Vanguard | Vanguard II
Launch Successful
L - -- : -- : -- : --
Instantaneous launch window.
Launch Window
Feb. 17, 1959, 3:55 p.m. - Feb. 17, 1959, 3:55 p.m.
Instantaneous launch window.
Feb. 17, 1959, 3:55 p.m. - Feb. 17, 1959, 3:55 p.m.
Vanguard II is an Earth orbiting satellite and the first weather satellite. It was designed to measure cloud-cover distribution over the daylight portion of its orbit for a period of 19 days and to provide information on the density of the atmosphere.
The Vanguard rocket was intended to be the first launch vehicle the United States would use to place a satellite into orbit. Instead, the Sputnik crisis caused by the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 led the U.S., after the failure of Vanguard TV3, to quickly orbit the Explorer 1 satellite using a Juno I rocket, making Vanguard I the second successful U.S. orbital launch.
Lockheed Martin's Space Division started in the production of missiles and later ICBM's in the 1950s. Their TITAN missile system was used for 12 Gemini spacecraft and the Voyager probes. They have worked largely in collaboration with NASA on many of their probes, landers, and spacecraft, and hope to play a key role in NASA's return to the moon in 2024.
INFO WIKIA batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Note: Payload and customer identities were not publicly announced. 3rd of the BlackSky Gen-3 high resolution Earth-imaging satellites.
3 Chinese satellites described as for “Space Environment Measurements” purposes. Actual usage not known.
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Sub-orbital launch under Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program. This mission was lead by MDA and deployed a…
The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich (launched November 2020) and Sentinel-6B make up the Sentinel-6 mission, also known as Jason Continuity of Service (…
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.