List of satellites which have provided data on Earth's magnetosphere

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Below is a list of satellites which have provided data on the Earth's magnetosphere.

Satellite Launch Date Inclination of orbital plane to Earth's equator Lifetime (days) Range (γ) Sensitivity Distance RE
Sputnik 3 March 15, 1958 65° 30 <60,000 5% <1.3
Explorer 3 March 1958
Pioneer 1 October 11, 1958 Earth impact 1 <1000 1% 3.7-7.0
Lunik 1 January 2, 1959 Solar orbit 1 <6,000 200γ 3-6
Explorer 6 August 7, 1959 47° 61 <20,000 3% 2-7.5
Lunik 2 September 12, 1959 Lunar impact 1.4° <1,500 50γ 3-6
Vanguard 3 September 18, 1959 33° 85 10,000-60,000 4γ <1.8
Pioneer 5 March 11, 1960 Solar orbit 50° <1,000 0.05-5γ 5-9
Explorer 10 March 25, 1961 33° 2.2 30-5,000 3γ 1.8-7
Explorer 12 August 16, 1961 33° 112 ±500 10γ 4-13.5
Alouette 1 September 29, 1962 80° switched off 9/30/1972 60,000 0.3% 1.17
Explorer 14 October 3, 1962 33° 300 ±250 5γ 5-16.5
August 19, 1972
February 4, 1978
International Cometary Explorer August 12, 1978
September 16, 1978
Dynamics Explorer August 3, 1981
GEOTAIL July 24, 1992 Still operating
WIND November 1, 1994 Still operating
Ørsted February 23, 1999 96.4798° Still operating
IMAGE March 25, 2000 90° December, 2005 0.2-7.2
THEMIS February 17, 2007 16° Still operating
Double Star mission December 29, 2003 & July 25, 2004
Cluster II (spacecraft) mission July 16, 2000 and August 9, 2000 90° (then changed during mission operation) Still operating 4-20
Polar
TWINS June 28, 2006 and March 13, 2008 63° Still operating 0.2-6.5
Van Allen Probes August 30, 2012 Still operating
Charge Composition Explorer
MMS March 13, 2015 Still operating
ERG 2016

Notes[]

1γ = 10−5 oersted = Dynamic range of instrumentation

References[]

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