jetsetter
07-02-2010, 01:14 AM
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/8818/idcsp27300660.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/1883/idcsp17357800.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/6300/idcspdep7393650.jpg
Various satellite systems have been developed for communication purposes, and the first of these was fielded by the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program (IDCSP). The program began in 1962, following cancellation of an earlier, unsuccessful program called Project Advent. The IDCSP system consisted of small, 100 pound satellites launched in clusters, and a total of 26 such satellites were placed into orbit in four launches carried out between June 1966 and June 1968. The IDCSP provided an experimental but usable worldwide military communications system for the Defense Department until a more sophisticated system could be developed.
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/smc_hist/SMCHOV10.HTM
The American military's first near-geosynchronous satellite communications system. A total of 26 IDSCP satellites were launched between 1966 and 1968 in four groups by Titan IIICs to near-equatorial, 29,500-km-high orbits. Each weighed about 45 kg and drifted from west to east at a rate of up to 30° per day. IDCSP satellites transmitted reconnaissance photos and other data during the Vietnam War. When IDCSP reached initial operational capability, the system was renamed DSCS I (Defense Satellite Communications System I). It was succeeded by NATO and DSCS II true geosynchronous satellites in the 1970s.
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/I/IDCSP.html
Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program
When the Advent program was canceled in 1962, a recommendation was made for another program that would be operational, not experimental. As a result, the Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program (IDCSP) was created. Its design principle was simplicity. Each IDCSP payload had a single repeater with a capacity of about 10 voice circuits or 1 megabit per second of data when communicating with large terminals on Earth.
Seven IDCSP satellites were launched in 1966 with additional groups of three to eight satellites launched in 1967 and 1968. Twenty-eight satellites were placed into orbit, operating for periods ranging from one to ten years. The IDCSP satellites drifted in orbits slightly below geostationary altitude. In contrast, almost all subsequent DOD communication satellites operated in the geostationary orbit.
In 1967, increasing military activity in Vietnam led to the establishment of an operational communication link that used IDCSP. In this link, digital data were transmitted from Vietnam to Hawaii through one satellite and on to Washington, D.C., through another. In 1968, the system was declared operational, and its name was changed to Initial Defense Satellite Communication System.
http://www.aero.org/publications/crosslink/winter2002/01.html
Smaller satellites have become popular again since the end of the Cold War and I thought this project interesting as a example of things coming back full circle.
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/1883/idcsp17357800.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/6300/idcspdep7393650.jpg
Various satellite systems have been developed for communication purposes, and the first of these was fielded by the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program (IDCSP). The program began in 1962, following cancellation of an earlier, unsuccessful program called Project Advent. The IDCSP system consisted of small, 100 pound satellites launched in clusters, and a total of 26 such satellites were placed into orbit in four launches carried out between June 1966 and June 1968. The IDCSP provided an experimental but usable worldwide military communications system for the Defense Department until a more sophisticated system could be developed.
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/smc_hist/SMCHOV10.HTM
The American military's first near-geosynchronous satellite communications system. A total of 26 IDSCP satellites were launched between 1966 and 1968 in four groups by Titan IIICs to near-equatorial, 29,500-km-high orbits. Each weighed about 45 kg and drifted from west to east at a rate of up to 30° per day. IDCSP satellites transmitted reconnaissance photos and other data during the Vietnam War. When IDCSP reached initial operational capability, the system was renamed DSCS I (Defense Satellite Communications System I). It was succeeded by NATO and DSCS II true geosynchronous satellites in the 1970s.
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/I/IDCSP.html
Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program
When the Advent program was canceled in 1962, a recommendation was made for another program that would be operational, not experimental. As a result, the Initial Defense Communication Satellite Program (IDCSP) was created. Its design principle was simplicity. Each IDCSP payload had a single repeater with a capacity of about 10 voice circuits or 1 megabit per second of data when communicating with large terminals on Earth.
Seven IDCSP satellites were launched in 1966 with additional groups of three to eight satellites launched in 1967 and 1968. Twenty-eight satellites were placed into orbit, operating for periods ranging from one to ten years. The IDCSP satellites drifted in orbits slightly below geostationary altitude. In contrast, almost all subsequent DOD communication satellites operated in the geostationary orbit.
In 1967, increasing military activity in Vietnam led to the establishment of an operational communication link that used IDCSP. In this link, digital data were transmitted from Vietnam to Hawaii through one satellite and on to Washington, D.C., through another. In 1968, the system was declared operational, and its name was changed to Initial Defense Satellite Communication System.
http://www.aero.org/publications/crosslink/winter2002/01.html
Smaller satellites have become popular again since the end of the Cold War and I thought this project interesting as a example of things coming back full circle.