🚀 Vanguard Rocket | 🛰 Vanguard 1
Launch date: March 17, 1958 12:15 UTC
Payload: Vanguard 1
Location: Atlantic Missile Range, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Vehicle: Vanguard Rocket
Vanguard 1, launched on March 17, 1958 from Cape Canaveral by a Vanguard rocket, remains the oldest artificial satellite still orbiting Earth. Developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, it was the first satellite to use solar cells for power. Despite the failure of the initial Vanguard launch attempt, Vanguard 1 succeeded in becoming the second U.S. satellite in space. The article details the satellite’s historical significance, current orbit, scientific legacy, and recent proposals for its retrieval and study as a space-age artifact.
Launch Complex 18A, Atlantic Missile Range, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
Launch Complex 18A (often referred to simply as LC-18) is situated at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and was constructed in the mid-1950s for the U.S. Navy’s Vanguard program, a project aimed at launching the first American satellites. From 1956 to 1960, the complex supported numerous launches of the Vanguard rocket family, which were part of the United States’ contributions to the International Geophysical Year (IGY).
Although the Vanguard program experienced several high-profile failures, it ultimately succeeded in placing Vanguard 1 in orbit, with LC-18A instrumental to these efforts. After the end of the Vanguard program, the complex continued to support various sounding rocket and test launches, playing a historic role in the early days of U.S. space exploration. Today, LC-18 is no longer in active use, but it remains a significant site in the history of American rocketry.