page_title: Ariel 1
section_title: Launch
hierarchical_section_title: Ariel 1 / Mission / Launch
context_page_description: Ariel 1, was the first British satellite, and the first satellite in the Ariel programme. Its launch in 1962 made the United Kingdom the third country to operate a satellite, after the Soviet Union and the United States. It was constructed in both the UK and the United States by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and SERC, under an agreement reached as the result of political discussions in 1959 and 1960. The US Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test affected Ariel 1's operational capability.
context_section_description: Ariel 1 was planned to launch on the Scout rocket, but the rocket fell behind in development. The decision was made to launch the satellite on the more expensive Thor-Delta rocket, although the Americans footed the bill.
  Ariel 1, the first satellite from a nation besides the United States or the Soviet Union, was launched aboard an American Thor-Delta rocket from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at 18:00:00 GMT on 26 April 1962. The successful orbit made Ariel 1 the first international satellite.
caption: Launch of Ariel 1 on a Thor-Delta rocket
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