It was constructed in the UK and the United States by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and SERC, under an agreement reached as the result of political discussions in 1959 and 1960.

The US Starfish Prime exoatmospheric nuclear test affected Ariel 1's operational capability.

In late 1959, the British National Committee for Space Research proposed the development of Ariel 1 to NASA.

The decision was made to launch the satellite on the more expensive Thor-Delta rocket, although the Americans footed the bill.

[12] Ariel 1 was among several satellites inadvertently damaged or destroyed by the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test on July 9, 1962, and subsequent radiation belt.