NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 1965-108D
The Lincoln Experimental Satellite 3 (LES 3) was a US Air Force communications satellite launched along with LES 4, OV2-3 and Oscar 4 from Cape Canaveral aboard a single Titan 3C rocket. It was a radio signal source for propagation measurements and communications satellite tests. The LES series was developed and built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory.
LES-3 was similar to the earlier LES-1 and -2 satellites, a polyhedron with a diameter of 61 cm (2 ft.) with eighteen square faces and eight triangular faces. Total mass in orbit was 15.4 kg (34 lbs.). Two quarter wave monopole antennas protruded from opposite square faces, the tip-to-tip distance was 122 cm (4 ft.). Power (25 W) was provided by solar cells, which covered the square faces. There were no batteries. There were also no onboard propulsion systems. A transmitter broadcast at 232.9 MHz (wavelength approximately 1.25 m) with 10 W power and 100 kHz biphase modulation. The signal was modulated by a 15-bit sequence from a four-stage pseudorandom source.
LES-3 was launched on 21 December 1965 at 15:36 UT on a Titan III-C from Cape Canaveral into a 195 x 33177 km, 26.4 degree inclination orbit. It was intended to be put into a circular equatorial near-geosynchronous orbit with an eastward drift in longitude of about 30 deg/day, but booster problems resulted in the satellite being trapped in the transfer ellipse orbit. The satellite was spin-synchronized at about 140 rpm and operated beyond its one-year design life. The orbit decayed on 6 April 1968 and LES-6 burned up in the atmosphere. Multipath propagation data over a wide variety of terrains were successfully collected during the mission.
Image Credit: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Launch Date: 1965-12-21
Launch Vehicle: Titan III-C
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Mass: 15.4 kg
Nominal Power: 25 W
Questions and comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Dr. David R. Williams
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