QuikScat

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Class: Earth. Type: Seasat. Destination: Sun Synchronous Orbit. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: Ball.

Built under a NASA rapid delivery contract. Carried the SeaWinds scatterometer for remote sensing of ocean winds.

Typical orbit: 805 km circular orbit, 98.5 deg inclination.

QuikScat Chronology

1999 June 20 - QuikScat - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: SLC4W. Launch Vehicle: Titan. Perigee: 804 km (499 mi). Apogee: 806 km (500 mi). Inclination: 98.60 deg.
NASA's QuikScat carried the SeaWinds scatterometer for remote sensing of ocean winds. The Titan 2’s second stage shut down at 02:20 GMT and then coasted to apogee still attached to the QuikScat. The Titan second stage vernier thrusters ignited at apogee to raise perigee, leaving QuikScat in a 280 km x 813 km x 98.7 degree parking orbit. The QuikScat's own hydrazine propulsion system then fired to raise the perigee over a period of weeks.

Bibliography:

McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Report (Internet Newsletter), Harvard University, Weekly, 1989 to Present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

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