It was boosted into orbit along with four other military satellites atop a Thor Augmented Delta-Agena D rocket on January 11, 1964.

It was quickly combined, to provide civilian cover (launches being unclassified at that time),[1] with the concurrently conceived United States Naval Research Laboratory's GRAB satellite project,[2] which would collect information on foreign radars and communications installations.

[3] There were five SOLRAD/GRAB missions between 1960 and 1962, with the scientific SOLRAD experiments sharing satellite space with GRAB's intelligence payload.

[8] Launched on January 11, 1964, along with four other spacecraft aboard a Thor Augmented Delta-Agena D,[9] (including POPPY 3, an electronic signals intelligence (ELINT) surveillance package[6]) its orbit was nearly circular at 900 kilometers (560 mi).

[8] Dubbed "SOLRAD 6" by several sources,[10]: 68  the satellite reported comparatively low solar X-ray emission levels during its time in orbit.

This dramatically change previous models: Earthbound telescopes had only been able to detect the very hot, flashing gas those cells created, the net result making the corona seem a homogeneous region extending 1,000,000 miles (1,609,344 km) from the Sun.