Explorer 1 was carried into orbit by a Jupiter-C rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 10:48 p.m. (EST) on Jan. 31, 1958.

The rocket, developed at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Alabama, under the direction of Wernher von Braun, was a modified version of the Redstone ballistic missile, topped by three solid-propellant upper stages

The decision was made that we would make no public comments about the rocket until [its signal] had actually been picked up in California,” then-Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory William Pickering said. “And we sat there for an hour-and-a-half. The time came and went, and there was a period of 8 minutes there [before contact], which is the longest 8 minutes I’ve ever spent in my life.

At a jubilant press conference about 2 hours after the launch, Pickering was joined by James Van Allen (center), head of the University of Iowa physics department who designed the science instruments, and Wernher von Braun (right), who directed development of the rocket at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency

The successful orbit of Explorer 1, launched on a Jupiter-C rocket, made headlines around the world. 

The Soviet Union had already launched two satellites in 1957, and the previous U.S. attempt on a Vanguard rocket exploded only a few seconds after liftoff. At the time, many people called the satellite a “moon” or a “man-made moon” because of its Earth orbit. The Huntsville Times, seen here, was particularly proud of the success of the Jupiter-C, as it was made at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville, Alabama.