Alouette 2

Short description: Defunct Canadian research satellite

Alouette 2

Launch of the Thor SLV-2 Agena B rocket with Alouette 2 satellite.

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 (1965-11-29UTC04:48Z) UTC
Rocket| Thor SLV-2 Agena-B
Launch site| Vandenberg Air Force Base LC-75-1-1
End of mission
Deactivated| 1 August 1975 (1975-09)
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.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Post mission
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## History

The name "Alouette" came from the French for "skylark" and from the title of a popular French-Canadian folk song. Alouette 2 was also known as ISIS-X since it was the first in a series of ISIS satellites: International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies. The next one was called ISIS-I.

The Alouette 2 was built up from the identical backup satellite to Alouette 1. It had many more experiments and more sophisticated support systems than the earlier satellite. It lasted for 10 years, being terminated on August 1, 1975.[2]

RCA Victor of Montreal , was the prime contractor; Havilland Aircraft of Toronto, Ontario, served as associate contractor.[3]

## Post mission

After the Alouette 2 was launched, the upper stage of the rocket used to launch the satellite became a derelict object that would continue to orbit Earth for many years. (As of 2022), the upper stage remains in orbit.[4]

The satellite itself became a derelict after August 1975. It too remains in earth orbit (As of 2022). [5]

## References

1. ↑ Peat, Chris (5 December 2013). "ALOUETTE 2 - Orbit". Heavens Above. http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=1804.
2. ↑ "The ISIS Satellite Program". friendsofcrc.ca. 1996-07-19. http://www.friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/ISIS/isis.html.
3. ↑ "The ISIS Satellite Program". friendsofcrc.ca. 1996-07-19. http://www.friendsofcrc.ca/Projects/ISIS/isis.html.
4. ↑ "Alouette 2 Rocket - Satellite Information". satellite database. Heavens-Above. http://www.heavens-above.com/SatInfo.aspx?satid=1807&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT.
5. ↑ "Alouette 2 - Satellite Information". satellite database. Heavens-Above. http://www.heavens-above.com/SatInfo.aspx?satid=1804&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT.

## External links

* 1965-098A at NSSDC
* CBC Archives: Launching the Alouette 2 satellite

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