1973-054A
DMSP Block 5B F-4 (satellite 7529) was launched on 1973 Aug 17 by Thor Burner 2A from Vandenberg. It became the system's dawn-dusk satellite, in sun-synchronous orbit crossing the equator at a constant local time of 2025 LT.
| DMSP 07529 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 Aug 17 | 0449:12 | Launch by Thor Burner 2A | V SLC10W |
| 0451 | Thor MECO | ||
| 0452? | Star 37 burn 42s | ||
| 0452? | Star 37 sep | ||
| 0502? | Star 26 burn 18s | ||
| 0503? | Star 26 sep | ||
| 101.6 811 x 852 x 98.9 | |||
| 1973 Sep 21 | Declared operational | ||
1974-009A
The San Marco C2 satellite repeated the San Marco C program. The 0.71m dia 176 kg spherical satellite had four 0.49m antennae on the top for a total height of around 1.0m. It was named San Marco 4 after launch in Feb 1974. The orbit was slightly higher than planned, with an apogee of 930 km instead of 850. However, the drag balance experiment did not work correctly after launch.
The Italian Space Commission (Commisione per le Richerche Spaziali, CRS) signed a memorandum of understanding with NASA for the launch; CRA (Centro Ricerche Aerospaziali) managed the project. Command was from MITS, the Mobile Italian Telemetry Station in Kenya.
| San Marco 4 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 Feb 18 | 1005:28 | Launch by Scout D-1 | SMLC |
| 1006:48 | Algol burnout T+1:20 | ||
| 1006:54 | Castor burn T+1:26 | ||
| 1007:34 | Castor burnout T+2:06 | ||
| T+3:04 Fairing sep | |||
| 1007 | Antares burn T+3:06 | ||
| 1008 | Antares burnout T+3:43 | ||
| 1010:53 | T+5:25 Stage 3 sep | ||
| 1010 | T+5:30 Stage 4 burn 31s | ||
| 1011 | T+6:01 Stage 4 burnout | ||
| T+6:35 Despin | |||
| 1015 | T+10:25 Stage 4 sep | 95.9 231 x 910 x 2.9 | |
| 1974 Feb 19 | Omegatron cover ejected | ||
| NACE cover ejected | |||
| 1974 Feb 22 | NACE activated | ||
| 1976 May 4 | Reentered | ||
