[1] Equator-S was a low-cost mission, launched with the intention to study the Earth's magnetosphere around the equator at heights lower than 67,000 km.

[1] It was located in a near-equatorial orbit, which gave Equator-S the ability to make unique observations about the interaction between the magnetosphere and interplanetary space.

[4] Equator-S had a very high spin rate and was launched on an Ariane 4 rocket on 2 December 1997.

[1] The mission ended earlier than expected, having initially been intended to have a lifetime of two years.

The mission was terminated on 1 May 1998 after the failure of the onboard processor system.