The Vanguard rocket was intended to be the first launch vehicle the United States would use to place a satellite into orbit. Instead, the Sputnik crisis caused by the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 led the U.S., after the failure of Vanguard TV3, to quickly orbit the Explorer 1 satellite using a Juno I rocket, making Vanguard I the second successful U.S. orbital launch.
Specifications
- Thrust
- 123 kN
- Height
- 23 m
- Diameter
- 1.14 m
- Launch mass
- 10 t
- Stages
- 3
- Launch cost
- —
- LEO capacity
- 9 kg
- GTO capacity
- —
- GEO capacity
- —
- SSO capacity
- —
Vehicle specifications from Launch Library; blanks are unpublished figures.
Flight record
Flights
11
Launches with a definitive outcome
Success rate
27.3%
3 of 11
Current success streak
1
Landings
0
0 attempts · 0 droneship / 0 RTLS
Fastest turnaround
—
Between consecutive booster flights
Counted from padside's own launch record — the same basis as the Stats page.
Launches
- Vanguard | Vanguard III — Success
- Vanguard | Vanguard — Failure
- Vanguard | Vanguard — Failure
- Vanguard | Vanguard II — Success
- Vanguard | Vanguard — Failure