Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
04:39:00
Wednesday July 23, 1969
DSAP-4B (Defense Satellite Application Program Block 4B) was the sixth version of the military meteorological satellites of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. The DSAP-4B satellites, slightly larger than their predecessors, was 30 inches in diameter, 29 inches high, and weighed 175 pounds. Still spin-stabilized, the satellite nonetheless provided improved weather coverage. They were a slightly improved version of the Block 4a satellite. Previously, the single 1/2-inch focal length RCA vidicon television camera in Block 1 and Block 2 satellites furnished a nadir resolution of 3-to-4 nautical miles (nm) over an 800 nm swath, with significant gaps in coverage of the Earth at the equator.
Sun-Synchronous Orbit
1 Payload
513 kilograms
14th
Mission
1st
Mission of 1969
72nd
Orbital launch attempt