1961-10-27 USA Saturn I SA-1

Saturn-Apollo 1 (SA-1) launched on October 27 ,1961, was the first flight of the Saturn I space launch vehicle, the first in the Saturn family, and first mission of the American Apollo program. 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 Jupiter-C rocket that had launched the first American satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit in 1958.

A "SpaceCraft" illustrated cachet cover cancelled on the day of the first launch of Saturn 1, PAFB October 27, 1961.
Photo: Saturn test conductor, Bob Mosier (right), and launch operations director, Dr. Kurt H. Debus (right) at discussion after the simulated launching of Saturn rocket at Cape Canaveral.
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.

A Saturn 1 launch cover cancelled Port Canaveral, October 27, 1961.
(Reference from Saturn I SA-1)