Construction of the spacecraft bus and integration of the satellite's payloads was accomplished by Boeing at their Seal Beach, California facility.

The nine ARGOS payloads, addressing more than 30 research objectives, conducted upper atmospheric observations and technology demonstrations.

The remaining experiments investigate ion propulsion, gas ionization physics, plume detection capabilities, and orbital debris.

As part of DOD STP, ARGOS served the need to fly Department of Defense payloads that cannot be flown on the Space Shuttle or aboard small launch vehicles due to complexity, size, mission duration, or other constraints.

After about six weeks stacked on the launch pad, and as long for mission crews to report only to replan activities for another night and slightly different time, the rocket and its satellites blasted away from Earth's pull.