Thor-Based Orbital Launch History (1958-2018) Page 4 of 4: Comprehensive Orbital Launch Failure List% Date Vehicle ID Site Payload Failure Description Result# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/17/1958 Thor Able I 127 CC LC17A Able/Pioneer Thor turbopump gearbox, T+73.7s FTO 11/8/1958 Thor Able I 129 CC LC17A Pioneer 2 3rd stg failed to ignite FTO 2/28/1959 Thor Agena A 163 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 1 Agena unknown failure FTO 6/3/1959 Thor Agena A 174 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 3 Agena attitude, failed to orbit FTO 6/25/1959 Thor Agena A 179 V 75-3-5 Discoverer 4 Agena thrust insufficient FTO 9/17/1959 Thor Able II 136 CC LC17A Transit 1A 3rd stg ignition malfunction FTO 11/20/1959 Thor Agena A 212 V 75-3-5 Discoverer 8 Guidance error, unplanned orbit (EEO) 2/4/1960 Thor Agena A 218 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 9 Thor cutoff early FTO 2/19/1960 Thor Agena A 223 V 75-3-5 Discoverer 10 Thor malfunction, RSO at T+52s FTO 5/13/1960 Thor Delta D1 CC LC17A Echo Delta (2nd stg) control failure FTO 6/29/1960 Thor Agena A 160 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 12 Agena attitude instability FTO 8/18/1960 Thor Ablestar 262 CC LC17B Courier 1A Exploded at 2.5 min during staging FTO 10/26/1960 Thor Agena B 253 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 16 Agena failed to separate FTO 11/30/1960 Thor Ablestar 283 CC LC17B Transit 3A Early Thor shutdown, RSO FTO 2/22/1961 Thor Ablestar 313 CC LC17B Transit 3B/Lofti 1 Program error, sat/stg2 sep fail (EEO) 3/30/1961 Thor Agena B 300 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 22 Agena control system malfunction FTO 6/8/1961 Thor Agena B 302 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 24 Agena malfunction FTO 7/21/1961 Thor Agena B 322 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 27 RSO at T+60s FTO 8/4/1961 Thor Agena B 309 V 75-1-1 Discoverer 28 Agena control system malfunction FTO 10/23/1961 Thor Agena B 329 V 75-3-5 Discoverer 33 Premature Agena shut down FTO 1/13/1962 Thor Agena B 327 V 75-3-4 Discoverer 37 Agena failed to restart (LEO) 1/24/1962 Thor Ablestar 311 CC LC17B NRL Composite 1 2nd stg low thrust FTO 5/10/1962 Thor Ablestar 314 CC LC17B ANNA 1A Ablestar failed to ignite FTO 2/28/1963 Thor SLV-2A Agena D 354 V 75-3-5 CORONA 60/9052 One SRB failed, RSO at 100s FTO 3/18/1963 Thor SLV-2A Agena D 360 V 75-3-4 CORONA 61/LANYARD 1 Agena failed FTO 4/26/1963 Thor Agena D 372 V 75-1-1 CORONA 63/9055A Agena attitude sensor alignment FTO 6/15/1963 Thor Agena D 378 V 75-1-1 NRL Composite 3 876x150kmx69.9deg (EEO) 11/9/1963 Thor SLV-2 Agena D 400 V 75-1-2 KH-4 9060 Flame shld lost, Cntrl lost 134s FTO 3/19/1964 Thor Delta B D24 CC LC17A BE-A Low 3rd stg thrust FTO 3/24/1964 Thor SLV-2A Agena D 396 PA LC1-1 KH-4A 1003 Agena electrical, control lost FTO 4/21/1964 Thor Ablestar 379 V 75-1-1 Transit VBN-3 Control loss, wrong program FTO 8/28/1964 Thor Agena B 399 V 75-1-1 Nimbus 1 Prem Agena cutoff, circ orb pland (EEO) 8/25/1965 Thor Delta C D33 CC LC17B OSO C 3rd stg ignited early FTO 9/2/1965 Thor SLV-2 Agena D 401 V 75-3-5 MRPV Guidance problem, RSO T+60s FTO 1/8/1966 Thor Burner 1 251 V 4300B6 DAPP/OPS 2394 2nd stg failed to ignite FTO 5/3/1966 Thor SLV-2A Agena D 465 V 75-3-5 KH-4A 1032 Agena failed to separate FTO 5/18/1968 Thorad G Agena D 520 V SLC2E Nimbus B Guidance malf, RSO at 120s FTO 9/19/1968 Thor Delta M D59 CC LC17A Intelsat III F-1 Control sys malf, RSO at 108s FTO 7/26/1969 Thor Delta M D71 CC LC17A Intelsat III F-5 3rd stg malf, unusable orbit (EEO) 8/27/1969 Thor Delta L D73 CC LC17A Pioneer E 3rd stg hyd. oil leak, RSO 8m3s FTO 2/17/1971 Thorad H Agena D 537 V SLC3W KH-4B 1113 Turbine oil froze, RSO 23.25 s FTO 10/21/1971 Thor Delta N6 D86 V SLC2E ITOS B 2nd stg ox leak, PL no orbit FTO+ 7/16/1973 Delta 0300 D96 V SLC2W ITOS E 2nd stg