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ANorth American X-15 made two suborbital flights in July and August, becoming the first reusable spacecraft
| |
Orbital launches | |
---|---|
First | 4 January |
Last | 21 December |
Total | 70 |
Successes | 50 |
Failures | 17 |
Partial failures | 3 |
Catalogued | 55 |
Rockets | |
Maiden flights | Atlas LV-3A Agena-D Atlas LV-3C Centaur-B Polyot 11A59 Scout X-2B Scout X-3M Scout X-4 Thor DSV-2A Ablestar TAT SLV-2A Agena-B TAT SLV-2A Agena-D Voskhod 11A57 |
Retirements | Atlas LV-3B Atlas LV-3C Centaur-B Scout X-2B Scout X-2M Scout X-3M |
Crewed flights | |
Orbital | 3 |
Suborbital | 2 |
Total travellers | 4 |
|
|
Date (GMT) | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
5 April | Luna 4 | Flyby of the Moon | Failed lander, closest approach: 8,336 kilometres (5,180 mi) |
19 June | Mars 1 | First flyby of Mars | Closest approach: 193,000 kilometres (120,000 mi), communications system failed before flyby |
Date/Time (UTC) | Source object | Event type | Pieces tracked | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|
9 May[1] | Westford-2 | Communications experiment | 46[1] | As part of an experiment to facilitate international telecommunications, the US Military deployed an artificial space ring consisting of hundreds of millions of tiny copper needles[2] which would act as antennas reflecting radio signals at the target wavelength of 8 GHz. A large proportion of the needles were not dispersed properly and remained stuck in clumps that were discovered and tracked by the SSN between 1966 and 1991. As of October 2013[update], 46 of the 144 detected debris clumps remain in orbit.[1] The needles that were properly dispersed are believed to have decayed.[1]
This event prompted international protests[3][4][5][6] and influenced the drafting of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.[3] |
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Orbital launch attempts by country in 1963 |
Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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24 | 15 | 9 | 0 | |
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46 | 35 | 8 | 3 |
Orbital regime | Launches | Achieved | Not Achieved | Accidentally Achieved |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Low Earth | 57 | 44 | 13 | 2 | |
Medium Earth | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
High Earth | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Including Highly elliptical orbits |
Geosynchronous/transfer | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Heliocentric | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Generic references: