The creators of Explorer 1 holding a model of it on the press conference at launch day, February 1, 1958. L-R: William Pickering, James Van Allen, Wernher von Braun. Photo: NASA.

On Jan. 31, 1958, the United States launched its first successful satellite, Explorer 1, on a Jupiter C rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Missile Annex. The mission was a boon to the U.S.’ burgeoning space community, coming off the back of three consecutive failures and the Soviets’ own successful launch of Sputnik 1.

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