MUBLCOM

DART (bottom) approaching the MUBLCOM satellite (top)

The Multiple Paths, Beyond-Line-of-Sight Communications (MUBLCOM) satellite, built for the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was launched in May 1999 by a Pegasus rocket. Its mission was to demonstrate a capability to provide space-based digital voice and data communications to combat forces or commercial users that were previously considered out of range of standard radio communications systems.

On April 15, 2005, the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft collided with the MUBLCOM satellite while attempting to rendezvous with it.

• NORAD ID: 25736
• Dry mass: 50 kg

References

• http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/148072main_DART_mishap_overview.pdf
• http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/payload/missions/terriers/