Applications Technology Satellites Explained

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]

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

• Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
• Synchronous Meteorological Satellite

External links

• ATS at NASA's Mission and Spacecraft Library
• ATS, Past NASA Missions
• ATS, NASA Science Missions
• ATS-E - Press Kit

Notes and References

1. Web site: ATS - Applications Technology Satellites (ATS I-V). FSU Department of Meteorology. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110929154555/http://www.met.fsu.edu/orgs/explores/satellites/Ats/index.html. 2011-09-29.
2. Web site: ATS (Applications Technology Satellites) Program . https://web.archive.org/web/20070522141635/http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/Programs/ats.html . dead . 22 May 2007 . wayback machine: ATS Nasa Page . NASA . 13 April 2019.
3. Web site: The 50th Anniversary of ATS-1 . NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) . 2016-12-06 . 2020-10-05.
4. Atlas-Agena flight performance for the Applications Technology Satellite ATS-2 mission. NASA Technical Reports Server. November 8, 2022.
5. Web site: The First Color Images of the Earth from Space . Geography Realm . Mar 13, 2019 . Feb 2, 2022.
6. Web site: Garner . Robert . ATS . Goddard Space Flight Center . NASA . 22 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210226202828/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/missions/ats.html . 2021-02-26 . Greenbelt, MD . 2010-01-22 . 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. . live.
7. Web site: Krebs. Gunter D.. ATS 2, 4, 5. Gunter's Space Page. February 11, 2023.
8. Web site: ATS-6 Final Engineering Performance Report. Robert O. . Wales . November 1981. NASA. February 4, 2023. 76–78.
9. Web site: First educational satellite launches, May 30, 1974. May 30, 2019. Suzanne . Deffree . edn.com. February 11, 2023.