Jupiter-C, the first American Satellite, Explorer 1 launcher

America’s first scientific satellite, the Explorer I, carried the radiation detection experiment designed by Dr. James Van Allen and discovered the Van Allen Radiation Belt. It was launched aboard a modified redstone rocket known as the Jupiter C, developed by Dr. von Braun’s rocket team at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. The satellite launched on January 31, 1958, just 3 months after the the von Braun team received the go-ahead.