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Vanguard | Vanguard II

Vanguard II

Launch Successful

Launch Details

Date: 17 Feb 1959, 03:55 pm UTC

Rocket: Vanguard

Provider: US Navy

Mission

Type: Earth Science

Orbit: Medium Earth Orbit

Pad: Launch Complex 18A, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Mission Description

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.