Today in History, Japan Successfully Launches First Satellite, Ohsumi

KOMPAS.com – Today in 1970, Japan launch satellite the country’s first man-made, named Ohsumi.

Satellite It was launched by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science (1946-1981) on February 11, 1970, at the Kagoshima Space Center, now the Uchinoura Space Center. The launch was carried out via a Lambda L-4S-5 rocket.

written UTokyo, the satellite’s name comes from the Ohsumi Peninsula, which was the launch site. This satellite has a length of 1 meter, a widest diameter of 48 cm, and a weight of 24 kg.

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The Ohsumi satellite has a long circular orbit with an orbital period of 145 minutes.

Ohsumi is equipped with two beryllium-copper whip-type antennas (circular polarization). For power supply, carried a silver oxide-zinc battery with a capacity of 5 Ah.

Its successful launch, coming 15 years after the horizontal launch test of the Pencil rocket, made Japan the fourth country in the world (after the former Soviet Union, the United States, and France), to launch a satellite without assistance from outside sources.

This launch is historically important, as it is one of the few cases in the world where a satellite has been successfully developed for non-military purposes, as part of academic research conducted by a university institution.

Ohsumi continuously circled Earth for 33 years after being released into orbit, and reentered Earth’s atmosphere on August 2, 2003. The return of this satellite, signifies the mission has been completed.

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Launch operation

Launch the official page ISASabout two and a half hours after launch, a radio signal from Ohsumi was received at Uchinoura to confirm its first revolution around the earth.

The radio signal level gradually dropped and the next day, February 12, 1970, during the 6th revolution, became very dim.

Signals could no longer be detected during the 7th revolution, and it is believed that Ohsumi was lost for 14-15 hours after launch possibly due to a rapid reduction in power capacity, due to higher-than-expected temperatures.

The satellite continued to orbit the earth, and on August 2, 2003 it re-entered the atmosphere and caught fire.

The entry location is about 30.3 degrees N and 25 degrees E, above North Africa, the border between Egypt and Libya.

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