Orbital Test Satellite
Names | Orbital Test Satellite OTS |
---|---|
Mission type | Technology demonstration, Communications satellite |
Operator | European Space Agency (ESA) |
COSPAR ID | 1978-044A |
SATCAT no. | 10855 |
Website | http://www.esa.int/ |
Mission duration | 3 years (planned) 12 years, 7 months, 22 days (achieved) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | OTS 2 |
Spacecraft type | OTS |
Bus | OTS Bus |
Manufacturer | British Aerospace (BAe) / Matra Marconi Space (MMS)[1] |
Launch mass | 865 kg (1,907 lb) |
Dry mass | 390 kg (860 lb) |
Dimensions | 2.4 × 2.1 × 1.7 m (7 ft 10 in × 6 ft 11 in × 5 ft 7 in) Span: 9.3 m on orbit |
Power | 600 watts |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 11 May 1978, 22:59:00 UTC |
Rocket | Delta 3914 (s/n D141) |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral, LC-17A |
Contractor | McDonnell Douglas |
Entered service | July 1978 |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Graveyard orbit |
Deactivated | 2 January 1991 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Geostationary orbit |
Longitude | 10° East |
Transponders | |
Band | 6 Ku-band |
Coverage area | Europe |
OTS programme |
The Orbital Test Satellite (OTS) programme was an experimental satellite system inherited by the
OTS 1
The first of the pair of OTS satellites, OTS 1, was launched on 13 September 1977 at 11:31 pm
OTS 2
OTS 2 was successfully launched on 11 May 1978 at 10:59 pm UTC at the same launch complex as OTS 1,
British Aerospace was the prime contractor from the European MESH consortium which developed the satellite. It completed its primary mission in 1984 after which the spacecraft was involved in a 6-year program of experiments, including the testing of a new attitude control technique taking advantage of solar radiation pressure forces. In January 1991, OTS 2 was moved out of the geostationary ring and into a graveyard orbit.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d "Display: OTS 2 1978-044A". NASA. 13 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "The Telecommunications Programme". ESA. August 1995. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ a b "ECS/OTS". astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- JSTOR 3962329.
- ^ "Loss of the OTS 1 Satellite". Satellite Spy. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ "Display: OTS". NASA. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- . Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ "Display trajectory: OTS 2 1978-044A". NASA. Retrieved 17 October 2021.