Viking (satellite)
| Mission type | Earth observation |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 1986-019B |
| SATCAT no. | 16614 |
| Mission duration | 1 year, 2 months and 20 days |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 22 February 1986 |
| Rocket | Ariane 1 |
| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre |
| Entered service | 22 February 1986 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Polar |
| Semi-major axis | 13,550 km (8,420 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0001538 |
| Perigee altitude | 801 km (498 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 13,538 km (8,412 mi) |
| Inclination | 98.7863° |
| Period | 261.56 minutes |
| Epoch | 15 April 2019, 18:22:45 |
Viking was Sweden's first satellite. It was launched on an Ariane 1 rocket as a piggyback payload together with the French satellite SPOT 1, on February 22, 1986. Operations ended on May 12, 1987. Viking was used to explore plasma processes in the magnetosphere and the ionosphere.