23547 - ORBVIEW 1 (MICROLAB)

MICROLAB 1 is an American minisatellite that was launched by a Pegasus rocket carried aloft by an L-1011 aircraft flying out of Vandenberg AFB. The main instrument is a global lightning mapper; the other is a radio receiver to monitor the transmission from any GPS spacecraft that appears near the horizon and to infer the atmospheric temperature and humidity, and the ionospheric total electron content along the path between the GPS and Microlab spacecraft. Initial orbital parameters were period 99.6 min, apogee 747 km, perigee 734 km, and inclination 69.9 deg.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 1995-04-03
Launch Vehicle: Pegasus
Launch Site: Vandenberg AFB, United States
Mass: 74.0 kg