GLOMR
Global Low Orbiting Message Relay

GLOMR was a DARPA mission designed to demonstrate the ability to read out, store, and forward data from remote ground-based sensors. The satellite was first scheduled for deployment from STS-51B, but a battery problem forced a return to Earth for repair. Reflown and deployed from STS-61A, the vehicle finally re-entered after 14 months. The total price was less than 1 million dollars.

Spacecraft
Small, 62-sided polyhedron. Unstabilized. Design included redundant transmitters, receivers, batteries, and battery charge control systems. It had two CMOS microprocessors - one for communications control, the other for scheduling, mass memory, housekeeping, and mission control, telemetry, and command functions.

Country of Origin	United States
Customer/User	DARPA
Manufacturer(s)	Defense Systems Inc. (now CTA)
Size	roughly the size of a basketball
Orbit	176 nm, 57 deg inclination
Design Life	1 year

Launch Facts

Name	Int'l Desig.	Date	Site	Vehicle	Orbit	Mass(kg)
Notes
GLOMR	1985-104B	10/30/85	ESMC	STS 61A	LEO	52
Released from STS 61A 11/1/85