Failure of Vanguard TV-3 Launch

Date: December 6, 1957 • Location: Cape Canaveral, United States

The first U.S. attempt to launch a satellite failed with an explosion on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

Vanguard TV-3, was the first attempt of the United States to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth, after the successful Soviet launches of Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2. Vanguard TV-3 was a small satellite designed to test the launch capabilities of the three-stage Vanguard and study the effects of the environment on a satellite and its systems in Earth orbit. It was also to be used to obtain geodetic measurements through orbit analysis. Solar cells on Vanguard TV-3 were manufactured by Bell Laboratories.