Overview[]
MIT Lincoln Laboratory, which had originally been established by the U.S. Air Force to conduct research in strategic air defense, became very active in developing satellite communications technology, especially for the military services. In the course of their communications technology program, Lincoln Laboratory developed a number of experimental satellites, called Lincoln Experimental Satellites (LES), using Air Force funds. LES-5 and LES-6 operated in the military UHF band and provided much of the experimental technology for the UHF satellite communications system. Others operated in the SHF communications band (like DSCS) and EHF communications band (like Milstar). The U.S. Navy used LES satellites in many of their tests during the 1960s and 1970s.