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Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic |
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Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic |
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MIMOSA satellite launch contract signed on November 7, 2001
| Prague / Bremen: The launch of the Czech MIMOSA satellite will
be performed on the Rockot launch vehicle in the fourth quarter of 2002,
the Czech Astronomical Institute and Eurockot Launch Services (http://www.eurockot.com)
announced today following the signing of a Launch Service Agreement. MIMOSA,
the acronym of MIcroMeasurements Of Satellite Acceleration, will provide
new data on the density of the upper atmosphere using the highly sensitive
MACEK accelerometer. MIMOSA will be launched into a low-Earth orbit as
part of a multiple payload mission from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern
Russia where Eurockot maintains its dedicated launch facilities. The Canadian
Space Agency will also join this mission with its MOST satellite.
The MIMOSA satellite is the artificial satellite designed and completed fully by the Czech research and industrial institutions. It is a near-spherical micro-satellite of 66 kg mass carrying a highly sensitive accelerometer as the only scientific instrument on board. It provides data on the atmospheric density as well as on the distribution of the radiation properties of the Earth surface. The position and motion of the satellite will be traced by the GPS satellite system. Eurockot Launch Services of Bremen, Germany is the joint venture of Western Europe's Astrium and Russia's Khrunichev space technology companies and provides launches for operators of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites using the Russian SS-19 based Rockot launch vehicle. Eurockot performs launches from world-class facilites at Plesetsk Cosmodrome commissioned in May 2000 following a substantial investment programme.
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