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Vela 1A & 1B
Launch SuccessfulLaunch Details
Date: 17 Oct 1963, 02:37 am UTC
Rocket: Atlas Agena D (Atlas)
Provider: United States Air Force
Mission
Type: Government/Top Secret
Orbit: Elliptical Orbit
Pad: Space Launch Complex 13, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Mission Description
The Vela (meaning "watchman" in Spanish) series of spacecraft were designed to monitor worldwide compliance with the 1963 nuclear test ban treaty.