The warhead was tested on Novaya Zemlya in October 1957 and again in 1958, yielding an estimated 2.9 Mt.
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A single launch pad was operational at Baikonur and from six to eight were in operation at Plesetsk.
In the case of the Soyuz and other R7-based rockets, the temperature penalty was minor.
The Vanguard "Satellite Launch Vehicle", a term invented for the operational SLV rockets as opposed to the Test Vehicle TV versions, was a much smaller and lighter launcher than the Redstone-based Jupiter-C/Juno 1 rocket which launched the Explorer satellites, or the immense R-7 that the Soviets used to launch the early Sputniks.