Orbital Sciences CorporationPegasus XLWallops Flight Facility, Air launch to orbit
High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE) & Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-B (SAC-B)
Launched
November 4, 1996 · 17:08 UTC
Image: NASA/Laurie Losey
Summary
HETE-1 / SAC-B launched on an Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL from Wallops Flight Facility, Air launch to orbit on November 4, 1996 at 17:08 UTC. The mission failed: Battery failure in the Pegasus XL rocket third stage, satellites did not separate from third stage. It was Orbital Sciences Corporation's 15th launch, 5th this year and humanity's 4,106th orbital launch attempt. It was the 6th Pegasus XL flight and the 4th this year. The payload was bound for low Earth orbit (LEO). One object from this launch is catalogued.
- Result
- Battery failure in the Pegasus XL rocket third stage, satellites did not separate from third stage.
- Watch
- No webcast on record.
- Vehicle
- Pegasus XL · Orbital Sciences Corporation
- Booster
- No booster details on record.
- Mission
- Astrophysics · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
- Milestone
- 6th Pegasus XL flight · 4th this yearOrbital Sciences Corporation's 15th launch5th this yearhumanity's 4,106th orbital launch attempt65th orbital launch attempt this year
Flight preview
Catalogued objects
1 catalogued: 1 payload; none still in orbit
- HETE · NORAD 24645 · re-entered April 7, 2002
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
This Pegasus XL carried HETE-1, a NASA/MIT satellite to localise gamma-ray bursts, and SAC-B, Argentina's first scientific satellite, built for CONAE to study solar flares and the X-ray background. The rocket's third stage failed to release the spacecraft, and both were lost.
Pad
Wallops Flight Facility, Air launch to orbit
1st launch from Wallops Flight Facility, 1st this year · 14th from Air launch to orbit
6 launches from this pad · 52 from Air launch to orbit
under an hour after the previous launch from this pad
Questions
When did HETE-1 / SAC-B launch?
HETE-1 / SAC-B launched on November 4, 1996 at 17:08 UTC.
Why did HETE-1 / SAC-B fail?
Battery failure in the Pegasus XL rocket third stage, satellites did not separate from third stage.
Where can I watch HETE-1 / SAC-B?
No webcast is on record for this launch.
What rocket launched HETE-1 / SAC-B?
Pegasus XL, flown by Orbital Sciences Corporation. Pegasus XL spec sheet
Where did HETE-1 / SAC-B launch from?
Wallops Flight Facility, Air launch to orbit.
What orbit was HETE-1 / SAC-B going to?
Low Earth Orbit (LEO), a astrophysics mission.
How many satellites did HETE-1 / SAC-B launch?
1 payload from this launch is catalogued, no longer in orbit (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).