Ariel 1

Ariel 1

Launch of Ariel 1 on a Thor-Delta rocket
Operator	SERC
Major contractors	NASA
Mission type	Ionospheric
Launch date	26 April 1962 18:00:16
Carrier rocket	Thor-Delta
Launch site	CCAFS LC-17A
Orbital decay	24 May 1976
COSPAR ID	1962 Omicron 1
Mass	62 kilograms (140 lb)
Orbital elements
Regime	Low Earth
Apoapsis	1,202 kilometres (747 mi)
Periapsis	397 kilometres (247 mi)
Orbital period	100.9 minutes

Ariel 1, also known as UK-1 and S-55, was the first British satellite, and the first satellite in the Ariel programme. Its launch in 1962 made the United Kingdom the third country to operate a satellite, after the Soviet Union and the USA. It was constructed in the United States by NASA, under an agreement reached as the result of political discussions in 1959 and 1960.

Development

In late 1959, the Science and Engineering Research Council proposed the development of Ariel 1 to NASA, following an offer made by the United States at a meeting of the Committee on Space Research to provide assistance to other countries with the development and launch of scientific spacecraft. By early the following year the two countries had decided upon terms for the programme's scope and which organisations would be responsible for which parts of the programme.

Construction of the satellite occurred at the Goddard Space Flight Center. SERC provided the experiments, conducted operations, and later analysed and interpreted the results. Six experiments were carried aboard the satellite. Five of these examined the relationship between two types of solar radiation and changes in the Earth's ionosphere. They took advantage of techniques developed in the Skylark programme.

Launch

Ariel 1 was launched aboard an American Thor-Delta rocket from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at 18:00:16 GMT on 26 April 1962. It decayed from orbit on 24 April 1976.

References

• "Ariel 1". Space.co.uk.