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Launch SuccessfulNational Aeronautics and Space Administration

Redstone MRLV: Mercury-Redstone 1A

Mercury-Redstone 1A (MR-1A) was launched on December 19, 1960 from LC-5 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission objectives of this uncrewed suborbital flight were to qualify the spacecraft for space flight and qualify the system for an upcoming primate suborbital flight.

Monday, 19 December 1960
Redstone MRLV: Mercury-Redstone 1A

Mission Data

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
🇺🇸National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationEst. 1958
Launch VehicleRedstone MRLV
Vehicle FamilyRedstone
Vehicle Record5 of 6 launches (83.3%)
Provider TypeGovernment
Agency Record122 successes / 20 failures (86%)
Success Streak12 consecutive
ProgramMercury · Human Spaceflight
Mission TypeTest Flight
Target OrbitSuborbital
Launch PadLaunch Complex 5
Location🇺🇸 Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA USA
Agency Launches This Year#9
Launches From This Pad13
Launches From This Site1,132
Status Note

The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).

About Redstone MRLV

The Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, designed for NASA's Project Mercury, was the first American manned space booster. It was used for six sub-orbital Mercury flights from 1960–61; culminating with the launch of the first, and 11 weeks later, the second American (and the second and third humans) in space. The four subsequent Mercury human spaceflights used the more powerful Atlas booster to enter low Earth orbit. A member of the Redstone rocket family, it was derived from the U.S. Army's Redstone ballistic missile and the first stage of the related Jupiter-C launch vehicle; but to human-rate it, the structure and systems were modified to improve safety and reliability.

Launch Site

Launch Complex 5 · 28.4394°N 80.5733°W

Launch data from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs.