1963 in spaceflight
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Deep space rendezvous
| 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 |
Notable creations of orbital debris
| 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] |
Orbital launch summary
By country
 |
| |||||
| Orbital launch attempts by country in 1963 | ||||||
| Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Soviet Union | 24 | 15 | 9 | 0 | |
 United States | 46 | 35 | 8 | 3 |
By rocket
| Rocket | Country | Launches | Successes | Failures | Partial failures | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlas LV-3A Agena-B | United States | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Atlas LV-3A Agena-D | United States | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Atlas LV-3B | United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Retired |
| Atlas LV-3C Centaur-B | United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Only flight |
| Delta B | United States | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| Delta C | United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kosmos-2I 63S1 | Soviet Union | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| Molniya 8K78 | Soviet Union | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Molniya-L 8K78L | Soviet Union | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Polyot 11A59 | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Scout X-2B | United States | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Only flight |
| Scout X-2M | United States | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Retired |
| Scout X-3 | United States | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Scout X-3M | United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Only flight |
| Scout X-4 | United States | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Maiden flight |
| Thor DSV-2A Ablestar | United States | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Thor DM-21 Agena-B | United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Thor SLV-2 Agena-D (Thor DM-21 Agena-D) | United States | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | Redesignated midyear |
| Thrust Augmented Thor SLV-2A Agena-B | United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Thrust Augmented Thor SLV-2A Agena-D | United States | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Voskhod 11A57 | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Maiden flight |
| Vostok-K 8K72K | Soviet Union | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Vostok-2 8A92 | Soviet Union | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
By orbit
| 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 |
References
- Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
- Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
- Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.[dead link]
- 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. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
- 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.[dead link]
- "Space Information Center". JAXA.[dead link]
- "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
Generic references:
Spaceflight portal
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Spaceflight portalFootnotes
- ^ a b c d "West Ford Needles: Where are They Now?" (PDF). Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 17 (4). NASA. October 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ^ Shapiro, I. I.; Jones, H. M.; Perkins, C.W. (May 1964), "Orbital properties of the West Ford dipole belt", Proceedings of the IEEE, 52 (5): 469–518, doi:10.1109/proc.1964.2992
- ^ a b Terrill Jr., Delbert R. (May 1999), "The Air Force Role in Developing International Outer Space Law" (PDF), Air Force History and Museums Program, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press: 63, archived (PDF) from the original on 17 April 2018, retrieved 13 February 2016
- ^ Butrica, Andrew J. (ed.), "Beyond the Ionosphere: The Development of Satellite Communications", history.nasa.gov, The NASA History Series, NASA, archived from the original on 25 December 2017, retrieved 12 July 2017
- ^ Bondi, H. (June 1962), "West Ford Project, Introductory Note by the Secretary", Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 3: 99, Bibcode:1962QJRAS...3...99.
- ^ "Protests Continue Abroad", The New York Times, London (published 23 October 1961), p. 12, 22 October 1961, ISSN 0362-4331
