Tan Ce 2 (TC-2)

China (PR) / ESA

Spacecraft nº:

Chinese spacecraft nº: 87

Orig PL Name: Double Star DSP-P

Launch data:

Designation	28382 / 04029A
Launch date	25 Jul 2004 - 07:05 UT
Launch site	Taiyuan, LC1
Launch vehicle	CZ-2C/SM (#F24)
Mission	Government: Research
Elliptical Earth orbit on 25 Jul:
Perigee / Apogee	673 / 38568 km
Inclination	695,31°
Period	90,04 min
Elliptical Earth orbit on April 2010:
Perigee / Apogee	272 x 38352 km
Eccentricity	7.41E-01
Inclination	89.27°
Period	682.98 min

Spacecraft data:

Prime contractor	Chinese National Space Administration / ESA
Platform
Operator	Chinese National Space Administration
Mass at launch	660 kg
Dry Mass	343 kg
Basic shape
Dimension
Solar array
Stabilization
DC power
Design lifetime

Decay:

Out of service:	Dec 2011
Cause:

Mission details:

CNSA-ESA joint mission carrying eight experiments to study earth's magnetosphere; highest orbit ever for a Chinese satellite; polar orbit; operates with ESA's cluster satellites.
Second of two science satellites launched under the joint ESA-China DoubleStar programme, designated DS-P (for "polar"): Tan Ce translates into English as "explorer". Satellite carries instruments manufactured both by China and menbers of the European Space Agency and compliment the work being undertaken by the ESA Cluster-2 satellites.

Ref.: #3(SD385), #7, #14, #97, #226 - update: 11.02.12