High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! NOAA-7 (or NOAA-C) was launched on 23 June 1981 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. NOAA-7 was launched atop an Atlas F rocket. Launch occurred at 3:53am PST. Its mass was 588.9 kilograms (1,298 lb). It had an orbital time of 102 minutes at an inclination of 98.9, a perigee of 845 kilometres (456 nmi) and an apogee of 863 kilometres (466 nmi). NOAA-7 was an operational meteorological satellite for use in the National Operational Environmental Satellite System (NOESS), which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was used to support the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) during 1978-1984.