At 22:47:56 EST on Friday, 31 January 1958 (03:47 UTC on 1 February), a Juno I rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 26A and successfully placed the Explorer 1 satellite into orbit around the Earth. Â The launch made the United States the second country to place a satellite into orbit – four months after the Soviet Union orbited Sputnik 1. Â Sixty years laters, the state of the US launch industry is strong thanks in large part to the proliferation of new commercial entrants into a long-standing market.
