IDCSP (Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program) 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. Related categories MILITARY RECONNAISSANCE AND SURVEILLANCE SATELLITES AND SPACE PROBES Also on this site: Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living Encyclopedia of History Transport Concepts & Designs (partner site) |