Mission type | Ionospheric research |
---|---|
Operator | DRDC |
COSPAR ID | 1965-098A |
SATCAT no. | 1804 |
Mission duration | Final: 9 years and 8 months |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | RCA Victor |
Launch mass | 146.5 kilograms (323 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 29 November 1965, 04:48 | UTC
Rocket | Thor SLV-2 Agena-B |
Launch site | Vandenberg LC-75-1-1 |
End of mission | |
Deactivated | 1 August 1975 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Medium Earth |
Perigee altitude | 508 kilometres (316 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 2,652 kilometres (1,648 mi) |
Inclination | 79.8 degrees |
Period | 117.61 minutes |
Epoch | 5 December 2013, 13:24:44 UTC[1] |
Alouette 2 was a Canadian research satellite launched at 04:48 UTC on November 29, 1965, by a Thor Agena rocket with Explorer 31 from the Western test range at Vandenberg AFB in California. It was (like its predecessor Alouette 1, and Explorer 31) designed to explore the ionosphere.