page_title: Vanguard 2
hierarchical_section_title: Vanguard 2
context_page_description: Vanguard 2 or Vanguard II is an Earth-orbiting satellite launched 17 February 1959, aboard a Vanguard SLV-4 rocket as part of the United States Navy's Project Vanguard. The success of this launch was an important part of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Vanguard 2 was the first weather satellite. The satellite was designed to measure cloud-cover distribution over the daylight portion of its orbit, for a period of 19 days, and to provide information on the density of the atmosphere for the lifetime of its orbit.
  As of January 2020, Vanguard 2 was still in orbit.
context_section_description: Vanguard 2 or Vanguard II (or Vanguard 2E before launch) is an Earth-orbiting satellite launched 17 February 1959, aboard a Vanguard SLV-4 rocket as part of the United States Navy's Project Vanguard. The success of this launch was an important part of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Vanguard 2 was the first weather satellite. The satellite was designed to measure cloud-cover distribution over the daylight portion of its orbit, for a period of 19 days, and to provide information on the density of the atmosphere for the lifetime of its orbit (about 300 years).
  As of January 2020, Vanguard 2 was still in orbit.
caption: A model of the Vanguard 2 satellite in front of the Goddard Space Flight Center.
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