Nimbus 7 was launched on October 24, 1978, by a Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, United States.

[1] The Nimbus 7 research and development satellite served as a stabilized, Earth-oriented platform for the testing of advanced systems for sensing and collecting data in the pollution, oceanographic, and meteorological disciplines.

The electronics equipment and battery modules were housed in the sensor mount (torus) that formed the satellite base.

Mounted on the control housing unit, which was located on top of the spacecraft, were Sun sensors, horizon scanners, and a command antenna.

An advanced attitude-control system permitted the spacecraft's orientation to be controlled to within plus or minus 1 degree in all three axes (pitch, roll, yaw).