TTS 1

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

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General

Launch date	6 Aug 1992
Country of origin	Italy
Operator	CNR/PSN/NASA
Mission	Scientific
Launch vehicle	STS 46

To test power production (by induction). The satellite couldn't be deployed properly on STS 46 (only a few hundred meters).

Technical data

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Specifications

Prime contractor	Aeritalia
Mass at launch	518 kg
Payload mass	66 kg
Diameter	1.6 m
Stabilization	Gravity gradient
DC power	180-200 W
Design lifetime	10 missions

Payload: instruments to measure electrodynamic properties of the ionosphere, magnetic fields and plasma

Tether (diameter: 2.54 mm) made from Kevlar sheated in Nomex with insulated copper-wire core

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