ESRO

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Class: Technology. Nation: Europe. Agency: ESRO(ESRO 2B).

The ESRO series were small Scout-launched probes of near-earth space.

Typical orbit: 283 x 1043 km, 91.7 deg inclinaton. Mass: 85 kg (187 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Scout B, Scout D.

ESRO Chronology

1967 May 30 - ESRO 2A - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Scout. FAILURE: Third stage failure. Mass: 74 kg (163 lb).

1968 May 17 - ESRO 2B - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Scout. Mass: 75 kg (165 lb). Perigee: 334 km (207 mi). Apogee: 1,085 km (674 mi). Inclination: 97.20 deg. Period: 99.00 min.

1968 October 3 - ESRO 1A - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Scout. Mass: 81 kg (178 lb). Perigee: 258 km (160 mi). Apogee: 1,538 km (955 mi). Inclination: 93.80 deg. Period: 103.00 min.
Aurora, polar ionosphere investigations.

1969 October 1 - ESRO 1B - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Scout. FAILURE: Partial Failure. Mass: 80 kg (176 lb). Perigee: 298 km (185 mi). Apogee: 378 km (234 mi). Inclination: 85.00 deg. Period: 91.30 min.
Ionospheric and auroral investigations; lower than planned orbit. Fourth satellite of ESRO. Also registered by the United States in A/AC.105/INF.220 as United States space object 1969-83A, with category B and orbital parameters 90.6 min, 280 x 339 km x 85.1 deg.

1972 November 22 - ESRO 4 - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Scout. Mass: 114 kg (251 lb). Perigee: 245 km (152 mi). Apogee: 1,173 km (728 mi). Inclination: 91.10 deg. Period: 99.00 min.
Polar ionosphere investigations. Seventh ESRO satellite. Mass 115 kg. Also registered by the United States as 1972-92A, in A/AC.105/INF.267, with orbital parameters 98.8 min, 244 x 1160 km x 91.1 deg, category B.

Bibliography:

McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
Bramscher, Robert G, Spaceflight, "A Survey of Launch Vehicle Failures", 1980, Volume 22, page 351.
McDowell, Jonathan, Launch Log, October 1998. Web Address when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/log/launch.html.

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