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Orbital elements based on amateur observations
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| 1958 - Launches to Orbit and Beyond
Listed are launches, irrespective of outcome, that were irretrievably committed to flight towards orbit or intended to accelerate the payload to escape velocity. The following notes should help with understanding the launch lists.
Launch times are in UTC and are either from the launching agency or estimated by 'walking back' along the ground track to the launch site.
Most orbit data and decay information comes from SpaceTrack. The Space-Track data occasionally contains inconsistencies (eg - incorrect re-entry dates or early sets of elements allocated to the wrong object) that need to be corrected from other sources.
To fill the gaps where elements are not formally published, usually because they have a classification of "Secret", some orbits are based on amateur observations. Such data is published near-daily by Mike McCants. Occasionally, orbits are estimated by myself from public data.
Space-Track sometimes has insufficient information to allocate names to objects in its catalogue. In these cases, names are derived from public information.
Apogee and perigee are measured against a spherical Earth with a radius of 6378.145 km, assumed to be situated at the focus of the orbital ellipse. The value for the orbital period is the Anomalistic Period, or time to complete one circuit of the ellipse. It is not the same as the time taken to complete one circuit of the Earth. Care should be exercised when comparing Orbital Focus data with other published orbits because they may have been derived using a different model.
1958-001 Jupiter C
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Feb 1, 03:47 UTC | |
Re-entered - 1970 Mar 31
Life 4441 days
|
| Scientific satellite to measure cosmic radiation and micrometeoroid impacts. Discovered the van Allen radiation belts around the Earth. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) |
eccentricity | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1958 Feb 1, 03:47 | 7830 | 0.1394 | 360 | 2543 | 114.92 | 33.25 | 53 | | | |
1958-F01 - failed to reach orbit Vanguard (TV-3BU)
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Feb 5, 07:33 UTC | |
|
| Orbital mission to evaluate the launch vehicle and and launch a minimum-sized satellite. Visual observations were to be used as data for measuring atmospheric denisty and the shape of the Earth. At 57s after lift-off the vehicle lost attitude control and broke up. |
|
1958-F02 - failed to reach orbit Jupiter C
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Mar 5, 18:27 UTC | |
|
| Scientific satellite to measure cosmic radiation and micrometeoroid impacts, similar to Explorer 1. Final stage of launch vehicle stage failed to ignite |
|
1958-002 Vanguard (TV-4)
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Mar 17, 12:15 UTC | |
in space
|
| Orbital mission to evaluate the launch vehicle and and launch a minimum-sized satellite. Visual observations were used as data for measuring atmospheric denisty and the shape of the Earth. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) |
eccentricity | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1958 Mar 17, 12:24 | 8688 | 0.1911 | 650 | 3970 | 134.33 | 34.25 | 136 | | | |
1958-003 Jupiter C
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Mar 26, 17:38 UTC | Explorer 3 (Gamma 1) 1958 γ1 6 |
Re-entered - 1958 Jun 28
Life 94 days
|
| Scientific satellite to measure cosmic radiation and micrometeoroid impacts, similar purpose to Explorer 1. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) |
eccentricity | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1958 Mar 26, 17:37 | 7870 | 0.1656 | 189 | 2795 | 115.81 | 33.25 | 23 | | | |
1958-F03 - failed to reach orbit Sputnik 8A91
Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1958 Apr 27, 09:01 UTC | |
|
| Scientific satellite with a cluster of instruments to study the Earth's magnetosphere. Lost when launch vehicle disintegrated at L+88 seconds. |
|
1958-F04 - failed to reach orbit Vanguard (TV-5)
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Apr 29, 02:53 UTC | |
|
| Scientific satellite to study solar radiation and other parameters of the space environment. Lost when launch vehicle third stage ignition failed. |
|
1958-004 Sputnik 8A91
Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1958 May 15, 07:00 UTC | Sputnik 3 (D-1 №2) 1958 δ2 8 |
Re-entered - 1960 Apr 6
Life 692 days
|
