The Ørsted satellitte

- full scale model in the library

A full-scale, 1:1, model of the Ørsted satellite has been hanging in the DTU Library in Lyngby since 2004.

The model is one of three models built by a technician at DMI, the Danish Meteorological Institute. The other two models are stored at DTU Space.

On 23 February 1999, the Danish-build Ørsted satellite was sent into orbit around the earth. The purpose of the satellite was to measure the Earth's magnetic field, and therefore it was named after DTU's and the father of electromagnetism, H.C. Ørsted. 

DTU contributed two pieces of advanced technology to the Ørsted satellite: a star camera for navigation and a magnetometer for measuring the magnetic field. An eight-metre-long boom holds the satellite’s sensitive magnetometers away from the satellite body that contains electronics and other instruments. The satellite is powered by solar panels covering 5 of its sides – simulated with printed foil on the model.

Learn more about the Ørsted satellite at DTU Space.


 

Facts

Launched 23 February 1999, 10:29:55 UTC on a Delta II rocket
Vandenberg Air Force Base, United States
Weight 60.7 kg (at launch)
Dimensions  72 x 45 x 35 cm
Power 5 solar panels supplying 54 W (at launch), two 6 Ah batteries
Mean consumption 37 W
Boom 8 metres long fully extended, weight 15g/m, in total 120 g
Orbit Elliptical with perigee 630 km, apogee 823 km (2025)
Orbital period 100 minutes (at launch)
Instruments 

Overhauser-effect scalar magnetometer
Compact spherical coil (CSC) vector magnetometer
Star tracker for orientation and attitude control
Charged particle detector
GPS receiver and atmospheric monitor

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Professor Nils Olsen, DTU Space, talking about satellittes and the Ørsted project