1963 in spaceflight
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Launches

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1963.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Launch Date/Time Rocket Launch
Site		 Launch Contractor Payload Operator Orbit Mission/
Function		 Re-Entry/
Destruction		 Outcome Remarks
January 4
07:12 GMT		 Molniya (R-7 8K78) Baikonur USSR Sputnik 25 (Luna 4c) USSR Intended: Soft lunar landing Lunar exploration January 5, 1963 Failure Spacecraft failed to escape for lunar trajectory
January 7
21:07 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 18 (KH-4 9051) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
January 16
22:04 GMT		 Thor Agena-B Vandenberg AFB US Air Force Samos F2-3 (Ferret 2) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
February 2 Molniya (R-7 8K78) Baikonur USSR Luna 1963B (Luna 4d) USSR Intended: lunar landing Lunar exploration February 2, 1963 Failure Failure of upper stage gyro
February 14
05:16 GMT		 Delta-B LC-17, Cape Canaveral NASA Syncom 1 NASA Geosynchronous orbit Communications satellite Still in orbit Failure First satellite to reach geosynchronous orbit, but only after loss of signal
February 19
16:33 GMT		 Scout X-3M SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force DMSP-2A F1 US Air Force LEO Military weather satellite N/A Successful
February 28 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 19 US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Failure
March 18 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-6 1 US Air Force LEO Surveillance March 18, 1963 Failure Failed to reach orbit due to guidance malfunction
March 21
08:24 GMT		 Vostok-2 (R-7 8A92) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-13 USSR LEO Surveillance March 29, 1963 Successful Capsule recovered
March 28
20:11 GMT		 Saturn I LC-34, Cape Canaveral NASA (none), test flight SA-4 NASA Sub-orbital Test Launch vehicle's Engine out capability. March 28, 1963 Successful
April 1
22:05 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 20 (KH-4 9053) US Air Force LEO Surveillance April 4, 1963 Successful Capsule recovered
April 2
08:04 GMT		 Molniya (R-7 8K78) Baikonur USSR Luna 4 USSR Intended: Lunar landing, Actual: Lunar fly-by Lunar exploration April 6, 1963 Partial success Fly-by at 8,336 km on April 5
April 3
01:55 GMT		 Delta-B LC-17, Cape Canaveral NASA Explorer 17 (AE-A) NASA LEO Atmospheric research July 10, 1963 (last signal) Successful
April 5 Scout X-3 SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Navy Transit 5A 2 US Navy LEO Satellite navigation system N/A Failure
April 6 Kosmos Kapustin Yar USSR Cosmos-14 Soviet Academy of Sciences LEO Experimental weather satellite April 6, 1963 Failure
April 13
11:02 GMT		 Kosmos Kapustin Yar USSR Cosmos-14 Soviet Academy of Sciences LEO Experimental weather satellite August 29, 1963 Successful First Soviet weather satellite
April 22
08:24 GMT		 Vostok-2 (R-7 8A92) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-15 USSR LEO Surveillance April 27, 1963 Successful Capsule recovered
April 25
20:11 GMT		 Saturn I (C1) LC-34, Cape Canaveral NASA (none) N/A N/A Test Launch vehicle's Engine out capability. N/A Successful
April 26 Scout X-2M SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force DMSP-2A F2 US Air Force LEO Military weather satellite N/A Failure
April 26 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-5 8 US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Failure
April 28
09:36 GMT		 Vostok-2 (R-7 8A92) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-16 USSR LEO Surveillance May 8, 1963 Successful Capsule recovered
May 7
11:31 GMT		 Delta-B LC-17, Cape Canaveral NASA Telstar 2 AT&T, Bell Labs HEO Communications satellite May 16, 1965 (last signal) Successful
May 9
20:09 GMT		 Atlas Agena-B Vandenberg AFB US Air Force MIDAS 7 US Air Force MEO Surveillance of Soviet rocket launches April 1977 Successful
Dash-1 US Air Force MEO Experimental balloon satellite N/A
TRS-5 (ERS-5) US Air Force MEO Solar cell damage test N/A
TRS-6 (ERS-6) US Air Force MEO Solar cell damage test N/A
West Ford 2 US Air Force MEO Radio reflective experiment N/A
May 15
13:04 GMT		 Atlas D LC-14, Cape Canaveral US Air Force Mercury-Atlas 9
1 Astronaut (Gordon Cooper)		 NASA LEO Manned Orbital Flight May 16, 1963 Successful Final Mercury flight
