Uosat 1

United Kingdom

Spacecraft nº:

UK spacecraft nº: 14

Also called UO-09 or Oscar 09

Launch data:

Designation	12888 / 81100B
Launch date	06 Oct 1981 - 11:27 UT
Launch site	Va, SLC-2W
Launch vehicle	Delta-2310 (#157)
Mission	Communications
Earth orbit:
Perigee/Apogee	372/374 km
Inclination	97.6°
Period	92 min

First on-board computer (IHU - Integrated Housekeeping Unit) for battery and attitude management, remote control, and experiments.
Launched with SME spacecraft. It took three months to stabilise the craft in orbit, and studied radio propagation in the ionosphere from its orbit. The beacon transmitted on 7, 14, 21 and 28 MHz, but from Apr to Sep 1982 both VHF and UHF were sent simultaneously until a jolt signal was sent. Other instruments included a three axis magnetometer and a radiation sensor. Power came from solar cells left over from the Ariel-6 project. It had a TV camera and a voice synthesiser with a 150 word capacity to report on results and spacecraft condition.
Transmission frequency was 145.825 MHz.

Specifications

Prime contractor	University of Surrey (UK)
Platform	UoSAT
Mass at launch	52 kg
Dimension	0.74 x 0.42 x 0.42 m
Stabilization	3 axis (gravity gradient, magnetorquer)
DC power	BOL: 17 W EOL: 10 W

End of life

Decay

13 Oct 1989

Ref: #1, #15, #102 - update: 27.11.04