Dong Fang Hong 10

China (PR)

Spacecraft nº:

China satellite nº: 16

Also called SJ-2A (Shi Jian-2A) or PRC 9B

Launch data:

Designation	12843 / 81093B
Launch date	19 Sep 1981 - 21:28 UT
Launch site	Jiuquan, LA2B
Launch vehicle	FB 1 (#11)
Mission	(Shijian)
Highly Elliptical Earth orbit:
Perigee / Apogee	232 x 1615 km
Eccentricity
Inclination	59.4 deg
Period	103.5 min

DFH 10

Photo of the SJ-2A spacecraft (image credit: CAST)

According to ref #7: 81093B= SJ-2A

Spacecraft data:

Prime contractor
Platform
Operator
Mass at launch	480 kg
Dry Mass	kg
Basic shape
Dimension (m)
Equipment
Solar array
Stabilization
Propulsion
Payload	Space dust/debris experiments and electromagnetic background probing

End of life

Decay

06Oct 1982

Mission details:

The SJ-2A satellite was a beacon transmitter satellite used for the detection of ionospheric electron density distributions (topside sounding applications). The frequencies of the beacon transmitter were: 162 MHz and 40.5 MHz. The principle of the measurement is that the ground station receives Doppler shift and Faraday spin of the two signs passing through the ionosphere to inverse the integrated electronic concentration of the ionosphere.

Ref.: #1, #7, #15, #113, #242 - update: 10.08.15