Symphonie 2

Spacecraft nº:

France / Germany spacecraft nº: 19 / 8

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

End of life:

Mission Report:

• Delta 114 rocket reentered over Africa on Jul 14, 2013 with debris landing near the Zimplats platinum mine (about 18.7S 30.4E) in the Mhondoro district of Zimbabwe south of Harare.
• Delta 114 was a Model 2914 Delta launch vehicle launched from Cape Canaveral on 1975 Aug 27, and placed the French-German Symphonie 2 satellite in orbit. The second stage made two burns to a 410 x 2020 km x 25.3 deg orbit; the third stage then fired to get to geostationary transfer orbit. By April 2013, the Delta 114 second stage orbit had decayed to a nearly-circular 300 x 410 km and rapid decay set in, with the last orbit data on Jul 13 showing 174 x 185 km x 25.3 deg. SpaceTrack's TIP decay notice gives a reentry time of Jul 14 0600 UTC +/- 2 min, over the Gulf of Guinea.
  Extrapolating the final ground track shows that reentering debris would have passed over central Zimbabwe at around 0612 UTC. Reports from Zimbabwe indicate multiple high altitude sonic booms heard on Jul 14, with photographs of what appears to be a dented second stage propellant tank found on the ground.