The 50 kg Cerise (`cherry') was built by Alcatel Espace and based on the Surrey UOSAT bus. It carried equipment to catalog wideband radio interference and develop technology for an electronic intelligence satellite. In Jul 1996 it collided with a piece of orbital debris [5]. Independent analyst B. Gimle suggests the debris piece may have been 18208 1986-19RF. The satellite was observed to suddenly tumble end over end; the debris impacted the 6m long stabilization boom. SSTL controllers at Guildford regained control of the satellite using electromagnetic stabilization.
| CERISE | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 Jul 7 | Launch by Ariane | ||
| 1995 Jul 16 | 98.17 666 x 675 x 98.1 | ||
| 1996 Jul 24 | Collision with debris 1986-19? | ||