Starfish
Starfish was the designation of two early United States Air Force and Atomic Energy Commission satellites designed to collect data on radiation resulting from nuclear explosions in the atmosphere and in space. The second in the series was lost when its launch vehicle was destroyed by the range safety officer. Both were launched by Thor-Agena D rockets from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
spacecraft | launch date | orbit | mass (kg) |
Starfish 1 | Oct. 26, 1962 | 197 × 5,458 km × 71.4° | 1,100 |
Starfish 2 | Sep. 2, 1965 | launch failure | 1,150 |