Q: What was the purpose of Pioneer 1?

A: Pioneer 1 was intended to be the first U.S. satellite to reach lunar orbit, but it failed due to a rocket guidance issue.

Q: Why did Pioneer 1 fail?

A: The mission failed because of a rocket guidance failure, preventing it from achieving lunar orbit.

Q: What happened to Pioneer 1 after launch?

A: Pioneer 1 was destroyed upon uncontrolled reentry into Earth's atmosphere on October 13, 1958.

Q: Who launched Pioneer 1?

A: Pioneer 1 was launched by NASA using a Thor Able I rocket.

Q: What was the significance of Pioneer 1?

A: While Pioneer 1 was a failure, it was the first satellite launched by NASA and marked an early step in the U.S. space program.

Pioneer 1

first satellite launched by NASA, unable to reach lunar orbit due to rocket guidance failure

Vehicle space_probe Q935600

Facts

19 properties

Instance of: space probe, former entity^[2]
Follows: Pioneer 0^[5]
Followed by: Pioneer 2^[6]
Launch date: 1958-10-11
Part of: Pioneer program^[8]
Apoapsis: 113,854 km^[18]
Cause of destruction: uncontrolled reentry^[12]
Different from: Pioneer-1^[16]
Launch vehicle: Thor Able I
Manufacturer: TRW Inc.^[7]
Mass: 38.28 kg^[17]
Named after: A/a^[4]
Operator: National Aeronautics and Space Administration^[3]
Quora topic: Pioneer-1-1
Significant event: rocket launch, atmospheric entry^[13]^[14]
Space launch vehicle: Thor Able I^[9]
Start point: Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17A^[15]
Time of object orbit decay: October 13, 1958^[11]
UTC date of spacecraft launch: October 11, 1958^[10]

🏷️ Also known as

en Able 2 en Pioneer 1 en Pioneer Able ar بيونير 1 ar بيونير ١ el Πάιονηρ 1 he פיוניר 1 hi पायनियर 1 hu Pioneer–1 ja パイオニア1号 ru Пионер-1 uk Піонер-1 zh 先驱者1号

🔖 Identifiers · 8

Image (Wikimedia Commons): Pioneer able.png ↗
COSPAR ID: 1958-007A
Freebase ID: /m/0l26v
Harvard designation: 1958 Eta 1
NSSDCA ID: 1958-007A
Quora topic ID: Pioneer-1-1
SCN: 00110
Wolfram Language entity code: Entity["HistoricalEvent", "PioneerOneLaunched"], Entity["Satellite", "00110"]

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections

Instance of 2

space probe, former entity

Significant event 2

atmospheric entry, rocket launch

Belongs to 1

Pioneer program

Followed by 1

Pioneer 2

Followed by (predecessor) 1

Pioneer 2

Follows 1

Pioneer 0

Manufacturer 1

TRW Inc.

Operator 1

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Part of 1

Pioneer program

Preceded by (successor) 1

Pioneer 0

Space launch vehicle 1

Thor Able I

Start point 1

Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17A

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Summary

Pioneer 1 is a space probe^[1].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[2] ↑ Pioneer 1 — instance of (P31): former entity. wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ Pioneer 1 — operator (P137): National Aeronautics and Space Administration. wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ Pioneer 1 — named after (P138): A/a. wikidata.org.
[5] ↑ Pioneer 1 — follows (P155): Pioneer 0. wikidata.org.
[6] ↑ Pioneer 1 — followed by (P156): Pioneer 2. wikidata.org.
[7] ↑ Pioneer 1 — manufacturer (P176): TRW Inc.. wikidata.org.
[8] ↑ Pioneer 1 — part of (P361): Pioneer program. wikidata.org.
[9] ↑ Pioneer 1 — space launch vehicle (P375): Thor Able I. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[10] ↑ Pioneer 1 — UTC date of spacecraft launch (P619): October 11, 1958. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[11] ↑ Pioneer 1 — time of object orbit decay (P621): October 13, 1958. nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[12] ↑ Pioneer 1 — cause of destruction (P770): uncontrolled reentry. wikidata.org.
[13] ↑ Pioneer 1 — significant event (P793): rocket launch. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[14] ↑ Pioneer 1 — significant event (P793): atmospheric entry. wikidata.org.
[15] ↑ Pioneer 1 — start point (P1427): Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17A. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[16] ↑ Pioneer 1 — different from (P1889): Pioneer-1. wikidata.org.
[17] ↑ Pioneer 1 — mass (P2067): 38.28 kg. sdfo.org. sdfo.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
[18] ↑ Pioneer 1 — apoapsis (P2243): 113854 km. wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

[1] ↑ Pioneer 1 is an instance of space probe (Q26529) [P31, primary]. Wikidata. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Pioneer 1. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/pioneer-1

MLA “Pioneer 1.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 2 Nov. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/pioneer-1.

BibTeX

@misc{4ortxyz_pioneer-1_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Pioneer 1}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/pioneer-1}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-02}}

LLM prompt

According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Pioneer 1 — https://4ort.xyz/entity/pioneer-1 (retrieved 2026-11-02)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/pioneer-1 · Last refreshed: November 2, 2026