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Equator-S

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Equator-S
The Equator-S satellite was operational between 2 December 1997 and 1 May 1998[1]
Mission typeHeliophysics
OperatorISTP
COSPAR ID1997-075B Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.25068Edit this on Wikidata
Websitehttps://www2011.mpe.mpg.de/EQS/eq-s-home.html
Mission duration2 years (planned)
150 days (achieved)[1]
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerMax Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics[1]
Launch mass230 kg (510 lb)[2]
Start of mission
Launch date2 December 1997, 22:52 (1997-12-02UTC22:52) UTC[3]
RocketAriane 44P (Flight V103)
Launch siteGuiana Space Centre ELA-2
ContractorArianespace
End of mission
Last contact1 May 1998

The Equator-S satellite was a spacecraft constructed by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics for the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics Science Initiative. It was operational between 2 December 1997 and 1 May 1998.[1]

Computer generated image of the Equator-S satellite (NASA).

Description

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Equator-S was a low-cost mission, launched with the intention to study the Earth's magnetosphere around the equator at heights lower than 67,000 km.[1] It was located in a near-equatorial orbit, which gave Equator-S the ability to make unique observations about the interaction between the magnetosphere and interplanetary space.[4] Equator-S had a very high spin rate and was launched on an Ariane 4 rocket on 2 December 1997.[1]

The mission ended earlier than expected, having initially been intended to have a lifetime of two years. The mission was terminated on 1 May 1998 after the failure of the onboard processor system.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Max Planck Institute- Equator S Summary". Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Spacecraft Specs". MP:EquatorS Archive. Max Planck Institute. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Ariane 44P | JCSAT-5 & Equator S". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  4. ^ "NASA: Equator-S". NASA. Retrieved 13 December 2021.