Alouette 2
| Mission type | Ionospheric research |
|---|---|
| Operator | DRDC |
| COSPAR ID | 1965-098A |
| SATCAT no. | 1804 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | RCA Victor |
| Launch mass | 146.5 kilograms (323 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 29 November 1965, 04:48 UTC |
| Rocket | Thor SLV-2 Agena-B |
| Launch site | Vandenberg LC-75-1-1 |
| End of mission | |
| Deactivated | 1 August 1975 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Medium Earth |
| Perigee | 508 kilometres (316 mi) |
| Apogee | 2,652 kilometres (1,648 mi) |
| Inclination | 79.8 degrees |
| Period | 117.61 minutes |
| Epoch | 5 December 2013, 13:24:44 UTC |
Alouette 2 was a Canadian research satellite launched at 04:48 UTC on November 29, 1965 by a Thor Agena rocket with Explorer 31 from the Western test range at Vandenberg AFB in California. It was (like its predecessor Alouette 1, and Explorer 31) designed to explore the ionosphere.
The name "Alouette" came from the French for "skylark" and from the title of a popular French-Canadian folk song. Alouette 2 was also known as ISIS-X since it was the first in a series of ISIS satellites: International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies. The next one was called ISIS-I.
The Alouette 2 was built up from the identical backup satellite to Alouette 1. It had many more experiments and more sophisticated support systems than the earlier satellite. It lasted for 10 years, being terminated on August 1, 1975.
RCA Victor of Montreal was the prime contractor; Havilland Aircraft of Toronto, Canada served as associate contractor.
After the Alouette 2 was launched, the upper stage of the rocket used to launch the satellite became a derelict object that would continue to orbit Earth for many years. As of September 2013[update], the upper stage remains in orbit.
The satellite itself became a derelict after August 1975. It too remains a derelict in Earth orbit as of September 2013[update].
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