Orbital Sciences CorporationPegasusEdwards Air Force Base, Air launch to orbit
Pegsat, NavySat
Launched
April 5, 1990
Image: NASA
Summary
Pegsat / NavySat launched on an Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus from Edwards Air Force Base, Air launch to orbit on April 5, 1990. It was Orbital Sciences Corporation's 1st launch, 1st this year and humanity's 3,506th orbital launch attempt. It was the 1st Pegasus flight. The payload was bound for low Earth orbit (LEO). Pegsat, one of 2 catalogued objects, reached a 500 × 687 km orbit inclined 94.2°. 2 objects from this launch are catalogued, all of them payloads.
- Watch
- No webcast on record.
- Vehicle
- Pegasus · Orbital Sciences Corporation
- Booster
- No booster details on record.
- Mission
- Test Flight · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
- Milestone
- 1st Pegasus flightOrbital Sciences Corporation's 1st launch1st this yearhumanity's 3,506th orbital launch attempt30th orbital launch attempt this year
Flight preview
Orbit: as tracked
Pegsat · NORAD 20546 · 1990-028 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 2 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- PEGSAT
- Object ID
- 1990-028A
- Epoch
- 1990-04-05 20:11:53 UTC
- Mean motion
- 14.9369048 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.013409
- Inclination
- 94.1507°
- Ascending node
- 176.7624°
- Arg. of perigee
- 225.0078°
- Mean anomaly
- 133.9935°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 0
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: LEO. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile.
Catalogued objects
2 catalogued: 2 payloads; 1 still in orbit
- Pegsat · NORAD 20546 · re-entered November 14, 1998
- USA 55 · NORAD 20547 · in orbit
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
Pegsat was the payload of the first air-launched Pegasus flight, released from a NASA B-52 off the California coast. It recorded the launch environment for DARPA and NASA, released barium clouds for ionospheric experiments, and ejected a small US Navy experimental communications relay satellite (NavySat/SECS).
Pad
Edwards Air Force Base, Air launch to orbit
1st launch from Edwards Air Force Base, 1st this year · 1st from Air launch to orbit
5 launches from this pad · 52 from Air launch to orbit
under an hour after the previous launch from this pad
Questions
When did Pegsat / NavySat launch?
Pegsat / NavySat launched on April 5, 1990. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch Pegsat / NavySat?
No webcast is on record for this launch.
What rocket launched Pegsat / NavySat?
Pegasus, flown by Orbital Sciences Corporation. Pegasus spec sheet
Where did Pegsat / NavySat launch from?
Edwards Air Force Base, Air launch to orbit.
What orbit did Pegsat / NavySat reach?
Pegsat, one of 2 catalogued objects, reached a 500 × 687 km orbit inclined 94.2°.
How many satellites did Pegsat / NavySat launch?
2 payloads from this launch are catalogued, 1 of them still in orbit (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).