1961 in spaceflight
For launches in the first half of the year, see 1961 in spaceflight (January–June), for launches in the second half, see 1961 in spaceflight (July–December)
The Vostok 1 spacecraft, aboard which Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth on 12 April 1961 | |
Orbital launches | |
---|---|
First | 31 January |
Last | 22 December |
Total | 50 |
Successes | 28 |
Failures | 20 |
Partial failures | 2 |
Catalogued | 36 |
National firsts | |
Spaceflight | Italy |
Space traveller |
Soviet Union United States |
Rockets | |
Maiden flights |
Atlas LV-3A Agena-B Kosmos-2I 63S1 Saturn I (suborbital test) |
Retirements |
Atlas LV-3A Agena-A Juno II |
Manned flights | |
Orbital | 2 |
Suborbital | 2 |
Total travellers | 4 |
Deep Space Rendezvous
Date (GMT) | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
19 May | Venera 1 | Flyby of Venus | Spacecraft was already non-functional as communication had been lost en route, closest approach: 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) |
Orbital launch summary
By country
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Orbital launch attempts by country in 1961 |
Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Soviet Union | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | |
United States | 41 | 23 | 16 | 2 |
By rocket
Rocket | Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlas LV-3A Agena-A | United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Retired |
Atlas LV-3A Agena-B | United States | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | Maiden flight |
Atlas LV-3B | United States | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | First orbital launch |
RM-90 Blue Scout II | United States | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | First orbital launch |
Juno II | United States | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Retired |
Kosmos-2I 63S1 | Soviet Union | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Maiden flight |
Molniya 8K78 | Soviet Union | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
Scout X-1 | United States | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
Thor DM-21 Ablestar | United States | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
Thor DM-21 Agena-B | United States | 17 | 11 | 6 | 0 | |
Thor DM-19 Delta | United States | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Vostok-K 8K72K | Soviet Union | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
By orbit
Orbital regime | Launches | Achieved | Not Achieved | Accidentally Achieved | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low Earth | 41 | 28 | 13 | 3 | |
Medium Earth | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
High Earth | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | Including Highly elliptical orbits |
Heliocentric | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
References
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Generic references:
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Footnotes
Timeline of spaceflight | ||||||||||
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1940s | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | ||||
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 |
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