Transit 4A & Injun-1 & Solrad 3

Transit 4A with Injun 1 and Solrad 3 (GRAB-3), history’s first triple-payload orbital launch, on a Thor DM-21 Ablestar from Cape Canaveral LC-17B on 29 June 1961. Transit 4A was the first satellite powered by a SNAP-3 nuclear RTG; hours later the Ablestar upper stage exploded, creating hundreds of debris pieces.

Outcome

Success

Payload to orbit

121 kg

Flight

7th

of 19 Thor DM-21 Ablestar flights

Date and time

29 June 1961, 04:23 UTC

Rocket

Thor DM-21 Ablestar

Builder

McDonnell Douglas

Launch site

Space Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Payload

Unknown

International designator

1961-015

Launches in 1961

20th of 50

See it in orbit

Space Atlas shows the satellites and rocket stages from this launch in 3D.

Object pages on Space Atlas: Transit 4A

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