Solwind
Spacecraft · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Credit: Manufacturer Image
American earth magnetosphere satellite. Ionosphere and magnetosphere studies; destroyed 9/13/85 (while still functioning) as part of ASAT test. Experimental satellite built by Ball Aerospace for USAF STP (Space Test Program), USA. Launched 1979.
More at: Solwind.
Related
- Family
- Earth, Magnetosphere sat
- Country
- USA
- Launch Vehicles
- Atlas, Atlas F, Atlas F/OIS
- Launch Sites
- Vandenberg, Vandenberg SLC3W
- Agency
- USAF
Chronology
3 events
1976 January 30
- Contract for Space Test Program Flight P78-1. - . Spacecraft Bus: Space Test Program Payloads. Spacecraft: Solwind. Effective on this date, Ball Brothers Research Corporation was awarded a $10.3 million contract to develop a space vehicle system for Space Test Program Flight P78-1..
1979 February 24
08:24 GMT - . Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: Vandenberg SLC3W. LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Atlas F/OIS.- Solwind (P 78-1) - .
Payload: P 78-1. Mass: 1,331 kg (2,934 lb). Nation: USA.
Agency: USN.
Class: Earth.
Type: Magnetosphere satellite. Spacecraft Bus: Space Test Program Payloads.
Spacecraft: Solwind.
Decay Date: 1985-09-30 . USAF Sat Cat: 11278 . COSPAR: 1979-017A. Apogee: 317 km (196 mi). Perigee: 310 km (190 mi). Inclination: 97.80 deg. Period: 90.80 min.
Atlas booster 27F successfully launched Space Test Program Flight P78-1 from Space Launch Complex 3W, Vandenberg AFB, California. The primary payload on the spacecraft was a gamma spectrometer sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Ionosphere and magnetosphere studies; destroyed on 13 September 1985 (while still functioning) as part of an American ASAT test.