Midas 5
Atlas Agena B
United States Air Force
Mission
Midas 5
- Type: Government/Top Secret
- Orbit: Polar Orbit
- Launch Cost: $14,210,000
Military Defense Alarm System satellite designed to detect ICBMs using 175 infrared detectors. This launch also carried a batch of West Ford needles.
Location
Space Launch Complex 3E
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Find the best place to watch the launch from Vandenberg
Space Launch Complex 3E has witnessed the launch of 48 rockets, including 45 orbital launch attempts. While Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, has been the site for 792 rocket launches.
Vandenberg Space Force Base is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.
Rocket
United States Air Force Atlas LV-3 Agena B
The Atlas LV-3A was a largely unsuccessful configuration until it was given an Agena B upper stage. It was responsible for the launch of Mariner II to Venus and had one of the first engines that could be restarted in orbit.
Agency
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.
