| Designation | 16969 / 86073A |
| Launch date | 17 Sep 1986 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Mission | Meteorology |
| Perigee/Apogee | 799/818 km |
| Inclination | 98.549° |
| Period | 101 min |
| Launch vehicle | Atlas E |
| Launch site | Vandenberg |
| Out of service | 17 Sep 1991 |
| Cause | placed in standby after arrival of NOAA 12, several units had failed |
| APT downlink freq. | 137.500 MHz (standby) |
| HRPT downlink freq. | 1698.0 MHz |
| Beacon | 136.770 MHz |