| Scientific satellite with a cluster of instruments to study the Earth's magnetosphere. An immediate failure of its onboard tape recorder meant that data could only be gathered when within range of a ground-based radio receiving station. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) |
eccentricity | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1958 May 16, 07:02 | 7418 | 0.1110 | 216 | 1863 | 105.97 | 65.18 | 58 | | | |
1958-F05 - failed to reach orbit Vanguard (SLV-1)
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 May 28, 03:46 UTC | |
|
| Scientific satellite to study Lyman alpha radiation from the Sun. Loss of launch vehicle attitude at second stage burnout prevented it from reaching orbit. |
|
1958-F06 - failed to reach orbit Vanguard (SLV-2)
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Jun 26, 05:00 UTC | |
|
| Scientific satellite to study solar radiation and other parameters of the space environment. Launch vehicle second stage shut down after 8s. |
|
1958-F07 - failed to reach orbit F4D1 Skyray + NOTS-EV1 (1)
Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, CA | 1958 Jul 25 UTC | |
|
| First attempt at a small dummy satellite launch using a rocket from the US Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) released from an F4D1 Skyray single seat jet aircraft. Intended to reach an orbit, probably, around 120° inclination, reportedly ranging up to 2200 km. The satellite was lost when the rocket is thought to have exploded as it ascended. Date is probably in US Pacific Daylight time. |
|
1958-005 Jupiter C
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Jul 26, 15:00 UTC | |
Re-entered - 1959 Oct 23
Life 454 days
|
| Scientific satellite to measure radiation in the vicinity of the Earth. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) |
eccentricity | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1958 Jul 26, 15:06 | 7624 | 0.1297 | 257 | 2234 | 110.41 | 50.39 | 47 | | | |
1958-F08 - failed to reach orbit F4D1 Skyray + NOTS-EV1 (2)
Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, CA | 1958 Aug 12 UTC | |
|
| Attempt to launch a small dummy satellite using a rocket from the US Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) released from an F4D1 Skyray single seat jet aircraft. Intended to reach an orbit, probably, around 120° inclination, reportedly ranging up to 2200 km. The satellite was lost when the rocket exploded a few seconds after ignition. Date is probably in US Pacific Daylight time. |
|
1958-F09 - failed to reach orbit Thor Able I
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Aug 17, 12:18 UTC | |
|
| Lunar orbiter equipped with an imaging sytem, a micrometeoroid detector and a magnetometer. It was destroyed when the launch vehicle exploded after 77s. |
|
1958-F10 - failed to reach orbit F4D1 Skyray + NOTS-EV1 (3)
Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, CA | 1958 Aug 22 UTC | |
|
| Attempt to launch a small dummy satellite using a rocket from the US Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) released from an F4D1 Skyray single seat jet aircraft. Intended to reach an orbit, probably, around 120° inclination, reportedly ranging up to 2200 km. Radio contact was lost as planned when the rocket passed below the horizon but it is not known whether final stage rocket ignition occurred - it was planned for the southern hemisphere 40-50 minutes after release from the Skyray. The possibility exists that Pilot 3 reached orbit but there is no definitive evidence. Date is probably in US Pacific Daylight time. |
|
1958-F11 - failed to reach orbit Jupiter C
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Aug 24, 06:17 UTC | |
|
| Scientific satellite to measure radiation in the vicinity of the Earth. Failed to reach orbit when the launch vehicle 1st stage rammed the rest of the vehicle causing it be pointing in the wrong direction when the upper stages fired. |
|
1958-F12 - failed to reach orbit F4D1 Skyray + NOTS-EV1 (4)
Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, CA | 1958 Aug 25 UTC | |
|
| Attempt to launch a small satellite, possibly carrying a meteorological camera, using a rocket from the US Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) released from an F4D1 Skyray single seat jet aircraft. Intended to reach an orbit, probably, around 120° inclination, reportedly ranging up to 2200 km. The satellite was lost when the rocket exploded as it ascended. Date is probably in US Pacific Daylight time. |
|
1958-F13 - failed to reach orbit F4D1 Skyray + NOTS-EV1 (5)
Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, CA | 1958 Aug 26 UTC | |
|
