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)

1961 in spaceflight
The Vostok 1 spacecraft, aboard which Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth on 12 April 1961
Orbital launches
First31 January
Last22 December
Total50
Successes28
Failures20
Partial failures2
Catalogued36
National firsts
Spaceflight Italy
Space traveller Soviet Union
 United States
Rockets
Maiden flightsAtlas LV-3A Agena-B
Kosmos-2I 63S1
Saturn I (suborbital test)
RetirementsAtlas LV-3A Agena-A
Juno II
Crewed flights
Orbital2
Suborbital2
Total travellers4

Deep Space Rendezvous
Date (GMT) Spacecraft Event Remarks
19 MayVenera 1First flyby of VenusSpacecraft was already non-functional as communication had been lost en route, closest approach: 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi)[1]

Notable creations of orbital debris
Date/Time (UTC) Source object Event type Pieces tracked Remarks
29 June[2] Thor-Able upper stage of Transit 4A navigation satellite Rocket explosion 294[2] First explosion of a rocket stage in orbit creating hundreds of debris pieces

Orbital launch summary

By country
  Soviet Union
  United States
Orbital launch attempts by country in 1961
Country Launches Successes Failures Partial
failures		 Remarks
 Soviet Union9540
 United States4123162

By rocket
Rocket Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures Remarks
Atlas LV-3A Agena-A United States1100Retired
Atlas LV-3A Agena-B United States7241Maiden flight
Atlas LV-3B United States3210First orbital launch
RM-90 Blue Scout II United States1010First orbital launch
Juno II United States3120Retired
Kosmos-2I 63S1 Soviet Union2020Maiden flight
Molniya 8K78 Soviet Union2110
Scout X-1 United States3120
Thor DM-21 Ablestar United States3201
Thor DM-21 Agena-B United States171160
Thor DM-19 Delta United States3300
Vostok-K 8K72K Soviet Union5410

By orbit
Orbital regime Launches Achieved Not Achieved Accidentally Achieved Remarks
Low Earth4128133
Medium Earth1100
High Earth6240Including Highly elliptical orbits
Heliocentric2110

References
  • Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
  • Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
  • Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.
  • Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
  • Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  • McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report".
  • Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
  • Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
  • Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
  • Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
  • "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
  • "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
  • "Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  • "Space Information Center". JAXA.
  • "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
Generic references:
 Spaceflight portal

Footnotes
  1. "Venera 1". NSSDCA Master Catalog. NASA. 1961-003A. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. Orbital Debris: A Chronology (PDF). NASA JSC. January 1999. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2000. Retrieved 13 February 2016. Two hours after separating from the U.S. Transit 4-A satellite, its Able Star upper stage becomes the first known artificial object to break up unintentionally in space. The cause of the explosion is unknown. The event produces at least 294 trackable pieces, more than tripling the number of known satellites of Earth.


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