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Athena-1

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Athena-1 Athena-1 Launch Vehicle Credit: Lockheed Martin

AKA: LLV;LLV-1;LMLV;LMLV-1. Status: Retired 2001. First Launch: 1995-08-15. Last Launch: 2001-09-30. Number: 4 . Payload: 820 kg (1,800 lb). Thrust: 1,449.00 kN (325,748 lbf). Gross mass: 66,300 kg (146,100 lb). Height: 18.90 m (62.00 ft). Diameter: 2.36 m (7.74 ft). Apogee: 185 km (114 mi).

LEO Payload: 820 kg (1,800 lb) to a 185 km orbit at 28.50 degrees. Payload: 360 kg (790 lb) to a 800 km SSO. Launch Price $: 17.000 million in 2000 dollars.

Stage Data - Athena-1

• Stage 1. 1 x Castor 120. Gross Mass: 53,020 kg (116,880 lb). Empty Mass: 4,211 kg (9,283 lb). Thrust (vac): 1,606.594 kN (361,177 lbf). Isp: 286 sec. Burn time: 83 sec. Isp(sl): 229 sec. Diameter: 2.36 m (7.74 ft). Span: 2.36 m (7.74 ft). Length: 10.70 m (35.10 ft). Propellants: Solid. No Engines: 1. Engine: Castor 120. Status: In Production. Comments: Modification of Peacekeeper ICBM first stage.

• Stage 2. 1 x ESBM. Gross Mass: 10,810 kg (23,830 lb). Empty Mass: 1,030 kg (2,270 lb). Thrust (vac): 189.200 kN (42,534 lbf). Isp: 293 sec. Burn time: 150 sec. Diameter: 2.30 m (7.50 ft). Span: 2.30 m (7.50 ft). Length: 3.00 m (9.80 ft). Propellants: Solid. No Engines: 1. Engine: SRM-1. Status: In Production.

• Stage 3. 1 x OAM. Gross Mass: 714 kg (1,574 lb). Empty Mass: 360 kg (790 lb). Thrust (vac): 882 N (198 lbf). Isp: 222 sec. Burn time: 1,500 sec. Diameter: 2.30 m (7.50 ft). Span: 2.30 m (7.50 ft). Length: 1.00 m (3.20 ft). Propellants: Hydrazine. No Engines: 4. Engine: MR-107. Status: In Production. Comments: Monopropellant final stage providing precise orbital injection. Pressure-fed, indefinite number of restarts.

• GemStar 1 (VitaSat) - . Payload: Gemstar DSS-1. Mass: 113 kg (249 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: LMSC. Class: Communications. Type: Civilian communications satellite. Spacecraft: GemStar. Decay Date: 1995-08-15 . Global Electronic Messaging Satellite..

• Lewis - . Payload: SSTI/Lewis. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, TRW. Manufacturer: Chantilly. Class: Earth. Type: Earth resources satellite. Spacecraft Bus: T200. Spacecraft: Lewis satellite. Decay Date: 1997-09-28 . USAF Sat Cat: 24909 . COSPAR: 1997-044A. Apogee: 134 km (83 mi). Perigee: 124 km (77 mi). Inclination: 97.50 deg. Period: 87.10 min. Reentered Sep 28.

• ROCSAT-1 - . Mass: 400 kg (880 lb). Nation: Taiwan. Agency: NSPO. Manufacturer: TRW. Class: Earth. Type: Seismology satellite. Spacecraft Bus: T200. Spacecraft: ROCSAT. USAF Sat Cat: 25616 . COSPAR: 1999-002A. Apogee: 523 km (324 mi). Perigee: 479 km (297 mi). Inclination: 34.96 deg. Period: 94.63 min.

  Taiwan's first satellite, with experimental communications, ocean imagery, and ionospheric studies instruments. The Primex OAM placed itself and the payload into an elliptical transfer orbit. A second OAM burn circularized the orbit, and ROCSAT separated into a 588 x 601 km x 35.0 deg orbit.

