COSPAR ID 1974-013A Rocket Scout D-1 Launch date 9 March 1974 Inclination 98° Launch mass 92 kg | SATCAT no. 07213 Launch site Vandenberg SLC-5 Inclination 98° Period 1.7 hours Launch mass 92 kg | |
Manufacturer Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Power 2 deployable solar arrays Similar Explorer 52, NOAA‑4, Salyut 4, VRSS‑1, ATS‑6 | ||
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.
Contents
Launch
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 a NASA-owned rocket.
Mission
Designed as an engineering test bed for various technologies in orbit, Miranda carried various sensors and detectors.
Current Status
The satellite is now non-active, but remains in low Earth orbit. Miranda is part of the vast amounts of space junk in orbit around the Earth and will decay into the atmosphere some time in the future.
References
Miranda (satellite) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA