| Table 1.1. ATS 1 to 5 Characteristics |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satellite a, b |
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| Characteristics | ATS 1 (B) | ATS 2 (A) | ATS 3 (C) | ATS 4 (D) | ATS 5 (E) |
Cylinder |
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| Diameter (in.) | 58 | 56 | 58 | 56 | 56 |
| Height (in.) | 54 | 72 | 54 | 72 | 72 |
| Initial orbital weight (lb) | 775 | 702 | 775 | 670 | 670 |
| Solar cells and NiCd batteries (W initial) | 175 | 130 | 175 | 130 | 130 |
| Stabilization | Spin | Gravity gradient | Spin | Gravity gradient | Gravity gradient |
| Design life (yr) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Actual orbit | Sunchronous equatorial, 149°W, moved to 164°W in 1982, drifting by 1995 | 100 × 600 nmi | Synchronous equatorial, 105°W | 130 × 480 nmi | Synchronous equatorial, 70°W, above synchronous orbit by 1995 |
| Intended orbit | 6000 nmi | Synchronous equatorial | |||
| Launch date | 7 Dec 1966 | 6 Apr 1967 | 8 Nov 1967 | 10 Aug 1968 | 12 Aug 1969 |
| Decay date | 2 Sep 1969 | 17 Oct 1968 | |||
| Launch vehicle | Atlas-Agena | Atlas-Agena | Atlas-Agena | Atlas-Centaur | Atlas-Centaur |
| Experiments | |||||
| C-band communications | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| VHF communications | Yes | Yes | |||
| Millimeter wave propagation | Yes | ||||
| L-band communications | Yes | ||||
aAlphabetic designations were used before launch, numeric after. bSatellites were developed by Hughes Aircraft Company for NASA, operated by NASA. |
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