High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE) & Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas-B (SAC-B)

OSC's Pegasus XL suffered a third-stage electrical fault that stopped pyrotechnics from firing, stranding NASA's HETE gamma-ray burst satellite and Argentina's SAC-B on the spent stage; neither could deploy its solar panels and both lost power within two days.

Outcome

Partial

Payload to orbit

638 kg

Flight

6th

of 31 Pegasus XL flights

Date and time

4 November 1996, 17:08 UTC

Rocket

Pegasus XL

Builder

OSC

Launch site

Wallops Flight Facility, Air launch to orbit

Payload

Unknown

International designator

1996-061

Launches in 1996

65th of 77

See it in orbit

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

View satellites in Space Atlas↗