DODGE 1

About This Satellite

DODGE, the Department of Defense Gravity Experiment, launched on July 1, 1967 to test gravity-gradient stabilization at near-synchronous altitudes. It investigated whether an extended spacecraft could maintain useful Earth-pointing orientation using passive and semipassive techniques. Its long booms were part of an attitude-control experiment, not a large radio telescope or a propulsion system.

Movable booms allowed different spacecraft configurations

The NSSDC catalog describes ten booms that could be extended or retracted independently by ground command along three axes. Changing their arrangement changed the mechanical configuration being tested. Stabilization also required damping the oscillations, or librations, rather than merely extending the booms and assuming the satellite would immediately point steadily at Earth.

The cameras watched the spacecraft as well as the planet

The dual vidicon experiment checked satellite alignment and bending of the downward-pointing boom. Earth pictures therefore provided engineering evidence as well as cloud observations. NSSDC reports that battery problems restricted operations before an operational off mode in early 1971; its photographic record is historical, not a live camera feed.

Mission reference: NASA NSSDC experiment catalog: DODGE spacecraft and dual vidicon cameras. Editorial review: 2026-09-14.

Attitude determination is separate from achieving stability

A 1969 Johns Hopkins APL report describes DODGE's attitude sensors and the methods used to derive orientation from their outputs. This was the measurement side of the experiment. A stable-looking image alone does not quantify pitch, roll, and yaw, and a plotted latitude and longitude describes orbital position rather than those orientation angles. Sensor interpretation was needed to evaluate how well the stabilization worked.

Reference: Johns Hopkins APL/NTIS: The DODGE Attitude Determination System.

An engineering mission became part of photographic history

NASA includes DODGE in its chronology of changing views of Earth, crediting it with an early full-disc colour image in 1967. This achievement came from a spacecraft whose primary purpose was stabilization research. It should be kept distinct from ATS-3's later operational multicolour cloud-imaging record and from photographs taken by astronauts; similar-looking Earth portraits can have very different instruments and purposes behind them.

Reference: NASA: DODGE in the history of Earth photography.

Reading this orbital snapshot

Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 33,254 km at perigee to 33,673 km at apogee, a difference of 419 km. The orbital period is about 1319.1 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00526 indicates a nearly circular path. In a two-body approximation, perigee speed is 1.01 times apogee speed. These are mean-element estimates, not instantaneous measurements. Distance per orbit uses an ellipse approximation.

Saved build snapshot. If a valid TLE is retrieved, this explanation and the orbit panel update together. Otherwise this dated snapshot is retained.

Ground track is not sensor coverage

An inclination of 2.68 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 2.7 degrees north and south. This is a prograde orbit, moving in the same general direction as Earth rotation. The plotted line marks the point beneath the object. It does not represent camera coverage, radio reception, or a guaranteed visible pass.

Is it fixed above one longitude?

The snapshot period is 1319.1 minutes. A sidereal day is about 1,436.07 minutes. Height alone does not establish a geostationary orbit: the period must match Earth rotation and the path must be circular and equatorial. This catalog uses a five-minute period tolerance for near-geosynchronous labels; near-geostationary additionally requires inclination at most 1 degree and eccentricity at most 0.01. These are browsing categories, not evidence of station-keeping or a fixed longitude.

Accuracy and missing information

The introductory record describes the build snapshot. The orbital snapshot explanation and orbit panel share any successfully retrieved TLE; check the displayed epoch. Reentered objects retain historical data only. Mission history is not rewritten by TLE updates. TLE/SGP4 positions are predictions and can change after maneuvers or updated observations. The 14-day stale-data cutoff is a display safeguard, not an accuracy guarantee. Local passes are geometric predictions, not a visibility forecast. No verified operator or mission status means unknown, not active. Do not use this catalog for collision avoidance or operational flight decisions.

Catalog sources: CelesTrak SATCAT: NORAD 2867 · GCAT: S02867 (source update 2026 Sep 4 2345:57). Supplementary metadata: SatNOGS DB, retrieved 2026-09-05T12:57:25.375Z. Page assembled 2026-09-15. GCAT phase codes describe trajectory phases, not mission health.

Learn more: TLE data · Perigee and apogee · Ground tracks · JOT (Jewawud Live Orbital Map)

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