Orbital Launch Vehicle Core Stage First Flights ----------------------------------------------- Stage Name Vehicle First Notes First orbital suborbital attempt attempt Large and Medium ---------------- Thor Thor, Delta 1957 Jan 25 F 1958 Aug 17 F R-7 Soyuz 1957 May 15 F 1957 Oct 4 S Atlas Atlas 1957 Jun 11 F 1958 Dec 18 S Titan Titan 1959 Feb 6 1964 Apr 8 S Saturn S-I Saturn I 1961 Oct 27 S 1964 Jan 29 S R-36 Tsiklon 1963 Sep ? 1965 Dec 16 S Blue Streak Europa 1964 Jun 5 S 1968 Nov 29 F UR-500 Proton 1965 Jul 16 S (Titan/SRM Titan 3C 1965 Dec 21 S) (Saturn S-IB Saturn IB 1966 Feb 26 S 1966 Jul 5 S) (LT Thor Thor, Delta 1966 Aug 9 S) Saturn S-IC Saturn V 1967 Nov 9 S N-1 Blok-A N-1 1969 Feb 21 F DF-5 Chang Zheng 1971 Sep? ? 1973 Sep 18 F Ariane L144 Ariane 1979 Dec 24 S OV/ET/SRB Shuttle 1981 Apr 12 S Zenit 11S771 Zenit-2 1985 Apr 13 F Energiya Energiya 1987 May 15 S (Ariane L220 Ariane 4 1988 Jun 15 S) (EELT Thor Delta II 1989 Feb 14 S) (Titan 4 Titan 4 1989 Jun 14 S) (Atlas II Atlas II 1991 Dec 7 S) H-II H-II 1994 Feb 3 S Ariane EPC Ariane 5 1996 Jun 4 F Small ---- Redstone Juno I 1953 Aug 20 S 1958 Feb 1 S Jupiter Juno II 1957 Mar 1 F 1958 Dec 6 S R-12 Kosmos 11K63 1957 Jun 22 S? 1961 Oct 27 F Vanguard Vanguard 1957 Oct 23 S 1957 Dec 6 F Algol Scout 1960 Apr 18 S 1960 Dec 4 F R-14 Kosmos-3M 1960 Jun 6 ? 1964 Aug 18 S L735 Lambda 1963 Aug 24 S 1966 Sep 26 F Emeraude Diamant 1964 Jun 15 S 1965 Nov 26 S Black Arrow Black Arrow 1969 Jun 28 F 1970 Sep 2 S M-10 Mu 1969 Aug 17 S 1970 Sep 25 F DF-3 Chang Zheng 1 1970 Jan 10? 1970 Apr 24 S (Amethyste Diamant B 1970 Mar 10 S SLV-3 SLV-3 1979 Aug 10 F Jericho Shaviyt ? 1988 Sep 19 S Topol' Start 1982 Oct 27 S 1993 Mar 25 S TU-904 MX/Taurus 1983 Jun 17 S 1994 Mar 13 S Pegasus S1 Pegasus 1990 Apr 5 S PS1 PSLV 1993 Sep 20 S UR-100N Rokot 1972? 1994 Dec 26 S Notes: Suborbital attempt listed if prior to first orbital attempt. First orbital attempt is that of stage, may not be that of listed vehicle (e.g. 11A511 Soyuz did not fly until 1966, but used R-7 core stage which had Sputnik orbital flight in 1957). F = Failed, S = Successful first stage. Major upgrades to previously flown core designs in parentheses. Castor 120 is considered a minor upgrade to TU-904. Relationship between UR-100N and 1960's UR-100 is unclear. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------