TOPEX-Poseidon, Kitsat-1 & S80/T

Launch Success

Liftoff Time (GMT)

23:08:07

Monday August 10, 1992

Mission Details

Launch Notes

Last flight of Ariane 42L with a classic H10 stage. Flight V52.

TOPEX/Poseidon

Wiki

TOPEX/Poseidon was a joint satellite mission between NASA, the U.S. space agency; and CNES, the French space agency, to map ocean surface topography. Launched on August 10, 1992, it was the first major oceanographic research satellite. TOPEX/Poseidon helped revolutionize oceanography by providing data previously impossible to obtain. Oceanographer Walter Munk described TOPEX/Poseidon as "the most successful ocean experiment of all time." A malfunction ended normal satellite operations in January 2006.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

2,431 kilograms

Kitsat-1

Wiki

KITSAT-1 (Korean Institute of Technology Satellite) was a collaborative research mission, encompassing the installation of a ground station in South Korea, participation of Korean engineers in the UoSAT-5 mission, technology transfer and training of students on the MSc courses at Surrey, and the involvement in the engineering and flight of microsatellites. KITSAT-1 was developed and constructed by a team of Korean and SSTL engineers. It was based on the 35 cm × 35 cm × 67 cm modular microsatellite bus previously flown on UoSAT-3, -4, and -5. Power was provided by body-mounted solar cells. Attitude control was provided by a gravity-gradient boom and active magnetorquering.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

46 kilograms

S80/T

Wiki

The S80/T satellite was built for CNES by Matra Marconi Space using the Surrey Satellite Technology Microbus (Uosat) bus. The 0.35 × 0.35m, 50 kg satellite had a 6-m gravity gradient mast. It was launched on 1992 Aug 10 on an ASAP Ariane from Kourou. S80/T carried an experimental 148/138 MHz transponder for tests of mobile communications and location-finding for a proposed, but later abandoned, LEO constellation named S80 or Taos. The spacecraft finally suffered electrical failure due to total dose effects in October 1999.

Low Earth Orbit

1 Payload

50 kilograms

Rocket

Retired
Ariane 42P

Active 1990 to 2002

European Space Agency logo

Manufacturer

ESA

Rocket

Diameter: 3.8m

Height: 58.72m

Payload to Orbit

GTO: 2,930 kg

Liftoff Thrust

4,334 Kilonewtons

Stages

3

Strap-ons

2

Launch Site

ELA-2

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, France

Fastest Turnaround

16 days

Stats

Ariane 4


24th

Mission

4th

Mission of 1992

European Space Agency


43rd

Mission

4th

Mission of 1992

1992


53rd

Orbital launch attempt