Disney Satellite Launcher (1955)

Scale: 1/480
Initial Release: 1956
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 5

About the Design

The "Disney Satellite Launcher" was actually the "Disney Man-in-Space Ship" fitted with a smaller, unmanned final stage. Its "satellite" payload was a Sputnik-like silver sphere, represented by a simple ball bearing.

Note: Although its appearance in the Disney "Man In Space" TV series should technically classify this as a "Pop Culture" design, that it was based on rigid scientific principals and later appeared throughout the period's speculative literature causes it to be listed in this "Concept Spacecraft" section.

About the Kit

A unique collector's item, the Satellite Launcher was molded in clear plastic that allowed one to see its complex interior.  Sounds cool, except that this "interior" was just a color illustration printed on thin paper that one cut, folded, glued and then slipped into the interior of each stage.   It was an ambitious idea that, while making for an unusual display item, didn't quite live up to expectations.  Released briefly in the late 1950s, this kit was never re-released, nor kitted by Glencoe. 

This is one of the original 1950's-era kits