UoSAT-3
British low Earth orbit satellite, 1990–1999
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
UoSAT-3, also known as UO-14 and OSCAR-14, is a British satellite in Low Earth Orbit. It was built by a spin-off company of the University of Surrey, Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) and launched in January 1990 from French Guiana.[1] The satellite functioned as one of a series of OSCAR satellite in orbit around the Earth, as well as observing Earth and performing scientific experiments.[2]
| Mission type | OSCAR |
|---|---|
| Operator | University of Surrey |
| COSPAR ID | 1990-005B[1] |
| SATCAT no. | 20437 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | SSTL |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 22 January 1990, 01:35:27 UTC |
| Rocket | Ariane 40[2] |
| Launch site | Kourou ELA-2 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous |
| Perigee altitude | 776 km (482 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 792 km (492 mi) |
| Inclination | 98.7491 degrees |
| Period | 100.5 minutes |
| Epoch | 15 April 2019, 21:11 UTC[3] |
UoSAT-3 was launched on the same rocket as its sister satellite, UoSAT-4.[2]
Current status
UoSAT-3 exceeded its expected operational life by 3 years and ceased active service in 1999.[4] However, amateur radio enthusiasts managed to track the satellite for a certain amount of time afterwards via the satellite's FM voice transponder.[4]
The satellite, which is now non-operational, forms a part of the growing amounts of space debris orbiting around the Earth. The payload will decay in the Earth's atmosphere some time in the future.
