Applications Technology Satellites

The Applications Technology Satellites (ATS) were a series of experimental satellites launched by NASA, under the supervision of, among others, Wernher von Braun. The program was launched in 1966 to test the feasibility of placing a satellite into geosynchronous orbit.[1] The satellites were primarily designed to act as communication satellites, but also carried equipment related to meteorology and navigation. ATS-6 was the world's first educational satellite as well as world's first experimental Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) as part of the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) between NASA and ISRO.[2]

Applications Technology Satellite 3

Summary of Missions
Mission Launch Date Duration Major investigations Notable mission highlights
ATS-1 December 7, 1966 18 years Spin stabilization, investigated the geostationary environment, space communications First full-Earth cloud cover images[3]
ATS-2 April 6, 1967 6 months None Launch vehicle failure caused spacecraft to reach undesirable orbit. Limited data was obtained.[4]
ATS-3 November 5, 1967 At least 20 years Spin stabilization, communications tests First color images from space.[5] ATS-3 was also used as a communications satellite, providing links to Antarctica and the Pacific Basin
ATS-4 August 10, 1968 launch failure, mission did not occur None Intended for geostationary orbit. Launch vehicle failure left it in a useless LEO orbit. Little data was obtained.[6]
ATS-5 August 12, 1969 3 year design life Communications tests, intended (failed) testing of an ion engine Spacecraft entered an unintended spin and encountered excessive acceleration. This caused damage to the ion engine.[7]
ATS-6 May 30, 1974 5 years Tested several communications technologies, satellite assisted search and rescue, and broadcast television.[8] First satellite to broadcast educational content.[9]

See also

References
  1. "ATS - Applications Technology Satellites (ATS I-V)". FSU Department of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29.
  2. "ATS (Applications Technology Satellites) Program". wayback machine: ATS Nasa Page. NASA. Archived from the original on 22 May 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  3. "The 50th Anniversary of ATS-1". NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). 2016-12-06. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  4. Atlas-Agena flight performance for the Applications Technology Satellite ATS-2 mission (PDF) (Report). NASA Technical Reports Server. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  5. "The First Color Images of the Earth from Space". Geography Realm. Mar 13, 2019. Retrieved Feb 2, 2022.
  6. Garner, Robert (2010-01-22). "ATS". Goddard Space Flight Center. Greenbelt, MD: NASA. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 22 April 2021. ATS-4 was to investigate the possibilities of a gravity gradient stabilization system. A launch vehicle failure stranded ATS-4 in a much lower than planned orbit, making the satellite nearly useless. Despite this, NASA engineers successfully turned on several of the experiments to collect as much information as possible during the craft's short life. The low orbit and resulting atmospheric drag caused ATS-4 to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and break apart on Oct. 17, 1968.
  7. Krebs, Gunter D. "ATS 2, 4, 5". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  8. Wales, Robert O. (November 1981). "ATS-6 Final Engineering Performance Report" (PDF). NASA. pp. 76–78. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  9. Deffree, Suzanne (May 30, 2019). "First educational satellite launches, May 30, 1974". edn.com. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
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