Living Plume Shield (satellite)

The Living Plume Shield or LIPS were a set of three satellites launched as secondary payloads on Atlas rockets.[1]

• LIPS I, launched on 8 December 1980 on Atlas E/F serial number 68E, failed to reach orbit.
• LIPS II, launched on 9 February 1983 on Atlas H serial number 6001H, is still operating. It carries a UHF single-channel transponder.[2]
• LIPS III, launched on 15 May 1987 on Atlas H serial number 6005H, is still operating. It weighs 138 pounds and has performed over 140 solar-cell experiments.[3]

Each of the satellites was designed and tested in less than a year by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Spacecraft Engineering Department at their Payload Processing Facility in Washington, D.C..