AFR

1997 October 5

15:08 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-U-PVB.

• Sputnik-40 - . Payload: Spoutnik 40 Ans / RS-17. Nation: Russia. Agency: RAKA. Manufacturer: AFR. Program: Oscar. Class: Communications. Type: Amateur radio communications satellite. Spacecraft: PS Model. Decay Date: 1998-05-21 . USAF Sat Cat: 24958 . COSPAR: 1997-058C. Apogee: 378 km (234 mi). Perigee: 369 km (229 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 87.10 min. Subscale model of the first Spuntik, hand-launched by Mir crew during an EVA. Transmitted radio signals..

1998 October 25

04:14 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-U-PVB.

• Spoutnik-41 - . Nation: France. Agency: ACF, VVS. Manufacturer: AFR. Program: Oscar. Class: Communications. Type: Civilian communications satellite. Spacecraft: PS Model. Decay Date: 1999-01-11 . USAF Sat Cat: 25533 . COSPAR: 1998-062C. Apogee: 318 km (197 mi). Perigee: 313 km (194 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg.

  On a space walk from Mir on November 10, Padalka and Avdeyev hand-launched the Spoutnik-41 amateur-radio mini-satellite at around 19:30 GMT. Spoutnik-41, also designated RS-18, was another scale model of the first satellite, Sputnik 1, launched 41 years ago. It carried a small transmitter and was sponsored by Aero Club de France, AMSAT-France, and the Astronautical Federation of Russia. A similar model was launched in 1997 for the fortieth anniversary of Sputnik. On that occasion, two flight models were carried to Mir but only one was launched. The second Spoutnik-40 flight model was still aboard Mir as of 1998. The second Spoutnik-40 would perhaps be deployed prior to the abandonment of Mir in 1999.