GemStar 1
Launch Failure
Liftoff Time (GMT)
22:30:00
Tuesday August 15, 1995
Mission Details
Launch Notes
First flight of Athena. Expended hydraulic fluid burned in first stage aft section, damaging nozzle feedback cables causing loss of gimbal control and tumbling. Separately, arcing in the IMU high-voltage power supply caused loss of attitude reference. Flight terminated by range safety officer at T+160 s.
GemStar 1
The 136 kg mini-satellite measured 1 m in diameter and is 660 mm high. It employs gravity gradient stabilisation, was 3-axis stabillised, and was based on CTA Inc' GemStar bus (CTA refers to the satellite as GemStar 1). It was intended to be placed into a 650 km orbit, receive 9.6 and 19.2 kbps in the 148-150.5 MHz band, and transmit at 9.6, 19.2 and 38.4 kbps in the 137-137 MHz and 400.15-401 MHz bands.
Low Earth Orbit
1 Payload
136 kilograms
Launch Site
Stats
Athena I
1st
Mission
1st
Mission of 1995
1995
47th
Orbital launch attempt