May 18
22:34 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-6 2 US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Failure reached orbit but Agena failed in flight
May 22
03:07 GMT		 Kosmos Kapustin Yar USSR Cosmos-17 USSR LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
May 24
10:48 GMT		 Vostok-2 (R-7 8A92) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-18 USSR LEO Surveillance June 2, 1963 Successful Capsule recovered
June 1 Kosmos Kapustin Yar USSR Cosmos-19a USSR LEO N/A N/A Failure
June 12 Atlas Agena-B Vandenberg AFB US Air Force MIDAS 8 US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Failure
TRS-7 (ERS-7) US Air Force LEO Solar cell damage test N/A
TRS-8 (ERS-8) US Air Force LEO Solar cell damage test N/A
June 12
23:58 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 21 (KH-4 9054) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
June 14
11:58 GMT		 Vostok-K (R-7 8K72K) LC-1/5, Baikonur RVSN Vostok 5, 1 Cosmonaut (Valery Bykovsky) RVSN LEO Manned Orbital Flight June 19, 1963 Successful
June 15
09:29 GMT		 Vostok-K (R-7 8K72K) LC-1/5, Baikonur RVSN Vostok 6, 1 Cosmonaut (Valentina Tereshkova) RVSN LEO Manned Orbital Flight June 19, 1963 Successful First woman in space. Final Vostok flight.
June 15
14:38 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Navy Solrad 6 US Air Force LEO Solar radiation research N/A Successful
LOFTI 2A US Navy LEO Navigation and global positioning N/A
SURCAL 1B US Navy LEO Surveillance N/A
RADOSE US Air Force LEO Radiation measurement N/A
1963-021E (Poppy 2) US Navy LEO Surveillance N/A
June 16
01:55 GMT		 Scout X-3 SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Navy Transit 5A 3 US Navy LEO Satellite navigation system N/A Successful
June 19
09:50 GMT		 Delta-B LC-17, Cape Canaveral NASA TIROS 7 NASA LEO Weather satellite June 3, 1968 (deactivated) Successful
June 27
00:43 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 22 (KH-4 9056) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
Hitch Hiker US Air Force LEO Radiation measurements N/A
June 28
19:55 GMT		 Scout X-4 Wallops Island US Air Force Geophysical Research Sat US Air Force LEO Geophysical experiments N/A Successful
June 29
22:33 GMT		 Atlas Agena-B Vandenberg AFB US Air Force Samos F2-4 (Ferret 3) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
July 10 Vostok-2 (R-7 8A92) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-19b USSR LEO N/A N/A Failure
July 12
20:38 GMT		 Atlas Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-7 1 US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
July 19 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 23 (KH-4 9057) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
July 19
03:50 GMT		 Atlas Agena-B Vandenberg AFB US Air Force MIDAS 9 US Air Force MEO Surveillance N/A Successful
TRS-9 (ERS-9) US Air Force MEO Solar cell damage test N/A
TRS-10 (ERS-10) US Air Force MEO Solar cell damage test N/A
Dash-2 US Air Force MEO Experimental balloon satellite April 12, 1971
July 19
18:20 GMT		 North American X-15 B-52, Edwards AFB US Air Force Flight 90
1 Astronaut (Joseph A. Walker)		 US Air Force/NASA Sub-orbital Manned Spaceflight July 19, 1963
18:31 GMT		 Successful First X-15 flight to qualify as spaceflight
July 26
14:38 GMT		 Delta-B LC-17, Cape Canaveral NASA Syncom 2 NASA, DoD Geosynchronous orbit Communications satellite Still in orbit Successful First successful geosynchronous satellite
July 31 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-6 3 (KH-6 8003) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful Camera failed after 32 hours
August 6
06:00 GMT		 Kosmos Kapustin Yar USSR Cosmos-19 USSR LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
August 22 Kosmos Kapustin Yar USSR Cosmos-20 USSR LEO Surveillance N/A Failure
August 23
18:05 GMT		 North American X-15 B-52, Edwards AFB US Air Force Flight 91
1 Astronaut (Joseph A. Walker)		 US Air Force/NASA Sub-orbital Manned Spaceflight August 23, 1963
18:17 GMT		 Successful Second and last X-15 flight to qualify as spaceflight. First instance of a single spacecraft making two flights
August 24
00:30 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 A1 (KH-4A 1001) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
August 29
