Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
19:25:00
Friday August 19, 1966
This Missile Defense Alarm System (MIDAS) Early Warning satellite was launched from Vandenberg AFB aboard an Atlas Agena D rocket. The MIDAS program, also known as Air Force Program 461, carried out 12 launches between 1960 and 1966 using four different types of increasingly sophisticated infrared sensors. The objective was to develop a satellite that could carry an infrared sensor to detect ICBM launches.
1 Payload
2,000 kilograms
78th
Mission
16th
Mission of 1966
84th
Orbital launch attempt