failed FTO 1/19/1974 Delta 2313 D100 CC LC17B Skynet 2A 2nd stg failed, decayed 1/25 (LEO) 2/19/1976 Thor Burner 2A 182 V SLC10W DMSP 8 Low Thor fuel load, decayed 2/19 (LEO) 4/20/1977 Delta 2914 D130 CC LC17B GEOS 1 3rd stg malf no-GTO (LEO) 9/13/1977 Delta 3914 D134 CC LC17A OTS 1 Castor 4 SRM case, xploded T+54s FTO 12/7/1979 Delta 3914 D150 CC LC17A Satcom 3 Apogee kick motor failure (EEO) 7/15/1980 Thor Burner 2A-ISS 304 V SLC10W DMSP 5D F-5 Stg 3 control, damaged connector FTO 5/3/1986 Delta 3914 D178 CC LC17A GOES G Electrical, RS-27 shut down T+71s FTO 8/5/1995 Delta 7925 D228 CC LC17B Koreasat 1 SRM failed to sep, low orbit (EEO) 1/17/1997 Delta 7925 D241 CC LC17A GPS IIR-1 SRM case, exploded T+7s FTO 8/27/1998 Delta 8930 D259 CC LC17B Galaxy X 1st D3, roll cntrl 54s, expld 71s FTO 5/5/1999 Delta 8930 D269 CC SLC17B Orion 3 2nd stg RL10 failed at restart (LEO) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Footnotes: % Does not include 1/21/1959 Thor Agena A (No. 160) prelaunch accident at V 75-3-4 that damaged Thor 160/Agena 1019 when Agena separation (ullage) rockets fired on pad due to sneak circuit path through ground systems. Agena 1019 was scrapped, but Thor 160 was refurbished and used on the Discoverer 12 flight in 1960. Known as "Discoverer Zero". Does not include 6/29/61 Thor Ablestar (No. 315) mission partial failure caused by failure of Transit 4A/Injun to separate from each other after Ablestar separation. Does not include 10/26/66 Delta E1 (D42) satellite mission failure caused by failure of Intelsat II-F1 built-in apogee kick motor after 4 sec, stranding sat in GTO+. Does not include 8/3/1981 Delta 3913 (D155) launch of DE-1/DE-2 which is sometimes listed as a partial failure. Delta vehicle launch was successful. Satellites performed 8 year mission. + 2nd stage reached orbit (decayed 7/21/72), payload did not reach orbit. # FTO: Failed to Orbit FSO*: Failed Suborbital (EEO): Unintended Eliptical Earth Orbit (GTO): Unintended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (LEO): Unintended/Improper Low Earth Orbit RSO = Range Safety Officer CC = Cape Canaveral, Florida V = Vandenberg AFB, California PA = Point Arguello, California (incorporated into Vandenberg Air Force Base as South Vandenberg after 1964. All V and PA pads renamed in July 1966, as follows). New Name Old Name Uses Dates --------------------------------------------------------------------- V SLC 1E V 75-3-5 Thor, -Agena, Thorad 1959-1968 V SLC 1W V 75-3-4 Thor, Agena, Thorad 1959-1971 V SLC 2E V 75-1-1 Thor, -Agena, -Ablestar, 1958-1966 Delta 1966-1972 V SLC 2W* V 75-1-2 Thor, -Agena, -Ablestar, 1959-1966 Delta 1967-Present V SLC 3E* PA LC1-2 Atlas-Agena, Atlas E-H 1961-1987 Atlas IIAS 1999-2003 Atlas V 2005-Present V SLC 3W PA LC1-1 Atlas-Agena 1960-1963 Thor-Agena, Thorad 1963-1972 Atlas E-F 1974-1995 V SLC 4E PA LC2-4 Atlas-Agena 1964-1966 Titan IIID/34D/IV 1966-2005 Falcon 9 2013-Present V SLC 4W PA LC2-3 Atlas Agena 1963-1965 Titan IIIB, Titan IISLV 1966-2003 V SLC 5 PA D Scout 1962-1994 V SLC 6*$ --- Athena 1995-1999 Delta IV 2004-Present V SLC 10E V 75-2-7 Thor IRBM 1959-1961 V SLC 10W V 75-2-6 Thor IRBM 1959-1961 Thor-Burner 1963-1980 --- V 75-2-8 Thor IRBM 1959-1960 V SLC 8$$ --- Minotaur 1 1998-Present V 576E* V 576E Atlas ICBM 1962-1974 Taurus 1994-Present --------------------------------------------------------------------- * Active $ SLC-6 originally built for Titan III-MOL (never flown) during 1960s, then refurbished for Space Shuttle (never flown) during 1980s. $$ SLC-8 originally called California Launch Facility (CLF) References: Jonathan's Space Report Launch Vehicle Database "http://www.planet4589.org/space/lvdb/index.html" Encylopedia Astronautica "http://www.astronautix.com/" Gunter's Space Page "http://www.skyrocket.de/space" TRW Space Log 1957-1996, TRW Space & Electronics Group, Redondo Beach, CA. Last Update 12/26/2018 by Ed Kyle