19:12 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-5 9 (KH-4 9033) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
1963-035B US Air Force LEO Radar monitoring N/A
September 9
19:26 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-7 2 US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
September 23
22:48 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 A2 (KH-4A 1002) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
September 27 Scout X-2B SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force DMSP-1A F3 US Air Force LEO Military weather satellite N/A Failure
September 28
20:09 GMT		 Thor Able-Star Vandenberg AFB US Navy Transit 5E 1 US Navy LEO Space physics November 1974 (last data) Successful
Transit 5BN 1 US Navy LEO Satellite navigation system Still in orbit (since 1996 as NIMS)
October 17
02:24 GMT		 Atlas Agena-D LC-13, Cape Canaveral US Air Force ERS 12 US Air Force HEO Space physics N/A Successful Vela spacecrafts placed in 70,000 mile orbits
Vela 1A US Air Force Supersynchronous Orbit Nuclear test ban control deactivated after 5 years
Vela 1B US Air Force Supersynchronous Orbit Nuclear test ban control deactivated after 5 years
October 18
09:36 GMT		 Vostok-2 (R-7 8A92) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-20 USSR LEO Surveillance October 26, 1963 Success Capsule recovered
October 24 Kosmos Kapustin Yar USSR Cosmos-21 USSR LEO N/A N/A Failure
October 25
18:57 GMT		 Atlas Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-7 3 US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
1963-041B
October 29
21:07 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-5 10 (KH-5 9059A) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
Hitch Hiker 2 US Air Force LEO Radio monitoring N/A
November 1
08:52 GMT		 Polyot (R-7 11A59) LC-31/6, Baikonur USSR Polyot 1 USSR LEO Spacecraft engineering N/A Successful
November 9 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 24 (1963-008X) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Failure
November 11
06:28 GMT		 Molniya (R-7 8K78) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-21 USSR LEO Zond test November 14, 1963 Partial failure Probably a test for Venera flights, escape stage failed
November 16
10:48 GMT		 Voskhod (R-7 11A57) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-22 USSR LEO Surveillance N/A Successful First flight of the Voskhod carrier rocket
November 27
02:24 GMT		 Delta-B LC-17, Cape Canaveral NASA Explorer 18 (IMP-A) NASA HEO Magnetospheric research May 10, 1965 (last signal) Successful
November 27
18:57 GMT		 Atlas Centaur-B Vandenberg AFB US Air Force Atlas Centaur 2 US Air Force LEO Centaur performing test N/A Successful
November 27
21:07 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 25 (KH-4 9061) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Partial failure Capsule was not recovered but remained in orbit
November 28 Vostok-2 (R-7 8A92) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-23 (Zenit-1) USSR LEO N/A N/A Failure Upper stage failed
December 5
21:51 GMT		 Thor Able-Star Vandenberg AFB US Navy Transit 5BN 2 US Navy LEO Satellite navigation system N/A Successful Nuclear powered
Transit 5E 3 US Navy LEO Satellite navigation system N/A Successful Solar powered
December 13
13:55 GMT		 Kosmos Kapustin Yar USSR Cosmos-23 USSR LEO Engineering, space science March 27, 1964 Successful
December 18
21:50 GMT		 Atlas Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-7 4 US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
December 19
09:21 GMT		 Vostok-2 (R-7 8A92) Baikonur USSR Cosmos-24 USSR LEO Surveillance December 28, 1963 Successful Capsule recovered
December 19
18:43 GMT		 Scout X-4 SLC-5, Vandenberg AFB NASA Explorer 19 (AD A) NASA LEO Atmospheric density measurement N/A Successful Balloon satellite
December 21
09:21 GMT		 Delta-B LC-17, Cape Canaveral NASA TIROS 8 NASA LEO Weather satellite July 1, 1967 (deactivated) Successful
December 21
21:45 GMT		 Thor Agena-D Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4 26 (KH-4 9062) US Air Force LEO Surveillance N/A Successful
Hitch Hiker 3 US Air Force LEO Radar monitoring N/A

Deep Space Rendez-vous in 1963

References

Generic references:
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Preceded by
1962		 Timeline of spaceflight
1963		 Succeeded by
1964
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