CAT 1 [ESA]
The CAT (Capsule Ariane Technologique) payloads were instrumented vehicle evaluation payloads on the first four Ariane-1 flights.
CAT consisted of a cylindrical section, which carried the instruments for vibration, acceleration, sound and launch environment. They were battery powered with a life time of about 6 days. The CAT payloads could be topped by ballast or adaptor section.
CAT 1 carried a truncated cone ballast. CAT 2 was similar, but carried also the Firewheel satellite on top of the ballast section and the AMSAT P3A satellite side mounted.
CAT 3 had the ballast section replaced by the Indian Apple satellite, which in turn carried the Meteosat 2 satellite.
CAT 4 contained also the scientific Thesee payload. It had a cylindrical ballast section with a vibration damping experiment, which carried the MARECS 1 comsat.
Nation: | Europe |
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Type / Application: | Vehicle evaluation |
Operator: | |
Contractors: | Aeritalia, Selenia, Labem |
Equipment: | |
Configuration: | |
Propulsion: | None |
Power: | Batteries |
Lifetime: | 6 days |
Mass: | |
Orbit: | 182 km × 35824 km, 17.63° (#1); 221 km × 35700 km, 10.23° (#3); 216 km × 35716 km, 10.38° (#4) |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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CAT 1 | 1979-104A | 24.12.1979 | Ko ELA-1 | Ariane-1 | ||
CAT 2 | 1980-F01 | 23.05.1980 | Ko ELA-1 | F | Ariane-1 | with Firewheel, Firewheel Subsat 1, 2, 3, 4, AMSAT P3A |
CAT 3 | 1981-057C | 19.06.1981 | Ko ELA-1 | Ariane-1 | with Meteosat 2, Apple | |
CAT 4 (Thesee) | 1981-122B | 20.12.1981 | Ko ELA-1 | Ariane-1 | with MARECS 1 |