Science
RIGIDSPHERE 2 (LCS 4)
Radar Calibration Sphere · MIT Lincoln Laboratory
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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- Altitude
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Rigidsphere 2, also cataloged as LCS-4 — a sibling to the famous LCS-1, built by MIT's Lincoln Laboratory as a precisely machined radar calibration target. Like LCS-1, it has no power, no electronics, and no expiration date; it simply orbits, indefinitely, as a fixed point radar systems can check themselves against.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 453–504 mi (728–810 km)
- Inclination
- 87.6°
- One orbit
- 100.1 minutes14.4 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 05398
- Int’l designator
- 1971-067E
- Launched
- 1971
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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