It was launched on a Delta-N rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on June 29, 1969, The intent had been to fly a 6-kg male Southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) named "Bonny" in low Earth orbit for 30 days.

High development costs were a strong incentive for maximising the scientific return from the mission.

Because of this, the scientific goals had become exceedingly ambitious over time, and a great many measurements were conducted on the single research subject flown.

Although the mission was highly successful from a technical standpoint, the science results were apparently compromised.

[7] Despite failing its scientific agenda, Biosatellite 3 was influential in shaping the life sciences flight experiment program, pointing to the need for centralised management, realistic goals and substantial pre-flight experiment verification testing.