The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

tial mission beyond 2007 but remains in the very early
concept definition phase.
SPOT (Satellite Probatoire d’Observation
de la Terre)
A civilian Earth observation program, sponsored by the
French government with support from Belgium and Sweden.
A single SPOT satellite provides complete coverage
of the Earth every 26 days and produces images with a
resolution of up to 10 m. Image products from SPOT are
handled commercially by SPOT-Image Corp. (See table,
“SPOT Missions.”)
Launch site: Kourou
Length: 3.5 m
Maximum diameter: 2.0 m
Sputnik (launch vehicle)
The world’s first launch vehicle to reach Earth orbit. It
was developed from the Soviet R-7 ballistic missile (see
“R” series of Russian missiles) and comprised a central
core of four RD-107 rockets, clustered around which were
four tapered booster stages, each containing four RD-108
rockets. All the engines used liquid oxygen and kerosene.
During ascent, the boosters were jettisoned, leaving the
core to place the Sputnik satellite in orbit.
Sputnik (satellites)
A series of satellites launched by the Soviet Union at the
dawn of the Space Age. “Sputnik” (satellite) was the
abbreviated Western name for these spacecraft, known in
Russia generically as “Iskusstvenniy Sputnik Zemli” (Artificial
Earth Satellite). The spacecraft, known in the West
as Sputnik 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10, were announced at the time
in Russia as Korabl-Sputnik 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. These were
unmanned test launches of the Vostok space capsule,
which would eventually carry Yuri Gagarin on his historic
flight. Sputnik 7 and 8 were Venus probes. (See
table, “Sputnik Series.”)
SPOT Missions
Sputnik (satellites) 411
Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite. NASA
Sputnik 1
The first spacecraft to be placed in orbit around the
Earth. A basketball-sized (59-cm) aluminum sphere with
four trailing spring-loaded antennae, it carried a small
radio beacon that beeped at regular intervals and could
verify, by telemetry, exact locations on the Earth’s sur-
78, 183
face. It decayed three months after launch.
Launch
Spacecraft Date Vehicle Orbit Mass (kg)
SPOT 1 Feb. 22, 1986 Ariane 1 821 × 823 km × 98.7° 1,830
SPOT 2 Jan. 22, 1990 Ariane 4 821 × 823 km × 98.7° 1,837
SPOT 3 Sep. 26, 1993 Ariane 4 821 × 823 km × 98.7° 1,907
SPOT 4 Mar. 24, 1998 Ariane 4 824 × 826 km × 98.7° 2,755
SPOT 5 May 4, 2002 Ariane 42P 821 × 823 km × 98.7° 3,085