Communications
LES-5
Historic UHF Communications Experiment · MIT Lincoln Laboratory / US Air Force
Right now
LiveIt moves every second. See exactly where it is — worked out from its orbit, on your own device — on the live 3D globe.
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LES-5, launched in 1967 by MIT Lincoln Laboratory to test UHF satellite communications for the US military — among the earliest satellites proving that geostationary UHF relay could work for tactical voice communications. Its near-equatorial orbit (2.72° inclination) keeps it drifting slowly around the geostationary belt to this day, a piece of 1960s Cold War communications research still technically in orbit.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Medium Earth Orbita high vantage point, ideal for navigation
- Altitude
- 20,631–20,889 mi (33,202–33,617 km)
- Inclination
- 2.8°
- One orbit
- 21.9 hours1.1 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 02866
- Int’l designator
- 1967-066E
- Launched
- 1967
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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