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Events on Friday 6 December 1957 1
1957Vanguard TV3 launch fails on live televisionUS satellite rocket explodes seconds after liftoffThe United States' first attempt to launch a satellite in response to Sputnik, the Vanguard TV3 rocket, rose about four feet before losing thrust and exploding on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The televised failure was widely mocked in the press as "Kaputnik" or "Flopnik."