ROCSAT-2

Spacecraft n°:

Taiwan spacecraft n°: 2

Launch data: Designation  28254 / 04018A Launch date  20 May 2004 - 17:47:03 UT Launch site  V, 576-E Launch vehicle  Taurus-XL (1e flight) Mission  Government: Remote sensing Sun-Synchronous LEO Earth orbit on 2 June: Perigee / Apogee  891 x 892 km Inclination  99.14° Period  102.80 min Sun-Synchronous LEO Earth orbit on July 2010: Perigee / Apogee  725 x 743 km Eccentricity  1,27E-03 Inclination  99.1° Period  99.48 min

Spacecraft data: Prime contractor  Astrium/NSPO Customer  Taiwan National Space Program Office Platform  Leostar-500-XO Mass at launch  764 kg Dry Mass  631 kg Basic shape   Dimension   Solar array   Stabilization   DC power  500-700 W Design lifetime  5 yrs - still active

ROCSAT 2 undergoes pre-launch activities. Credit: NSPO

Description:

• ROCSAT 2 (Republic of China Satellite 2) is the second high-resolution Earth observation satellite for the Taiwanese National Space Program Office (NSPO) whose mission is regional remote sensing - to collect data to be used for natural disaster evaluation, agricultural applications, urban planning strategy, environmental monitoring, and ocean surveillance.
  Instruments include a 0.6 m diameter telescope with a ground resolution of 2 metres (black and white images) and a colour imager which a ground resolution of 8 m.
• "It's mission is to observe and monitor the terrestrial and marine environment and natural resources throughout Taiwan, its remote islands and surrounding ocean for civil applications."

Mission details:

• Following a smooth countdown, the four-stage rocket blasted off on-time at 1747 GMT (1:47 p.m. EDT; 10:47 a.m. local) from pad 576E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
• Fourteen minutes later, the rocket successfully completed the launch by releasing its cargo in space.
• Thursday's launch was crucial for the Taurus rocket. Not only was the XL version making its debut, but it also marked the return-to-flight for the Taurus vehicle family after a failure nearly three years ago.
  The last mission in September 2001 was lost when a steering mechanism on the second stage motor jammed at ignition, robbing the rocket of its speed and preventing it from achieving orbit.
• Once maneuvered into its operational orbit 550 miles above the planet, ROCSAT 2 will will snap pictures for environmental monitoring and use an onboard instrument to study upper atmospheric lightning, called red sprites.