• Starshine 3 - . Mass: 67 kg (147 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Class: Earth. Type: Geodetic satellite. Spacecraft: Starshine. Decay Date: 2003-01-21 . USAF Sat Cat: 26929 . COSPAR: 2001-043A. Apogee: 472 km (293 mi). Perigee: 472 km (293 mi). Inclination: 67.00 deg.

  Possibly last Athena flight. Launch delayed from September 1, 18, 22, 23, 25, 28. This was the first orbital launch from Alaska's Kodiak Island launch site (Foul weather and auroral conditions had delayed the launch many times) . The Lockheed Martin Athena-1's Orbit Adjust Module's (OAM) four MR-107 hydrazine engines fired for 12 minutes to put the payloads in a 237 x 815 km transfer orbit. After a coast to apogee above East Africa, a second burn at 0337 GMT circularized the orbit. USAF Space Test Program satellites Picosat, Sapphire and PCSat were deployed into an 790 x 800 km x 67 deg orbit between 0344 and 0352 GMT; the OAM then made a perigee lowering burn to a 470 x 800 km orbit. Another burn half an orbit later put OAM in a 467 x 474 km orbit, from wish Starshine 3 was deployed. Finally, the OAM made a perigee-lowering depletion burn which left in a 215 x 403 km x 67.2 deg orbit from which would reenter in a few months.

  Starshine-3 was a 90 kg, 0.9 m geodetic sphere that was to be observed by students. The NASA satellite was basically a passive light-reflecting sphere, consisting of 1,500 student-built mirrors (polished by kindergarten and grade school students from many countries) and 31 laser "retroreflectors". A few solar cells provide enough power to send a beacon at 145.825 MHz every minute. Ham operators around the world were expected to obtain signal strengths from which the decay (due to magnetic torque) of its spin rate could be determined. The project was managed by NASA GSFC and Starshine was built by the Naval Research Laboratory.

• Sapphire - . Mass: 67 kg (147 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: Lockheed. Manufacturer: Stanford. Class: Technology. Type: Navigation technology satellite. Spacecraft: Sapphire. USAF Sat Cat: 26932 . COSPAR: 2001-043D. Apogee: 796 km (494 mi). Perigee: 790 km (490 mi). Inclination: 67.10 deg. Period: 100.70 min. SAPPHIRE (a US DoD-funded microsatellite) was built by Stanford University students and carried experimental infrared horizon sensors, a voice synthesizer and a digital camera. The satellite was about 0.5m in size and had a mass of 16 kg..

• PCSat - . Mass: 67 kg (147 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USN. Class: Communications. Type: Amateur radio communications satellite. Spacecraft: Oscar. USAF Sat Cat: 26931 . COSPAR: 2001-043C. Apogee: 796 km (494 mi). Perigee: 789 km (490 mi). Inclination: 67.00 deg. Period: 100.70 min.

  PCSat (Prototype Communications SATellite) was to act as a relay for UHF/VHF amateur radio transmissions. It was built by the midshipmen at the US Naval Academy. It was to augment the existing worldwide Amateur Radio Automatic Position Reporting System; mass was around 10 kg.

• Picosat - . Mass: 67 kg (147 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: USAF. Manufacturer: Surrey. Class: Technology. Type: Navigation technology satellite. Spacecraft: SSTL-70. USAF Sat Cat: 26930 . COSPAR: 2001-043B. Apogee: 795 km (493 mi). Perigee: 788 km (489 mi). Inclination: 67.00 deg. Period: 100.70 min.

  STP P97-1 Picosat was built by Surrey Satellite for the USAF using a Uosat-type bus. The 68 kg satellite was to test electronic components/systems in space conditions. It carried four test payloads: Polymer Battery Experiment (PBEX), Ionospheric Occultation Experiment (IOX), Coherent Electromagnetic Radio Tomagraphy (CERTO) and an ultra-quiet platform (OPPEX). Called Picosat 9 by some Agencies although not related to other satellites in that series.