High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was a NASA-operated orbital observatory whose mission was to study the Earth’s atmosphere, particularly the protective ozone layer. The 5 900 kg (13,000-lb) satellite was deployed from Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-48 mission on September 15, 1991. It entered orbit at an operational altitude of 600 kilometres (370 mi), with an orbital inclination of 57 degrees.