OV3-5
Orbiting Vehicle 3-5, launched 31 January 1967, was the fifth satellite to be launched in the OV3 series of the United States Air Force's Orbiting Vehicle program.
History
The Orbiting Vehicle satellite program arose from a US Air Force initiative, begun in the early 1960s, to reduce the expense of space research. Through this initiative, satellites would be standardized to improve reliability and cost-efficiency, and where possible, they would fly on test vehicles or be piggybacked with other satellites. In 1961, the Air Force Office of Aerospace Research created the Aerospace Research Support Program to request satellite research proposals and choose mission experiments. The USAF Space and Missiles Organization created their own analog of the ARSP called the Space Experiments Support Program, which sponsored a greater proportion of technological experiments than the ARSP. Five distinct OV series of standardized satellites were developed under the auspices of these agencies.Unlike the previously initiated OV1 and OV2 series of satellites, which were designed to use empty payload space on rocket test launches, the six OV3 satellites all had dedicated Scout boosters. In this regard, the OV3 series was more akin to its civilian science program counterparts. OV3 differed from NASA programs in its heavy use of off-the-shelf equipment, which resulted in lower unit cost.
The first four satellites in the series were made the Aerojet subsidiary Space General Corporation under a $1.35m contract awarded 2 December 1964, the first satellite due October 1965. The last two satellites were built by Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory, which also managed the entire series and provided four of the OV3 payloads.
Charles H. Reynolds, who worked at AFCRL from 1955, was the technical manager for the OV3 program.
Prior to the launch of OV3-5, four other OV3 satellites had been placed into orbit, all radiation measuring spacecraft launched in 1966.