| Mission type | Amateur radio |
|---|---|
| Operator | Aéro-Club de France AMSAT Rosaviakosmos |
| COSPAR ID | 1997-058C  |
| SATCAT no. | 24958 |
| Mission duration | 1-2 months |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | 4 kilograms (8.8 lb)[1] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 5 October 1997, 15:08:57 (1997-10-05UTC15:08:57Z) UTC[2] |
| Rocket | Soyuz-U |
| Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
| Deployed from | Mir |
| Deployment date | 3 November 1997, 04:05 UTC[3] |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 29 December 1997 (1997-12-30) |
| Decay date | 21 May 1998 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee altitude | 376 kilometres (234 mi)[4] |
| Apogee altitude | 382 kilometres (237 mi)[4] |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees[4] |
| Epoch | 4 November 1997 |
Sputnik 40 (Russian: Спутник 40, French: Spoutnik 40), also known as Sputnik Jr,[5] PS-2[3] and Radio Sputnik 17 (RS-17),[1] was a Franco-Russian amateur radio satellite which was launched in 1997 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.[6] A 4-kilogram (8.8 lb)[1] one-third scale model of Sputnik 1,[7] Sputnik 40 was deployed from the Mir space station on 3 November 1997.[3] Built by students, the spacecraft was constructed at the Polytechnic Laboratory of NalchikinKabardino-Balkaria, whilst its transmitter was assembled by Jules Reydellet CollegeinRéunion with technical support from AMSAT-France.
Sputnik 40 was launched, along with a backup spacecraft and the X-Mir inspection satellite, aboard Progress M-36 at 15:08 UTC on 5 October 1997.[2]ASoyuz-U carrier rocket placed the spacecraft into orbit, flying from 1/5 at the Baikonur CosmodromeinKazakhstan: the same launch pad used by Sputnik 1.[2] Progress M-36 docked to Mir on 8 October,[8] and the satellites were transferred to the space station. At 04:05 UTC on 3 November,[3] during an extra-vehicular activity, Sputnik 40 was deployed by cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Pavel Vinogradov.[9]
On 4 November, the day after it was deployed, Sputnik 40 was in a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 376 kilometres (234 mi), an apogee of 382 kilometres (237 mi), an inclination of 51.6 degrees, and a period of 92.13 minutes.[4] The satellite was given the International Designator 1997-058C, and was catalogued by the United States Space Command as 24958.[10] It ceased operations on 29 December 1997 when its batteries expired,[11][12] and subsequently decayed from orbit on 21 May 1998.[4] The backup satellite remained aboard Mir, and was destroyed when Mir was deorbited on 23 March 2001.[1]
