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]
 The Equator-S satellite was operational between 2 December 1997 and 1 May 1998[1] | |
| Mission type | Heliophysics |
|---|---|
| Operator | ISTP |
| COSPAR ID | 1997-075B |
| SATCAT no. | 25068 |
| Website | https://www2011.mpe.mpg.de/EQS/eq-s-home.html |
| Mission duration | 2 years (planned) 150 days (achieved)[1] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics[1] |
| Launch mass | 230 kg (510 lb)[2] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2 December 1997, 22:52 UTC[3] |
| Rocket | Ariane 44P (Flight V103) |
| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre ELA-2 |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 1 May 1998 |
Description
editEquator-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
edit
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g "Max Planck Institute- Equator S Summary". Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ "Spacecraft Specs". MP:EquatorS Archive. Max Planck Institute. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ "Ariane 44P | JCSAT-5 & Equator S". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ "NASA: Equator-S". NASA. Retrieved 13 December 2021.