TTS 2

Tethered Test Satellite, also called TSS 1R (Tethered Satellite System)

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General

Designation	23805 / 96012B
Launch date	22 Feb 1996
Country of origin	Italy
Operator	CNR/PSN/NASA
Mission	Scientific
Launch vehicle	STS 75

The TSS project is a joint NASA/ASI (Italian Space Agency) effort. The 1.6 m diameter satellite is to be deployed on the end of a 20 kilometre long conductive tether to study the electrodynamic effects of moving such a tether through the Earth's magnetic field. The experiment will also test techniques for managing the tethered spacecraft at great distances. Second flight of the satellite which was worth about $200-400M (depending on whether or not you count the cost for the original satellite, modifications after the first flight, etc.)

The tether broke near full deployment (19 km) on 26 Feb at 01:30 UT. The initial orbit for the satellite was 316 x 413 km; meanwhile the shuttle was at 291 x 299 km. The break was due to an electrical shortcut inside the cable.

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End of life

Decay

19 Mar 1996

Frequency downlink: 2260 MHz, uplink at 2081 MHz, 16 kbps data stream

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External resources

sat-index articles

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