After two launch attempts were aborted, one due to an electrical short in the probe and the other due to weather concerns, the go to fly was given for October 18. Liftoff took place at 12:59 PM EST and the Atlas soon vanished into an overcast gray sky. A malfunction of the guidance system rate beacon at T+93 seconds resulted in noisy track rate data, but, unlike Ranger 3, discrete commands were received and issued by the guidance system properly. The Agena reached orbit successfully and began the burn to place Ranger 5 on a translunar trajectory.