Badr-B
The Badr-B (Urdu: بدر-۲; also known as Badr-II, meaning Full Moon-2) is the second spacecraft and the first Earth observation satellite launched into Earth orbit on 10 December 2001 at 09:15 by the SUPARCO — Pakistan's national space agency. Badr-B is a microsatellite, with a mass of ~70 kg, and contained the computerized system to conduct the studies on the gravity gradient. Badr-B is a research satellite to explore the upper atmosphere and the near space, and carried a large array of instruments for geophysical research.
Badr-B atop a Zenit-2 rocket, before the launch | |
| Mission type | Earth Observation Satellite Earth science |
|---|---|
| Operator | SUPARCO |
| COSPAR ID | 2001-056C |
| SATCAT no. | 27003 |
| Website | www |
| Mission duration | 2 years |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Space Innovations Limited Rutherford Laboratory Instrumentation Laboratory DESTO |
| Launch mass | 68.5 kilograms (151 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 10 December 2001, 17:18:57 UTC |
| Rocket | Zenit-2 |
| Launch site | Baikonur 45/1 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous |
| Eccentricity | 0.0018975332 |
| Perigee altitude | 986.0 kilometres (612.7 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 1,014.0 kilometres (630.1 mi) |
| Inclination | 99.7 degrees |
| Period | 105.0 minutes |
| Epoch | 10 December 2001, 12:19:00 UTC |
The Badr-B payload was equipped with several CCD cameras, compact dosimeter, a telemetry system, charge detector and a temperature control unit. It is intended to complete and update the Islamabad Mission Control Center (IMCC), and to test the remote sensing CCD instruments.