Explorer 1 was the first successful satellite launched by the United States. It was designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) under the direction of Dr. William Pickering. They ...

Explorer 1 became the first successfully launched satellite by the United States when it was sent to space on 31 January 1958. A quick response to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1, Explorer 1’s ...

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of America’s first satellite, Explorer 1. This was a response to Sputnik, launched by Soviets a few months before. The whole story is actually a bit ...

A half-century ago, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Explorer 1 spacecraft became America’s first Earth-orbiting satellite when it sailed into space on Jan. 31, 1958. In honor of the historic ...