| Names | AMPTE-United Kingdom Subsatellite |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Magnetosphere research |
| Operator | NASA / United Kingdom |
| COSPAR ID | 1984-088C |
| SATCAT no. | 15201 |
| Mission duration | 5 months (achieved) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | AMPTE-UKS |
| Spacecraft type | Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers (AMPTE) |
| Bus | AMPTE-United Kingdom Subsatellite |
| Manufacturer | Rutherford Appleton Laboratory |
| Launch mass | 77 kg (170 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 16 August 1984, 14:48 UTC[1] |
| Rocket | Delta 3924 (Delta 175) |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, LC-17A |
| Contractor | Douglas Aircraft Company |
| Entered service | 16 August 1984 |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 15 January 1985 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit[2] |
| Regime | Highly elliptical orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 550 km (340 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 112,800 km (70,100 mi) |
| Inclination | 28.50° |
| Period | 2630.00 minutes |
| Instruments | |
| 3-D Electron Analyzer (6 eV-25 keV, 8-Sector, 5-seconds Averaged) 3-D Ion Analyzer (10 eV-20 keV/Q, 12-Sector, 5-seconds Averaged) Particle Modulation Analyzer (1 Hz-1 MHz Fast Fourier Transform) Plasma Wave Spectrometer (100 Hz-3 MHz E, 100 Hz-60 kHz B) Triaxial Magnetometer (Dual Range 0.03 nT Accuracy) | |
AMPTE-UKS, also called AMPTE-United Kingdom Subsatellite, was a United Kingdom satellite designed and tasked to study the magnetosphere of Earth, being launched as part of the Explorer program. The AMPTE (Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers) mission was designed to study the access of solar wind ions to the magnetosphere, the convective-diffusive transport and energization of magnetospheric particles, and the interactions of plasmas in space.[3]