Pollux (satellite)
| Pollux | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Technology testing satellite |
| Country: |
 France
|
| Operator: | CNES |
| COSPAR-ID : | 1975-039A |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 37.5 kg |
| Begin: | 17th May 1975 |
| Starting place: | Kourou |
| Launcher: | Diamond BP-4 No 2 |
| Status: | burned up August 5, 1975 |
| Orbit data | |
| Rotation time : | 100.4 min |
| Orbit inclination : | 30 ° |
| Apogee height : | 299 km |
| Perigee height : | 1258 km |
| Eccentricity : | 0.067 |
Pollux (also known as D5-A ) is a French small satellite that was launched with the aid of a diamond rocket together with the Castor satellite.
Purpose and structure
Pollux served as an experimental satellite for testing a hydrazine drive . The spherical tank held 7 kg of hydrazine, and combustion at 1000 ° C produced an average thrust of 2.5 Newtons. The satellite's motion was recorded and processed by accelerometers and gyrometers before the data was broadcast to Earth at 136.610 MHz. The solar cells generated an electrical output of 5 W.
Mission history
The first attempt to start on May 22, 1973 in Kourou failed because a protective cover did not come off. The start on May 17, 1975, however, was successful. In orbit, the satellite was set in a rotation of 10 revolutions per minute. After the separation from Castor, the relative speed of the two satellites was 1 m / s.
After a few days the hydrazine drive was successfully tested. However, due to a mistake, the orbit was lowered too much, so that Pollux burned up in the earth's atmosphere on August 5th.
Web links
- D5-A in the NSSDCA Master Catalog (English)