Firewheel Subsats 1, 2, 3, 4

 

Firewheel Subsat [MPE]

The Firewheel subsatellites would have been ejected from Firewheel (FIRE-A), and carried diagnostic instruments for observation of the ion releases in the night magnetosphere. The spacecraft were battery-operated, with a lifetime of less than 48 hours. The instruments would have measured the charged particle distributions and the local vector magnetic field.

Nation: Germany, USA
Type / Application: Research
Operator:
Contractors:
Equipment: ?
Configuration:
Propulsion: ?
Power: Batteries
Lifetime:
Mass: 49 kg (#1), 48 kg (#2), 50 kg (#3), 53 kg (#4)
Orbit:
Satellite Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
Firewheel Subsat 1 (FIRE E, MPE Sub-Payload) 23.05.1980 Ko ELA-1 F Ariane-1 with Firewheel, Firewheel Subsat 2, 3, 4, Amsat P3A, CAT 2
Firewheel Subsat 2 (FIRE B, SRC Sub-Payload) 23.05.1980 Ko ELA-1 F Ariane-1 with Firewheel, Firewheel Subsat 1, 3, 4, Amsat P3A, CAT 2
Firewheel Subsat 3 (FIRE C, UCB Sub-Payload) 23.05.1980 Ko ELA-1 F Ariane-1 with Firewheel, Firewheel Subsat 1, 2, 4, Amsat P3A, CAT 2
Firewheel Subsat 4 (FIRE D, NRC Sub-Payload) 23.05.1980 Ko ELA-1 F Ariane-1 with Firewheel, Firewheel Subsat 1, 2, 3, Amsat P3A, CAT 2