| Attempt to launch a small satellite, possibly carrying a meteorological camera, using a rocket from the US Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) released from an F4D1 Skyray single seat jet aircraft.Intended to reach an orbit, probably, around 120° inclination, reportedly ranging up to 2200 km. The satellite was lost when the rocket failed to ignite after being released by the Skyray. Date is probably in US Pacific Daylight time. |
|
1958-F14 - failed to reach orbit F4D1 Skyray + NOTS-EV1 (6)
Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, CA | 1958 Aug 28 UTC | |
|
| Attempt to launch a small satellite, possibly carrying a meteorological camera, using a rocket from the US Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) released from an F4D1 Skyray single seat jet aircraft. Intended to reach an orbit, probably, around 120° inclination, reportedly ranging up to 2200 km. The satellite was lost when the rocket broke up as it ascended. Date is probably in US Pacific Daylight time. |
|
1958-F15 - failed to reach orbit Vostok-L 8K72
Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1958 Sep 23 UTC | |
|
| Instrumented lunar spacecraft on direct ascent trajectory aimed at hitting the Moon. The launcher disintegrated after 93 seconds. |
|
1958-F16 - failed to reach orbit Vanguard (SLV-3)
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Sep 26, 15:38 UTC | |
|
| Scientific satellite to study the Earth's cloud cover. Second stage performance was below requirement so Vanguard was low on velocity by 31 m/s and fell back to Earth about 15,000 km from the launch site. |
|
1958-006 Thor Able I
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Oct 11, 08:42 UTC | SCORE (Signal Communications Orbit Relay Equipment) 1958 ζ1 10 |
Re-entered - 1959 Jan 21
Life 102 days
|
| Atlas missile placed in orbit with a pair of identical demonstration real-time and store and forward communications demonstration packages for voice and teletype transmission. Broadcasted a Christmas message from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower received from the ground and then re-transmitted from an on-board tape recorder. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) |
eccentricity | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1958 Dec 30, 22:01 | 7051 | 0.0729 | 159 | 1187 | 98.21 | 32.29 | 236 | | | |
1958-F17 - failed to reach orbit Vostok-L 8K72
Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1958 Oct 11 UTC | |
|
| Instrumented lunar spacecraft on direct ascent trajectory aimed at hitting the Moon. The launcher disintegrated after 42 seconds. |
|
1958-F18 - failed to reach orbit Jupiter C + apogee motor
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Oct 23, 03:21 UTC | |
|
| High visibility balloon of 3.5m diameter to be used as a visual target for air density measurement and serve as a radar target. Lost when the payload and second stage separated from the launch vehicle first stage after 112s due to vibration. |
|
1958-F19 - failed to reach orbit Thor Able I
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Nov 8, 07:30 UTC | |
|
| Lunar orbiter equipped with an imaging sytem, a micrometeoroid detector and a magnetometer. It was destroyed when the launch vehicle third stage failed to ignite and the whole stack fell back to Earth from 1500 km. |
|
1958-F20 - failed to reach orbit Vostok-L 8K72
Baikonur Cosmodrome | 1958 Dec 4 UTC | |
|
| Instrumented lunar spacecraft on direct ascent trajectory aimed at hitting the Moon. The launcher core-stage rocket engine shut down after 245 seconds |
|
1958-007 Juno II
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Dec 6, 05:44 UTC | Pioneer 1 (Able 2) 1958 η1 110 |
Re-entered - 1958 Oct 12
Life <1 day
|
| Lunar spacecraft on direct ascent trajectory intended to go into orbit with imager to photograph the surface, and instruments to measure micrometeoroids and magnetic fields. Insufficient velocity meant that it fell back to Earth from about 114,000 km. It was catalogued retrospectively late-1960, hence the out-of-sequence Catalogue Number. |
| Orbit parameters not available | |
1958-008 Atlas B
Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex | 1958 Dec 18, 23:02 UTC | |
Re-entered - 1958 Dec 7
Life <1 day
|
| Lunar spacecraft on direct ascent trajectory intended to go past the Moon and into heliocentric orbit. Insufficient velocity meant that it fell back to Earth from about 102,300 km. It carried instruments to measure radiation in the outer van Allen radiation belt and to test components of a lunar photographic experiment. It was catalogued retrospectively late-1960, hence the out-of-sequence number. |
| Orbit parameters not available | |
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