Azure (satellite)
| Azure | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Research satellite |
| Country: |
 Germany
|
| Operator: | BMWF / DFVLR |
| COSPAR-ID : | 1969-097A |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 71.2 kg |
| Size: | 1.22 m high |
| Begin: | November 8, 1969, 01:52 UTC |
| Starting place: | Vandenberg Air Force Base , SLC 5th |
| Launcher: | Scout-B S169C |
| Status: | inactive since June 29, 1970 |
| Orbit data | |
| Rotation time : | 101.02 min |
| Orbit inclination : | 102.6907 |
| Apogee height : | 1257 km |
| Perigee height : | 356 km |
| Eccentricity : | 0.0627457 |
Azur (also GRS A or GRS 1 for German Research Satellite ) was the first satellite developed in Germany . It served the Federal Republic of Germany as an entry point into space research and cost around 80 million DM (which corresponds to around 150 million euros today).
The Federal Ministry of Science and Research entered into a cooperation with the US space agency NASA for its development . Since the payload was only 71 kg, from the large number of proposals submitted, only a few experiments that were intended to investigate cosmic rays and their reactions near the earth could be considered.
Mission flow
Azur was launched on November 8, 1969 at 1:52 UTC with a four-stage Scout-B launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base , USA. The height of the orbit was between 383 km and 3145 km; it was inclined at 103 ° to the equator. The control of the satellite was taken over on November 15, 1969 by the newly established German Space Control Center in Oberpfaffenhofen , which belongs to the German Research and Research Institute for Aerospace (now the German Aerospace Center ).
The satellite stopped working after seven months on June 29, 1970, although the specified service life was one year. By October 2018, the perigee of the orbit had dropped to 356 km and the apogee to 1257 km due to the residual atmospheric drag.
With Azur not only broke new ground, but principal (Society for Space Research mbH (GfW) in Bonn- Bad Godesberg ) and the main contractor ( MBB ) led the usual in American aerospace systems engineering and management methods. Ants Kutzer was the project manager at GfW, and Erhard Keppler from the Institute for Stratospheric Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy (MPAE) in Katlenburg-Lindau was responsible for the payload .
See also
- Dial , the second German research satellite
literature
- Niklas Reinke: History of the German space policy. Concepts, influencing factors and interdependencies: 1923–2002. Munich 2004, ISBN 3-486-56842-6 .
Web links
- DLR: 35 years of AZUR - Germany's first research satellite was launched on November 8, 1969.
- Gunter's Space Page: Azur (GRS 1) (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Azure orbit. In: Heavens-Above. Accessed October 2, 2018 (German).
- ↑ This figure was based on the template: Inflation determined, has been rounded to the nearest million and relates to January 2020.