Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 1ft 2in. x 5in. (35.6 x 12.7cm)
Materials:
Plastic, aluminum, steel, paint
Launched in 1969, Tacsat (Tactical Communications Satellite) was designed to improve the US military's ability to communicate with its forces on land, sea, or air. Tacsat's main feature was a set of large, powerful antennas. The strong signals they generated meant that military units required a relatively small antenna to received communications--a valuable feature for geographically dispersed or mobile forces.
Tacsat also was used extensively in the Apollo program to assist with coordinating ships and aircraft in the Pacific Ocean during the recovery of returning space capsules.
Hughes Aircraft donated this 1/24 scale model of a Tacsat satellite to the Museum in 1975.
Gift of Hughes Aircraft Co.
