Vanguard Missiles

Vanguard was a special, 4-stage launch vehicle originally developed to launch the first U.S. satellite. However, various setbacks in development resulted in the first U.S. satellite actually being carried into orbit by the U.S. Army's Jupiter C rocket (Juno-I). Development of the Vanguard was begun in 1955 by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), with an experimental version of the rocket being launched in December 1956. Unfortunately, the first attempt at actual satellite launch (TV-3) ended in failure on December 6, 1957 when the rocket shut down 2 seconds after first-stage ignition and exploded. The TV-3BU launch in February 1958 likewise ended in failure, and it was not until TV-4 on March 17 of the same year that Vanguard succeeded in placing a satellite in to orbit.