The AMPTE IRM Spacecraft

The AMPTE Ion Release Module (IRM) together with the other two AMPTE spacecraft, UKS and CCE, were successfully launched with a Delta 3924 vehicle on August 16, 1984 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The IRM satellite was designed, built, and tested by the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik. It carries 16 barium and lithium release containers and a plasna diagnostic instrument set. This paper discusses the requirements imposed on the spacecraft design by the mission and the scientific instruments and gives a description of the major spacecraft systems. Finally, a short summary of the first events in the mission is presented.