Scroll down to view all space missions that took place between 1955 and 1959 or select another time period from the table below.
| 1955 - 1959 | 1960 - 1964 | 1965 - 1969 | 1970 - 1974 | 1975 - 1979 | 1980 - 1984 |
| 1985 - 1989 | 1990 - 1994 | 1995 - 1999 | 2000 - 2004 | 2005 - PRESENT | FUTURE |
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The dawn of the Space Age was dominated by two countries - America and the Soviet Union. The two nations had a hostile relationship and each was determined to prove its superiority over the other. One of the areas to do this was in space where they were able to demonstrate their technological strength by sending rockets into orbit! |
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| LAUNCH DATE | NAME | DESTINATION | COUNTRY | MISSION DETAILS | MAIN ACHIEVEMENT | CURRENT STATUS | |
| 4th October 1957 | Sputnik 1 | Earth | USSR |
Sputnik 1 was the first man-made object to be launched into space. It circled the Earth at a distance of about 250 km (150 miles), completing approximately 1,400 orbits. This launch caused panic in the USA who believed that Soviet satellites could carry weapons which could be aimed at America from space. | First artificial satellite to orbit Earth | Burned up on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on 3rd January 1958 | |
| 3rd November 1957 | Sputnik 2 | Earth | USSR |
The second artificial satellite to orbit Earth, Sputnik 2 was the Soviet Union's second attempt to launch a man-made object into space, and the first to contain a living animal: Laika, the first space dog! Sadly, Laika didn't survive his trip into space and it is believed that he died from the heat inside the space craft. Sputnik 2's mission lasted for 162 and orbited Earth about 2,000 times. | Laika became the living being to enter space. | Burned up on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on 14th April 1958. | |
| 6th December 1957 | Vanguard TV3 | Earth | USA |
First American attempt to launch a satellite to orbit Earth.. It got about 4 feet from the Earth's surface then sank back to the launch pad and exploded! The satellite that should have gone into space is now on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. | First American attempt to launch a satellite. | Launch failure. | |
| 31st January 1958 | Explorer 1 | Earth | USA |
America's first satellite. It contained a Geiger counter which found high levels of radiation about 2,000 km above Earth. This became known as the Van Allen radiation belt. The mission lasted for 111 days when the batteries failed, but the space craft remained in orbit around Earth until 1970. | First US satellite | Burned up on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on 31st March 1970. | |
| 5th March 1958 | Explorer 2 | Earth | USA |
Similar to Explorer 1 but failed to launch. | . | Launch failure | |
| 26th March 1958 | Explorer 3 | Earth | USA |
Almost identical to Explorer 1 and 2. Successfully launched and confirmed the existence of an area of high radiation surrounding Earth. | Second US satellite | Burned up on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on 27th June 1958 | |
| 29th July 1958 | NASA | . | USA |
Not a mission, but the US government organisation behind American space exploration was founded when President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act. on 29th July 1958. NASA began operations from 1st October 1958. | Putting the first man on the Moon. | Still operating | |
| 17th March 1958 | Vanguard 1 | Earth | USA |
Earth satellite. Stopped transmitting to Earth in May 1964 when its solar powered transmitter stopped communicating. Was originally planned to remain in Earth orbit for 2,000 years, but its orbital lifetime is now estimated at about 240 years. | Oldest satellite to remain in orbit around Earth. | Still orbiting Earth, no longer communicating. | |
| 26th July 1958 | Explorer 4 | Earth | USA
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Sent to explore the Van Allen radiation belts as discovered by Explorer 1 and 3. Two missions were planned but only one was launched. | . | Burned up on re-entry, 23rd October 1958 | |
| 17th August 1958 | Pioneer 0 / Thor-Able 1 | Moon | USA |
First satellite designed to orbit the Moon. 77 seconds after take-off, at a height of 16km, its booster exploded and the spacecraft landed in the Atlantic. If successful, it would have orbited the Moon for about 2 weeks. | . | Landed in the Atlantic shortly after launch. | |
