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Primary source of unclassified orbital elements
Orbital elements based on amateur observations
| 1959 - Launches to Orbit and Beyond
Listed are all launches, irrespective of outcome, that were irretrievably committed to flight towards orbit or intended to accelerate the payload to escape velocity.
Launch times are in UTC and are from the launching agency or estimated by 'walking back' along the ground track to the launch site. The PRIME source of orbit data and decay information is SpaceTrack. All other major sources draw heavily on the Space-Track data.
To fill the gaps where Space-Track's elements are not published because they have a classification of "Secret", a minority of orbits is based on amateur observations using visual and radio techniques. Such data is published near-daily by Mike McCants and the source observations can often be found in the web-based Seesat-L discussion group. Occasionally, early orbit data are published by satellite owners and may cover periods before SpaceTrack lists a new object. In extreme cases, orbits are estimated from public data.
Apogee and perigee are measured against a spherical Earth situated at the focus of the orbital ellipse and with a radius of 6378.145 km. Care should be exercised when comparing with other published orbits even when the source is shown as SpaceTrack because they may be be based on a different model.
1959-001 Vostok-L 8K72
Baikonur Cosmodrome |
1959 Jan 2, 16:41 |
Luna 1 (E-1 №4)
1959 μ 1
112 |
in space
|
| Instrumented lunar spacecraft on direct ascent trajectory aimed at hitting the Moon. A small error in the launching rocket trajectory meant it missed the Moon by about 9500 km and entered heliocentric orbit. The catalogue entry is out of sequence because it was allocated retrospectively when the system was firmed-up to include missions on escape trajectory. It was catalogued retrospectively late-1960, hence the out-of-sequence number. |
| Heliocentric orbit | |
1959-002 Vanguard SLV-4
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Feb 17, 15:55 |
Vanguard II
1959 α 1
11 |
in space
|
| Scientific satellite to study the Earth's cloud cover. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Jun 19, 18:24 | 8315 | 0.1651 | 564 | 3309 | 125.76 | 32.88 | 58 | | | |
1959-003 Thor Agena A
Vandenberg AFB |
1959 Feb 28, 21:49 |
Discoverer 1 (Corona R&D)
1959 β 1
13 |
Re-entered - 1959 Mar 3
Life 3 days
|
| Prototype US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Uncertain that it actually reached orbit but it was nevertheless catalogued on the basis of what may have been erroneous tracking information. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
|
1959-004 Juno II
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Mar 3, 05:10 |
Pioneer 4
1959 ν 1
113 |
in space
|
| Lunar flyby spacecraft that then went into heliocentric orbit. The payload included radiation monitoring sensors and a lunar photography experiment. It passed within 60,000 km of the Moon's surface but not close enough to trigger the camera. It was catalogued retrospectively late-1960, hence the out-of-sequence number. |
| Heliocentric orbit | |
1959-005 Thor Agena A
Vandenberg AFB |
1959 Apr 13, 21:18 |
Discoverer 2 (Corona R&D)
1959 γ 1
14 |
Re-entered - 1959 Apr 26
Life 13 days
|
| Prototype US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Retrieval of film was unsuccessful - the re-entry vehicle probably overshot the recovery area near Hawaii. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Apr 13, 21:26 | 6670 | 0.0079 | 239 | 345 | 90.36 | 89.91 | 155 | | | |
failed to reach orbit Vanguard SLV-5
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Apr 14, 02:49 |
Vanguard |
|
| Scientific satellite to study electrical currents in the Earth's magnetic field and upper air density. Second stage separation was at the wrong attitude so the vehicle was deliberately destroyed. |
|
failed to reach orbit Thor Agena A
Vandenberg AFB |
1959 Jun 3, 20:09 |
Discoverer 3 (Corona R&D) |
|
| Prototype US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Launch vehicle failure prevented it from reaching orbit. |
|
failed to reach orbit Vostok-L 8K72
Baikonur Cosmodrome |
1959 Jun 18, 08:08 |
Luna (E-1 №5) |
|
| Instrumented lunar spacecraft on direct ascent trajectory aimed at hitting the Moon. Failure of the launch vehicle inertial guidance system 153 seconds after lift-off led to the rocket being deliberately destroyed |
|
failed to reach orbit Vanguard SLV-6
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Jun 22, 20:16 |
Vanguard |
|
| Scientific satellite to study solar radiation, radiation reflected from the Earth and long-wave radiation originating from the Earth. Second stage of the launch vehicle exploded. |
|
failed to reach orbit Thor Agena A
Vandenberg AFB |
1959 Jun 25, 22:47 |
Discoverer 4 (Corona 9001/KH-1) |
|
| US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Lost when launch vehicle upper stage failed. |
|
failed to reach orbit Juno II
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Jul 16, 17:37 |
Explorer (S-1) |
|
| Scientific satellite with a cluster of instruments. Vehicle control lost at lift-off. Destroyed by Range Safety. |
|
1959-006 Thor Able III
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Aug 7, 14:24 |
Explorer 6 (S-2)
1959 δ 1
15 |
Re-entered - 1961 Jun 30
Life 693 days
|
| Satellite designed to study trapped radiation around the Earth, galactic cosmic rays, geomagnetism, radio propagation in the upper atmosphere, and the flux of micrometeorites. It also tested a scanning imager designed for photographing the Earth's cloud cover, and transmitted the first pictures of Earth from orbit. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Aug 08, 15:50 | 27739 | 0.7609 | 254 | 42467 | 766.28 | 46.95 | 36 | | | |
1959-007 Thor Agena A
Vandenberg AFB |
1959 Aug 13, 19:00 |
Discoverer 5 (Corona 9002/KH-1)
1959 ε 1
18 |
Re-entered - 1959 Sep 28
Life 46 days
|
| US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Remained in orbit after the power supply system failed. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Aug 14, 08:33 | 6852 | 0.0377 | 215 | 732 | 94.07 | 80.00 | 155 | | | |
failed to reach orbit Juno II
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Aug 15, 00:31 |
Explorer (Beacon 2) |
|
| High visibility balloon to be used as a visual target for air density measurement and serve as a radar target. |
|
1959-008 Thor Agena A
Vandenberg AFB |
1959 Aug 19, 19:24 |
Discoverer 6 (Corona 9003/KH-1)
1959 ζ 1
19 |
Re-entered - 1959 Oct 20
Life 62 days
|
| US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Retro-fire failed so re-entry vehicle not recovered. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Aug 20, 10:43 | 6905 | 0.0463 | 208 | 846 | 95.18 | 84.00 | 140 | | | |
1959-009 Vostok-L 8K72
Baikonur Cosmodrome |
1959 Sep 12, 06:39 |
Luna 2 (E-1 №6)
1959 ξ 1
114 |
Re-entered - 1959 Sep 13
Life 1 day
|
| Instrumented lunar spacecraft on direct ascent trajectory aimed at hitting the Moon. Destroyed on successful Lunar impact 1959 September 13 at 21:02:24 UTC. The catalogue entry is out of sequence because it was allocated retrospectively when the system was firmed-up to include missions on escape trajectory. It was catalogued retrospectively late-1960, hence the out-of-sequence number. |
| |
failed to reach orbit Thor Able II
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Sep 17, 14:34 |
Transit 1A |
|
| First generation, experimental navigation satellite, lost when the launch vehicle third stage failed. |
|
1959-010 Vanguard TV-4BU
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Sep 18, 05:20 |
Vanguard III
1959 η 1
20 |
in space
|
| Scientific satellite with a magnetometer and x-ray sensors. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Sep 18, 04:48 | 8517 | 0.1900 | 520 | 3757 | 130.37 | 33.34 | 134 | | | |
1959-011 Vostok-L 8K72
Baikonur Cosmodrome |
1959 Oct 4, 00:43 |
Luna 3 (E-2A)
1959 θ 1
21 |
Re-entered - 1960 Apr 20
Life 199 days
|
| Lunar spacecraft equipped with imaging system on direct ascent trajectory. Starting Nov 7 at 03:30 UTC, over a period of 40 minutes, it took 29 photographs of the hidden side of the Moon from an altitude of 65,200 km. Film was developed automatically aboard the spacecraft and then scanned to allow radio transmission of the images. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Oct 05, 02:19 | 256627 | 0.9732 | 500 | 499998 | 21563.22 | 55.00 | 45 | | | |
1959-012 Juno II
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Oct 13, 15:30 |
Explorer 7 (S-1A)
1959 ι 1
22 |
in space
|
| Scientific satellite with a cluster of instruments. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Oct 17, 03:49 | 7203 | 0.0368 | 560 | 1090 | 101.40 | 50.27 | 67 | | | |
1959-013 Thor Agena A
Vandenberg AFB |
1959 Nov 7, 20:28 |
Discoverer 7 (Corona 9004/KH-1)
1959 κ 1
24 |
Re-entered - 1959 Nov 26
Life 19 days
|
| US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Decayed naturally. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Nov 08, 19:32 | 6868 | 0.0482 | 159 | 821 | 94.41 | 81.64 | 162 | | | |
1959-014 Thor Agena A
Vandenberg AFB |
1959 Nov 20, 19:25 |
Discoverer 8 (Corona 9005/KH-1)
1959 λ 1
25 |
Re-entered - 1960 Mar 8
Life 109 days
|
| US film recovery reconnaissance satellite. Re-entry for recovery proved not possible because the orbit was too eccentric. |
epoch (UTC) | s-m axis
( km ) | ecc | perigee
( km ) | apogee
( km ) | period
( min ) | incl
( ° ) | ω
( ° ) | | |
| 1959 Nov 20, 20:32 | 7303 | 0.1005 | 191 | 1659 | 103.51 | 80.60 | 156 | | | |
failed to reach orbit Atlas-Able
Cape Canaveral |
1959 Nov 26, 07:26 |
Pioneer 3 |
|
| Lunar orbiter equipped with an imaging sytem, a micrometeoroid detector and a magnetometer. It was lost when the launch vehicle payload shroud detached after 46 seconds and the vehicle was destroyed by Range Safety. Pioneer P-3 was originally built as Pioneer P-1 but its launch vehicle was destroyed on the pad by an explosion 1959 Sep 24. At the time Pioneer P-1 was not attached to the rocket. |
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