The launcher consisted of a two-stage liquid propellant booster rocket, two strap-on solid rocket motors, an upper stage (Centaur) and a 22 m high payload fairing. At launch the rocket weighed around 950 tonnes, with the spacraft making about 6 tonnes.

Summary of Launch Events

Telemetry received from the spacecraft indicated that the launch was a very good one - the energy imparted to the spacecraft was accurate to one part in 5000 and the deviation in trajectory no greater than 0.04 degrees.