Miranda (spacecraft)

For the natural satellite, see Miranda (moon).

MirandaNames| X4

|

COSPAR ID| 1974-013A
SATCAT no.| 07213[1]
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer| Hawker Siddeley Dynamics
Launch mass| 92 kilograms (203 lb)[2]
Power| 2 deployable solar arrays
Start of mission
Launch date| 9 March 1974, 02:22:00 (1974-03-09UTC02:22Z) UTC
Rocket| Scout D-1
Launch site| Vandenberg SLC-5
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric
Regime| Low Earth Orbit
Eccentricity| 0.01403
Perigee altitude| 714 kilometres (444 mi)
Apogee altitude| 916 kilometres (569 mi)
Inclination| 97.8 degrees
Period| 101.2 minutes
Epoch| 8 March 1974, 08:22:00 UTC [3]

Miranda, also known as X-4, is a British satellite in low Earth orbit. The satellite was launched in March 1974 as an engineering test bed of technologies in orbit.[2]

Miranda was named after a character in the Shakespeare play The Tempest,[4][5] just like Prospero (spacecraft) and Ariel 1.

## Design

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### Operational

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Miranda used propane cold gas thrusters for attitude control.[1]

### Sensors

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It contained a Canopus star sensor to determine the reflectivity and interference caused by the propane.[1]

## Launch

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Miranda was due to be launched by a British Black Arrow rocket, but due to the project's cancellation the payload was instead launched on the NASA-owned rocket Scout.[5]

## Mission

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Designed as an engineering test bed for various technologies in orbit, Miranda carried various sensors and detectors.[2]

## Current status

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The satellite is now non-active, but remains in low Earth orbit.

## See also

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* Spaceflight portal

* 1974 in spaceflight

## Notes

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1. ^ a b c "General information about Miranda". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
2. ^ a b c "Miranda (X 4)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
3. ^ "Launch/Orbital information for Miranda". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
4. ^ Hill 2001, p. 201.
5. ^ a b Gruntman 2004, p. 17.

## References

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* Gruntman, Mike (2004). Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry. AIAA. ISBN 9781563477058.
* Hill, Charles N. (2001). A Vertical Empire: The History of the UK Rocket and Space Programme 1950-1971 (1st ed.). World Scientific. ISBN 9781783261451.
* Trevorrow, E. U. (3 March 1977). "Miranda Data Processing - Interfaces" (PDF). Royal Aircraft Establishment. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2020.

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← 1973

Orbital launches in 1974

1975 →

* Kosmos 628
* Skynet 2A
* Kosmos 629
* Kosmos 630
* Kosmos 631
* Sphinx
* VDS
* Kosmos 632
* OPS 6889
* Tansei 2
* San Marco 4
* Kosmos 633
* Meteor-M No.30
* Kosmos 634
* Miranda
* Kosmos 635
* Nauka-17KS No.1L
* OPS 8579
* Kosmos 636
* Kosmos 637
* Kosmos 638
* Kosmos 639
* OPS 6245
* OPS 4547
* OPS 3935
* Kosmos 640
* Unnamed
* Westar 1
* Molniya-1-27
* Kosmos 641
* Kosmos 642
* Kosmos 643
* Kosmos 644
* Kosmos 645
* Kosmos 646
* Kosmos 647
* Kosmos 648
* Meteor-M No.22
* Molniya-2-9
* Kosmos 649
* Kosmos 650
* Kosmos 651
* Kosmos 652
* Kosmos 653
* Kosmos 654
* SMS-1
* Interkosmos 11
* Kosmos 655
* Yantar-2K No.1
* Kosmos 656
* Luna 22
* Kosmos 657
* ATS-6
* Explorer 52
* Kosmos 658
* OPS 1776
* Kosmos 659
* Kosmos 660
* Kosmos 661
* Salyut 3
* Kosmos 662
* Kosmos 663
* Kosmos 664
* Kosmos 665
* Soyuz 14
* Meteor-Priroda No.1
* DS-P1-Yu No.68
* Kosmos 666
* Unnamed
* OPS 7518
* Aeros 2
* Molniya-2-10
* Kosmos 667
* Kosmos 668
* Kosmos 669
* Nauka-8KS No.3
* Molniya-1 No.38
* Kosmos 670
* Kosmos 671
* OPS 6983
* Kosmos 672
* OPS 3004
* Kosmos 673
* Soyuz 15
* Kosmos 674
* Kosmos 675
* Unnamed
* ANS
* Kosmos 676
* Kosmos 677
* Kosmos 678
* Kosmos 679
* Kosmos 680
* Kosmos 681
* Kosmos 682
* Kosmos 683
* Kosmos 684
* Kosmos 685
* Kosmos 686
* Westar 2
* Kosmos 687
* Ariel 5
* Kosmos 688
* Kosmos 689
* Kosmos 690
* Molniya-1 No.26
* Kosmos 691
* Meteor-M No.33
* Luna 23
* OPS 7122
* OPS 6239
* OPS 8452
* Interkosmos 12
* Kosmos 692
* Kosmos 693
* Fanhui Shi Weixing 1
* NOAA-4
* OSCAR-7
* INTASAT
* Kosmos 694
* Kosmos 695
* Molniya-3 No.11
* Intelsat IV F-8
* Skynet 2B
* Kosmos 696
* Soyuz 16
* Helios 1
* Kosmos 697
* Meteor-M No.32
* Kosmos 698
* Symphonie 1
* Molniya-2-11
* Kosmos 699
* Salyut 4
* Kosmos 700
* Kosmos 701

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).

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