Ariel programme

Ariel was a British satellite research programme conducted between the early 1960s and 1980s. Six satellites were launched as part of the programme, starting with the first British satellite, Ariel 1, which was launched on 26 April 1962, and concluding with the launch of Ariel 6 on 2 June 1979. The first four were devoted to studying the ionosphere, the remaining two to X-ray astronomy and cosmic-ray studies.

The programme was conducted by the Science Research Council. The first two spacecraft were constructed by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration,^[1] with subsequent spacecraft being produced in Britain. All launches were conducted using American rockets; Ariel 1 on a Thor-Delta, and the remainder on Scouts.

Satellites

Satellite	Launch date	Carrier rocket	Launch site	COSPAR ID	Comments
Ariel 1[2]	1962-04-26	Thor-Delta	Cape Canaveral	1962-015A
Ariel 2	1964-03-27	Scout	Wallops Island	1964-015A
Ariel 3	1967-05-05	Scout	Vandenberg AFB	1967-042A	The first artificial satellite designed and constructed in the United Kingdom.
Ariel 4	1971-12-11	Scout	Vandenberg	1971-109A
Ariel 5	1974-10-15	Scout	San Marco	1974-077A	Satellite operations were directed from a control centre at the Appleton Lab
Ariel 6	1979-06-02	Scout	Wallops Island	1979-047A	The last satellite in the Ariel series.

References

1. "Ariel 1". Space.co.uk. 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
2. "Ariel 1". NASA NSSDC.