The Thor DM-18A was an American suborbital launch vehicle. It flew 50 times. It had 6 failures, 3 partial failures, and 41 successes. It had an 82% launch reliability. Its first flight attempt was on 5 November 1958. Its first successful launch was on 16 December 1958. Its last launch was on 19 June 1962. The Thor DM-18A was evolved from the Thor DM-18, the first Thor rocket. Thor DM-18A was the first operational finless variant of the original missile.
Launch history +The data in this table comes from Date/Time(UTC) Rocket S/N Launch site Payload Function Orbit Outcome Remarks1958-11-0508:53Thor DM-18AThor 138CCAFS LC-17BMissile testSuborbitalMaiden flight of Thor DM-18A. Flight control failure. RSO T+45 seconds.1958-11-2609:09Thor DM-18AThor 140CCAFS LC-17BMissile testSuborbitalLoss of guidance system power caused the missile to overshoot its target point by 22 miles.1958-12-0600:41Thor DM-18AThor 145CCAFS LC-18BMissile testSuborbitalLOX tank pressurization failure led to loss of thrust. Missile impacted 20 miles short of the target point.1958-12-1623:44:45Thor DM-18AThor 151VAFB LC-75-1-1Missile testSuborbitalFirst Thor launch from Vandenberg AFB1958-12-1704:00Thor DM-18AThor 146CCAFS LC-17BMissile testSuborbital1958-12-3102:00Thor DM-18AThor 138CCAFS LC-18BMissile testSuborbitalFlight control failure. RSO T+40 seconds. 1959-01-3023:53 Thor DM-18A Thor 154 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-03-2200:58 Thor DM-18A Thor 158 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-03-2704:02 Thor DM-18A Thor 162 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-04-1620:46 Thor DM-18A Thor 161 VAFB LC-75-2-8 Missile test Suborbital 1959-04-2305:30 Thor DM-18A Thor 176 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-04-2505:00 Thor DM-18A Thor 164 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-05-1217:35 Thor DM-18A Thor 187 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-05-2302:42 Thor DM-18A Thor 184 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-06-1621:45 Thor DM-18A Thor 191 VAFB LC-75-2-7 Missile test Suborbital Pitch and roll program failed to initiate. RSO T+50 seconds. 1959-06-26 Thor DM-18A Thor 198 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-06-3002:37 Thor DM-18A Thor 194 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-07-2107:33 Thor DM-18A Thor 203 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital Pitch and roll program failed to initiate. RSO T+40 seconds. 1959-07-2412:47 Thor DM-18A Thor 202 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-08-0321:41 Thor DM-18A Thor 175 VAFB LC-75-1-1 Missile test Suborbital 1959-08-0602:48 Thor DM-18A Thor 208 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-08-1409:00 Thor DM-18A Thor 204 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-08-1419:36:04 Thor DM-18A Thor 190 VAFB LC-75-2-6 Missile test Suborbital Premature propellant depletion. Planned range not achieved. 1959-08-2712:30 Thor DM-18A Thor 216 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-09-12 Thor DM-18A Thor 217 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-09-1721:09 Thor DM-18A Thor 228 VAFB LC-75-1-2 Missile test Suborbital 1959-09-2218:00 Thor DM-18A Thor 222 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-10-0616:41 Thor DM-18A Thor 235 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-10-0618:26 Thor DM-18A Thor 239 VAFB LC-75-2-8 Missile test Suborbital 1959-10-1404:15 Thor DM-18A Thor 221 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-10-2122:57 Thor DM-18A Thor 220 VAFB LC-75-1-1 Missile test Suborbital 1959-10-2902:12 Thor DM-18A Thor 230 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-11-03 Thor DM-18A Thor 238 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-11-1219:24 Thor DM-18A Thor 181 VAFB LC-75-1-2 Missile test Suborbital 1959-11-19 Thor DM-18A Thor 244 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1959-12-0117:00 Thor DM-18A Thor 254 CCAFS LC-18B Missile test Suborbital 1959-12-0205:29 Thor DM-18A Thor 265 VAFB LC-75-1-1 Missile test Suborbital 1959-12-1502:14 Thor DM-18A Thor 185 VAFB LC-75-1-2 Missile test Suborbital Flight control failure. Missile broke up T+60 seconds. 1959-12-17 Thor DM-18A Thor 255 CCAFS LC-17B Missile test Suborbital 1960-01-2120:10 Thor DM-18A Thor 215 VAFB LC-75-1-2 Missile test Suborbital 1960-03-0220:06 Thor DM-18A Thor 272 VAFB LC-75-2-8 Missile test Suborbital 1960-06-2223:26 Thor DM-18A Thor 233 VAFB LC-75-2-7 Missile test Suborbital 1960-10-1121:53 Thor DM-18A Thor 186 VAFB LC-75-2-8 Missile test Suborbital 1960-12-1320:08 Thor DM-18A Thor 267 VAFB LC-75-2-8 Missile test Suborbital 1961-03-3005:13:43 Thor DM-18A Thor 243 VAFB LC-75-2-7 Missile test Suborbital 1961-06-2023:54 Thor DM-18A Thor 276 VAFB LC-75-2-7 Missile test Suborbital 1961-09-0622:30 Thor DM-18A Thor 165 VAFB LE-7 Missile test Suborbital 1961-12-0601:30 Thor DM-18A Thor 214 VAFB LE-8 Missile test Suborbital 1962-03-1923:28 Thor DM-18A Thor 229 VAFB LE-7 Missile test Suborbital 1962-06-1900:30 Thor DM-18A Thor 269 VAFB LE-8 Missile test Suborbital
Launch statistics
Launch outcome
Launchpad
References