ESSA-7 (or TOS-E) was a spin-stabilized operational meteorological satellite. Its name was derived from that of its oversight agency, the

Environmental Science Services Administration The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States federal government, United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce.

(ESSA).

Launch

ESSA-7 was launched on August 16, 1968, at 11:31

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

. It was launched atop a

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

rocket from

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg S ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, USA. The spacecraft had a mass of at the time of launch. ESSA-7 had an inclination of 101.72°, and an orbited the Earth once every 114.9 minutes. Its

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

was and its

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

was .

References

Spacecraft launched in 1968 Weather satellites of the United States Television Infrared Observation Satellites {{Satellite-stub