Editing Saturn I SA-1 (section)

== Objectives ==
The Saturn I booster was a huge increase in size and power over anything previously launched. It was three times taller, required six times more fuel and produced ten times more thrust than the [[Juno I]] rocket that had launched the first American satellite, ''[[Explorer 1]]'', into orbit in 1958.<ref name="Boehm-NASA">{{cite report |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/explorer_i_boehm_document.pdf |first1=J. |last1=Boehm |first2=H.J. |last2=Fichtner |first3=Otto A. |last3=Hoberg |title=Explorer satellites launched by Juno 1 and Juno 2 vehicles |publisher=NASA |location=US}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

At the time, [[NASA]] had decided to not use all-up testing, when an entire system is tested at once. The agency planned to test each rocket stage in separate launches, so for SA-1 the only live stage was the [[S-I]] first stage.

This first flight was designed to test the structure of the launch vehicle during a [[suborbital flight]] using the nose cone from a Jupiter rocket.