Orba, also known as X-2, was intended to be the first

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

launched by a British rocket. It was launched at 00:34

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

on 2 September 1970, atop a

Black Arrow Black Arrow, officially capitalised BLACK ARROW, was a British satellite carrier rocket. Developed during the 1960s, it was used for four launches between 1969 and 1971, all launched from the Woomera Prohibited Area in Australia. Its final fl ...

rocket from Launch Area 5B at Woomera, but failed to reach orbit after the second stage of the carrier rocket shut down 13 seconds early. Orba was built from spare parts due to funding restrictions, and was to have been used to measure upper atmosphere density by monitoring the

decay Decay may refer to: Science and technology * Bit decay, in computing * Software decay, in computing * Distance decay, in geography * Decay time (fall time), in electronics Biology * Decomposition of organic matter * Tooth decay (dental caries ...

of its orbit.

References

Satellite launch failures Space programme of the United Kingdom Spacecraft launched by Black Arrow rockets Spacecraft launched in 1970 Rocket launches in 1970 {{UK-spacecraft-stub

See also

References