ing ▁ 1 2 ▁sound ing ▁ro cket ▁on ▁February ▁ 4 , ▁ 1 9 5 5 . ▁Following ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union ' s ▁successful ▁S put nik ▁ 1 ▁( launch ed ▁on ▁October ▁ 4 , ▁ 1 9 5 7 ), ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁attempted ▁its ▁first ▁launch ▁of ▁an ▁artificial ▁satellite ▁from ▁Cape ▁C ana ver al ▁on ▁December ▁ 6 , ▁ 1 9 5 7 . ▁However , ▁the ▁ro cket ▁carrying ▁V angu ard ▁TV 3 ▁expl oded ▁on ▁the ▁launch ▁pad . ▁ ▁NASA ▁was ▁founded ▁in ▁ 1 9 5 8 , ▁and ▁Air ▁Force ▁cre ws ▁launched ▁miss iles ▁for ▁NASA ▁from ▁the ▁Cape , ▁known ▁then ▁as ▁Cape ▁C ana ver al ▁Miss ile ▁Anne x . ▁Red stone , ▁Jup iter , ▁Pers hing ▁ 1 , ▁Pers hing ▁ 1 a , ▁Pers hing ▁II , ▁Pol aris , ▁Thor , ▁Atlas , ▁T itan ▁and ▁Min ut eman ▁miss iles ▁were ▁all ▁tested ▁from ▁the ▁site , ▁the ▁Thor ▁becoming ▁the ▁basis ▁for ▁the ▁exp end able ▁launch ▁vehicle ▁( EL V ) ▁D elta ▁ro cket , ▁which ▁launched ▁Tel star ▁ 1 ▁in ▁July ▁ 1 9 6 2 . ▁The ▁row ▁of ▁T itan ▁( LC - 1 5 , ▁ 1 6 , ▁ 1 9 , ▁ 2 0 ) ▁and ▁Atlas ▁( LC - 1 1 , ▁ 1 2 , ▁ 1 3 , ▁ 1 4 ) ▁launch ▁p ads