Extended by a telescoping boom, the magnetometers were distanced from the magnetic field created by the satellite and its electronics.

The Magsat project was a joint NASA/USGS effort to measure near-Earth magnetic fields on a global basis.

The base module complete with its subsystems was composed of residual Small Astronomy Satellite (SAS-C) hardware.

At this distance, the influence of magnetic materials from the instrument and base module (chiefly from the star cameras) was less than 1 mT.

[3] On 30 October 1979, Magsat was launched from pad SLC-5 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on a Scout G-1 bearing 96.80° in a dusk to dawn orbit.

In combination with a later satellite, Ørsted, it has been an essential component for explaining the current declining state of the Earth's magnetic field.

3),[9] the Magsat spacecraft utilized two RCA 1802 microprocessors running at a 2-MHz clock speed in a redundant setup.

The RCA 1802 was chosen based on various criteria, including the 1802 CMOS technology being power efficient by two orders of magnitude compared to the NMOS microprocessors, compatibility with the existing power supply of the satellite and the low-power requirements of CMOS, the radiation hardening of the 1802 and lack thereof in the 6800 and 8080, and other 1802-based functioning and features.

The scalar magnetometer had two dual-cell, cesium-vapor sensor heads whose output frequency was proportional to the total magnetic field.

One study after the mission found a nonlinear fluxgate response when exposed to fields greater than 5000 mT.