Spaceflight Now: Breaking News

Cosmos rocket lofts science and technology satellites
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Posted: July 15, 2000

  CHAMP
Artist's impression of CHAMP in orbit after launch. Photo: Astrium
 
A Cosmos-3M rocket successfully launched three small satellites today designed to test new technologies and monitor our home planet.

Launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia occurred on time at 1200 GMT (8:00 a.m. EDT). The rocket's mission took about 32 minutes and 18 seconds to complete, placing the trio of payloads into a near-circular orbit 460 kilometers high with an inclination of 87.3 degrees.

The primary payload carried aloft was the German Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP). It will be operate on behalf of the Berlin-based GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam. GFZ Potsdam combines all earth science fields into one large research center.

CHAMP will conduct extensive geo-scientific and atmospheric research during its five-year target lifetime to generate for the first time simultaneously highly precise gravity and magnetic field measurements. And, instead of using older observation methods, CHAMP will incorporate many new techniques for space-based Earth studies.

Logo
The CHAMP mission patch. Photo: GFZ Potsdam
 
The satellite also will be used for gravity experiments featuring the Global Positioning System (GPS) to accurately track its orbit. Also, several high-tech devices will monitor the spacecraft's three axes. The mission is also slated to carry out measurements of the magnetic field using several on-board magnetometers.

Also, CHAMP will analyze radio signals that have been refracted by the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. Scientists who look at the returned data will be able to determine many important attributes of the upper atmosphere, such as temperature. The data from all of the above experiments and goals will contribute to the studies of the structure of the Earth and its systems, CHAMP officials say.

CHAMP was built under contract by the former Daimler Chrysler Aerospace of Europe. Daimler Chrysler Aerospace later merged with Matra Marconi Space to form a new satellite manufacturing company, Astrium.

CHAMP features a basic, but unique design with seven square meters of fixed solar panels that form a triangular-like shape on top and a flat shape on the bottom. Inside of the craft's primary structure are the 14 attitude control system cold gas thrusters and their gaseous nitrogen fuel tanks, three gyroscope-like magnets, and the central computer.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the craft is the long boom on the forward end of the spacecraft. On it are instruments that will aid in the attitude control system and the magnetic field experiments.

CHAMP
CHAMP under construction. Photo: GFZ Potsdam
 
 
The entire CHAMP spacecraft weighs 1,148.4 pounds (522 kg) and is 750 millimeters tall, just over eight meters long (including the boom), and one-and-a-half meters wide. The craft is three-axis stabilized and is Earth-pointing.

Also launched by Cosmos was the Italian Microsatellite Italiano di Technologia Avanzata (MITA) microsatellite. The craft weighs approximately 110 pounds (50 kg) and measures 1450 millimeters by 400 millimeters by 620 millimeters. The basic shape is cubic with deployable solar panels. The spacecraft's purpose will be to demonstrate the capabilities of the Italian aerospace industry and to perform scientific research in orbit. The mission will be funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the spacecraft bus is built by Carlo Gavazzi Space.

Another piggy-back payload for the launch was the joint German and Russian RUBIN. It remained attached to the payload adapter to conduct its experiments from there.

The Cosmos-3M features two stages. The first stage is powered by two RD-216 engines that burn unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) and nitric acid. The second stage employs a single, re-startable engine that burns the same fuel combination as the first stage. The Cosmos-3M is around 90 feet tall and just over 6 feet in diameter.