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Diadème (D 1C, 1D)

Diadème [CNES]

The French satellites Diadème 1 and Diadème 2 were geodetic missions.

These satellites are magnetically stabilized which limit their trackability in the southern hemisphere. Diademe has the following instrumentation onboard:

  • Dual frequency Doppler transmitters
  • Retroreflector array consisting of 2 flattened truncated cones with 77 cube corners per cone for a total of 144 cube corners.

Both satellites were launched only one week apart by Diamant-A boosters in February 1967 into elliptical orbits. The orbit of Diadème 1 was lower than planned.

Nation: France
Type / Application: Geodesy
Operator: CNES
Contractors: CNES
Equipment: 144 retro reflectors
Configuration:
Propulsion: None
Power: 4 deployable fixed solar arrays, batteries
Lifetime:
Mass: 23 kg
Orbit: 569 km × 1350 km, 39.98° (#1); 591 km × 1881 km, 39.45° (#2)
Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
Diadème 1 (D 1C) 1967-011A 08.02.1967 Ha Brigitte P Diamant-A
Diadème 2 (D 1D) 1967-014A 15.02.1967 Ha Brigitte Diamant-A

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