page_title: TacSat-3
section_title: Mission
hierarchical_section_title: TacSat-3 / Mission
caption_attribution_description: TacSat-3/ARTEMIS image of the National Mall, Washington, D.C., downgraded in angular resolution for public release
context_page_description: TacSat-3 was the third in a series of U.S. military reconnaissance satellites. It was assembled in an Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate facility at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The TacSat satellites are all designed to demonstrate the ability to provide real-time data collected from space to combatant commanders in the field. TacSat-3 includes three distinct payloads: the Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer hyperspectral imager, the Ocean Data Telemetry Microsatellite Link and the Space Avionics Experiment.
context_section_description: TacSat-3 achieved a HSI ground resolution of 4 meters, which enabled it to detect and identify tactical targets. After a successful completion of a one-year experimental phase, and the acquisition of more than 2100 images, TacSat-3 was handed over to the Air Force in June 2010 as a full-time operational asset. It is the first hyperspectral satellite with the ability to provide reconnaissance within 10 minutes after passing overhead. Field commanders using tactical radio equipment, such as the AN/PRC-117F Multiband Manpack Radio, can directly communicate with the satellite in the ultra high frequency band. TacSat-3/ARTEMIS observations of the National Mall and the Kilauea Volcano to support technical validation of the sensor have been released in June 2010. The released images comprise three of the more than 400 spectral bands.
  TacSat-3 completed operations on 15 February 2012. On 30 April 2012, following the decay of its orbit, TacSat-3 reentered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up.
caption: ARTEMIS image of the National Mall
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