WRESAT
Encyclopedia
WRESAT was the name of the first Australia
n satellite. It was named after its designer.
WRESAT was launched on 29 November 1967 using a modified American Redstone
rocket with two upper stages known as a Sparta
from the Woomera Test Range
in South Australia. The Sparta (left over from the joint Australian-US-UK Sparta program), was donated by the United States
. The launch made Australia the seventh nation to launch an Earth satellite.
WRESAT weighed 45 kg (99.2 lb) and had the form of a cone with a length of 1.59 m (5.2 ft) and a mouth diameter of 0.76 m (2.5 ft). It remained connected with the third rocket stage and possessed with it an overall length of 2.17 m (7.1 ft). WRESAT circled the Earth on a nearly polar course, until it reentered the atmosphere after 642 revolutions on 10 January 1968, over the Atlantic Ocean. The battery-operated satellite sent data during its first 73 orbits of the Earth.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n satellite. It was named after its designer.
WRESAT was launched on 29 November 1967 using a modified American Redstone
Redstone (rocket)
The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range surface-to-surface rocket, it was in active service with the U.S. Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe...
rocket with two upper stages known as a Sparta
Sparta (rocket)
The Sparta was a three-stage rocket that launched Australia's first Earth satellite, WRESAT, on 29 November 1967.Sparta used a surplus American Redstone as its first stage, an Antares as a second stage, and a BE-3 as a third stage...
from the Woomera Test Range
Woomera Test Range
The RAAF Woomera Test Range is a weapons testing range operated by the Royal Australian Air Force Aerospace Operational Support Group...
in South Australia. The Sparta (left over from the joint Australian-US-UK Sparta program), was donated by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The launch made Australia the seventh nation to launch an Earth satellite.
WRESAT weighed 45 kg (99.2 lb) and had the form of a cone with a length of 1.59 m (5.2 ft) and a mouth diameter of 0.76 m (2.5 ft). It remained connected with the third rocket stage and possessed with it an overall length of 2.17 m (7.1 ft). WRESAT circled the Earth on a nearly polar course, until it reentered the atmosphere after 642 revolutions on 10 January 1968, over the Atlantic Ocean. The battery-operated satellite sent data during its first 73 orbits of the Earth.