Rocket launches in1963

Valentina Tereshkova lifts off on Vostok 6 in June, becoming the first woman in space two days after Valery Bykovsky's Vostok 5 — both cosmonauts orbit at the same time, passing within five kilometres of each other at closest approach. In the USA, Gordon Cooper completes the final Mercury mission in May, and a Delta in July places Syncom 2 into the first geosynchronous orbit, pointing the way toward the communications-satellite industry.