1963 in spaceflight

1963 in spaceflight

A North 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
v t e

1963 in spaceflight

Timeline of spaceflight ← 1962 1964 →

← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

Orbital and Suborbital launches

Main articles: 1963 in spaceflight (January–March), 1963 in spaceflight (April-June), 1963 in spaceflight (July–September), and 1963 in spaceflight (October-December)

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 statistics

By country

Country		Launches	Successes	Failures	Partial failures
	Soviet Union	24	15	9	0
	United States	46	35	8	3
World		70	50	17	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