The Thor DSV-2U or Thor LV-2F Star-37XE Star-37S-ISS was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 expendable launch system

Expendable launch system

An expendable launch system is a launch system that uses an expendable launch vehicle to carry a payload into space. The vehicles used in expendable launch systems are designed to be used only once , and their components are not recovered for re-use after launch...

 used to launch five DMSP

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program

The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program monitors meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics for the United States Department of Defense. The program is now run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The mission of the satellites was revealed in March 1973...

 weather satellite

Weather satellite

The weather satellite is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be either polar orbiting, seeing the same swath of the Earth every 12 hours, or geostationary, hovering over the same spot on Earth by orbiting over the equator while...

s between 1976 and 1980. It was a member of the Thor family of rockets, and a derivative of the Thor DSV-2

Thor DSV-2

The Thor DSV-2 was a series of sounding rockets, test vehicles, and anti-satellite weapons derived from the Thor Intermediate-range ballistic missile. It was also used as the first stage of several Thor-derived expendable launch systems-Thor DSV-2D:...

.

The first stage was a Thor

PGM-17 Thor

Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the U.S. Air Force . Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate range ballistic missile with thermonuclear warheads. Thor was in height and in diameter. It was...

 missile in the DM-19 configuration. A Star-37XE was used as the second stage, and the third stage was a Star-37S-ISS. All five launches were conducted from Space Launch Complex 10W

Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 10

Space Launch Complex 10, or Missile Launch Complex 10, is located on Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, California. It was built in 1958 to test ballistic missiles and developed into a space launching facility in 1963. Prior to 1966 Space Launch Complex 10 West was known as Vandenberg AFB Pad...

 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base

Vandenberg Air Force Base

Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command ....

. The final launch failed due to a malfunction during separation of the second and third stages which led to the spacecraft's wiring being ripped out.