| 23rd September 1958 | Luna 1958A | Moon | USSR |
First Soviet attempt at a lunar mission. It was intended to impact with the moon's surface by crashing into it! Only succeeded in taking off for 93 seconds and crashing back to Earth's surface in bits! | First Soviet lunar mission attempt. | Launch failure | |
| 11th October 1958 | Pioneer 1 | Earth and Moon | USA |
Intended to study cosmic rays, magnetic fields and radiation between Earth and around the Moon. The spacecraft left Earth, but never reached the Moon. It still sent back useful information about Earth | First mission launched by NASA. | Burned up over the Pacific when re-entering Earth atmosphere on 13th October 1958. | |
| 12th October 1958 | Luna 1958B | Moon | USSR |
Second attempt by the Soviet Union to crash a spacecraft into the Moon. Failed to leave Earth, exploding 104 seconds after launch. | Second Soviet attempt to reach the Moon. | Launch failure | |
| 8th November 1958 | Pioneer 2 (attempted Moon orbiter) | Moon | USA |
Like Pioneer 1, this spacecraft should have gone into orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft got as far as 1550 km from Earth's surface, when the launch vehicle which should have gone to the Moon separated but failed to ignite. The spacecraft fell into Earth's atmosphere and burned up over Africa. | Second American attempt to reach the Moon. | Launch failure. | |
| 4th December 1958 | Luna 1958C | Moon | USSR |
Another Soviet attempt to crash into the Moon. Once again, it exploded shortly after launch, this time after 245 seconds. | Third Soviet attempt to reach the Moon | Launch failure | |
| 6th December 1958 | Pioneer 3
(attempted Moon flyby)
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Moon | USA |
If successful, Pioneer 3 would have flown past the Moon and then gone into an orbit around the Sun. The mission was only 3.7 seconds short of being successful when an engine shut down earlier than it should have meaning that the spacecraft couldn't escape the gravitational pull of other (it couldn't attain escape velocity) and at an altitude of 102,360 km, was brought back down to Earth. | Third American attempt to reach the Moon (notice a pattern developing!) Discovered a second belt of radiation surrounding Earth. | Burned up in Earth's atmosphere over Africa on 7th December 1958 | |
| 2nd January 1959 | Luna 1 | Moon | USSR |
Another attempt to crash into the Moon. This failed because the spacecraft missed the Moon. By doing this though, it became the first successful Moon flyby. The Moon's gravity flung the spacecraft into space and it then became the first man-made object to orbit the Sun. | First object to reach escape velocity from Earth, first Lunar Flyby, first man-made object to achieve Solar orbit. Discovered the Solar Wind. | In an orbit of the Sun between Earth and Mars. | |
| 3rd March 1959 | Pioneer 4 | Moon | USA |
First American spacecraft to reach escape velocity. Similar to Luna 1 in that it flew by the Moon and then got entered into an orbit around the Sun. | First American Lunar Flyby | Last known to be in a Solar orbit in 1969. | |
| 12th September 1959 | Luna 2 | Moon | USSR |
This was the first man-made object to land on the Moon. The spacecraft crashed into the Moon's surface and suddenly stopped communicating, confirming the impact. The spacecraft was sterilized to prevent any bacterial contamination on the Moon, and contained pendants with symbols of the USSR. | First Lunar Impact | Mission ended on Lunar impact at 22:02:24 UTC. | |
| 4th October 1959 | Luna 3 | Moon | USSR |
Successful flyby mission of the Moon. This mission also sent back the very first images of the far side of the Moon, a side of the Moon that up to that point, had never been seen by people on Earth. It photographed 70% of the Moon's far side. | First pictures of far side of Moon. | Re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up, probably 29th April 1960. | |
| 26th November 1959 | Pioneer P-3 | Moon | USA |
Should have gone into orbit around the Moon, but failed shortly after launch. | . | Launch failure | |
| 1955 - 1959 | 1960 - 1964 | 1965 - 1969 | 1970 - 1974 | 1975 - 1979 | 1980 - 1984 |
| 1985 - 1989 | 1990 - 1994 | 1995 - 1999 | 2000 - 2004 | 2005 - PRESENT | FUTURE |
