On This Day In Space: Sept. 28, 1962: Canada launches its 1st satellite

On Sept. 28, 1962, Canada launched its first satellite, Alouette 1. This made Canada the third country to build and launch its own satellite after the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

In 1962, Canada became the third country after the Soviet Union and the United States to put a satellite in orbit.

Alouette 1’s mission was to conduct scientific tests in the ionosphere, the atmospheric layer used to reflect radio waves for long-distance communications. Alouette 1 featured innovations such as long lasting nickel-cadmium batteries, solar panels, transistors, and extendible antennae. Alouette 1 proved remarkably durable and useful: intended to operate for one year, the satellite endured for 10, transmitting millions of ionospheric readings to scientists before it was powered down.

The Alouette satellite program, which included the participation of the Defence Research Telecommunications Establishment and of Spar Aerospace, laid the foundation for Canada’s Space program in the following decades and its specialization in satellite communications, remote sensing, search and rescue, and robotics.

The Alouette in the Museum’s collection is the prototype and is known as S27-2.

Credits : https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html

Edited by : www.linkedin.com/in/ashwin-balaji-