Olympus propagation experiments

A summary of the activities of the OPEX (Olympus Propagation EXperimenters) group is given and some of the recent findings are presented. OLYMPUS, a telecommunication satellite owned by the European Space Agency, was launched on 12 June 1989. After the in-orbit tests were completed (in September 1989) the first propagation experiments started. Throughout 1990 the spacecraft functioned very well and a large number of experimenters received the beacon signals. On 29 May 1991 the spacecraft became inoperational after a major technical problem. With a series of complicated procedures OLYMPUS was recovered on 15 August 1991 - the first time in history that a civilian telecommunications satellite was brought back to service after losing power and telemetry. The propagation experiments were back on track. However, the recovery had used up so much fuel that the North-South station keeping had to be abandoned, which led to a natural increase of inclination at a rate of about 0.8 deg per year. On 10 October 1992 the second 30 GHz beacon tube failed, causing a loss of this beacon signal. The other two beacon frequencies continued to deliver a stable signal for more than two years. On 12 August 1993 the spacecraft experienced another problem with the altitude control, but this time there was not enough fuel left for a recovery maneuver and thus the mission came to an end.