Vanguard | Vanguard II
Status: Success | Launched: Feb 17, 1959 15:55 UTC
Launch Provider & Rocket
Mission
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.
- Type: Earth Science
- Orbit: Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
Launch Site
- Pad: Launch Complex 18A
- Location: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
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Launch data sourced automatically from the Launch Library 2 API. Last refreshed: 2026-10-08T01:01:54.797344+00:00.