The Mini Kapsel satellite package was attached to the final stage of the Diamant launch vehicle used to launch the German WIKA satellite. Despite the German name, the satellite was a CNES experiment to monitor the performance of the new Diamant B rocket in the first orbital launch from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) at Kourou in La Guyane, South America. MIKA and WIKA took off from the ELD (Ensemble de Lancement Diamant) pad on 1970 Mar 10. However, the satellite stopped transmitting 22 seconds after launch when the L17 first stage vibration overcame it. [2] The joint project was known as DIAL (Diamant Allemagne). MIKA was reportedly built by MBB.
| MIKA | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 Mar 10 | Launch by Diamant B | CSG ELD | |
| MIKA failure (T+22s) | |||
| Orbit insertion | 104.7 313 x 1665 x 5.4 | ||
| 1974 Sep 9 | Reentered | ||