Intasat
| Intasat | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Research satellite |
| Country: |
 Spain
|
| Operator: | INTA |
| COSPAR-ID : | 1974-089C |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 20 kg |
| Size: | 41 cm high, 44 cm diameter |
| Begin: | November 15, 1974, 17:11 UTC |
| Starting place: | Vandenberg AFB , SLC-2W |
| Launcher: | Delta-2310 |
| Status: | in orbit, out of order |
| Orbit data | |
| Rotation time : | 114.9 min |
| Orbit inclination : | 101.6 ° |
| Apogee height : | 1466 km |
| Perigee height : | 1448 km |
Intasat (short for I nstituto N acional de T écnica A erospacial satellite élite) was the first Spanish satellite . It served to study the ionosphere .
construction
The spacecraft was a twelve-sided straight prism with a corner dimension of 44.2 cm and a height of 41 cm. The beacon antennas extended about 175 cm from both ends of the satellite along the spin axis. Four 49 cm long telemetry antennas extended obliquely outward from one end. The attitude control magnet with damping rods ensured alignment with the local magnetic field vector within two weeks of the start. The 16 V power grid was powered by twelve nickel-cadmium batteries, which were charged by solar cells on the sides of the satellite.
business
Intasat was launched on November 15, 1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base along with NOAA 4 and OSCAR 7 with a Delta-2310 missile . The beacon power was switched on with a timer shortly after separation from the launch vehicle. A killer timer system shut down the spacecraft after two years.
The orbit was synchronous with the sun, with equator crossing that occurred initially at noon and at midnight local time. About 40 ground observers used the experiment for the ionospheric investigation.
Web links
- Intasat on Gunter's Space Page (English).
- Intasat in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)