful	Battleship 2nd and 3rd stages.
October 24 16:32 GMT	Thor DM-18	LC-17A, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Successful
November 3 02:30 GMT	R-7 8K71PS	LC-1, Baikonur	RVSN	Sputnik 2, 1 dog (Laika)	RVSN	LEO	Test effects of spaceflight on a living organism	April 14, 1958	Partial Failure	First living organism in space. Animal died prior to completion of experiments.
November 13 01:51 GMT	Skylark	LA-2, Woomera	RAE/WRE	(none)	N/A	N/A	Test sounding rocket Aeronomy experiments	N/A	Successful
November 27 02:10 GMT	Jupiter	LC-26B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Pump failure at T+202 seconds resulted in complete loss of thrust.
December 6 16:44 GMT	Vanguard	LC-18, Cape Canaveral	US Navy	Vanguard 1A	US Navy	Intended: LEO	Demonstrate orbital launch capability	T+2 seconds	Failure	First flight of Vanguard rocket in full configuration. Lost thrust and exploded on pad.
December 7 22:11 GMT	Thor DM-18	LC-17B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Successful
December 17 17:39 GMT	Atlas A	LC-14, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	ICBM research and development	N/A	Successful
December 19 00:07 GMT	Jupiter	LC-26B, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Failure	Pump failure at T+116 seconds resulted in complete loss of thrust.
December 19 20:12 GMT	Thor DM-18	LC-17A, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	(none)	N/A	N/A	IRBM research and development	N/A	Successful

[edit] Orbital launch summary

[edit] By country

Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Soviet Union	2	2	0	0	First orbital launch
United States	1	0	1	0
Totals	3	2	1	0

[edit] By rocket

Rocket	Country	Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures	Remarks
Sputnik 8K71PS	Soviet Union	2	2	0	0	Maiden and final flights
Vanguard	United States	1	0	1	0	Maiden flight

[edit] By orbit

Orbital regime	Launches	Successes	Failures	Accidentally Achieved	Remarks
Low Earth orbit	3	2	1	0

[edit] References

• Encyclopedia Astronautica
• Gunter's Space Page - Chronology of Space Launches
• JAXA
• Jonathan's Space Report (SatCat.txt and Launchlog.txt)
• Mission Set Database (NASA GFC)
• NASA
• NASA SpaceFlight.com
• Orbital Report News Agency's Launch Logs
• Space Calendar (NASA JPL)
• Southwest Space Archive
• SPACE.com Launch Forecast
• SpaceFlightNow
• Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive
• U.S. Space Objects Registry
• Хроника освоения космоса (Russian)

v • d • e Timeline of spaceflight
1950s Earlier 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
Preceded by: 1956 Timeline of spaceflight 1957 Succeeded by: 1958