The REX satellites were designed to study scintillation effects of the Earth's atmosphere on RF transmissions. Rex 2 was also the first spacecraft to successfully employ GPS navigation for full closed loop attitude control.

The basic design features of both REX spacecraft were similar, though there were some obvious differences, i. e. no GPS equipment on the first REX. Specifications presented here are for Rex 2. The spacecraft was three axis stabilized, nadir pointing to within 5 degrees. Passive attitude control was provided by a 21 foot gravity gradient boom with two 20 inch long nickel/iron magnetic hysteresis rods mounted at the tip for damping purposes (4 lbs. total). Active control was achieved through a pitch bias momentum system, including one wheel and three torque coils. Attitude determination was provided by GPS equipment, coarse sun sensors, and a magnetometer. The primary communications experiment was built by the US Air Force Rome Laboratories. It advanced research on electron density irregularities that caused disruptive scintillation effects on radio signals transmitted through the Earth's ionosphere. Rex II's GPS receivers, supplied by Trimble Navigation, were able to resolve spacecraft position to 100m, velocity to 0.2 m/sec, and attitude to within 0.3 deg.

Design Life: 1 year, goal of three years. Typical orbit: 770 x 870 km, 89.6 deg inclination. Length: 0.56 m (1.83 ft). Maximum Diameter: 0.76 m (2.49 ft). Mass: 85 kg (187 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Pegasus XL, Scout G.

• 1991 June 29 - REX - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Scout G. Mass: 85 kg (187 lb). Perigee: 767 km (476 mi). Apogee: 869 km (539 mi). Inclination: 89.50 deg. Period: 101.30 min.

  Radiation Experiment; tested communications components in high radiation environment. Spacecraft engaged in research and exploration of the upper atmosphere or outer space (US Cat B).

• 1996 March 9 - REX-II - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Vehicle: Pegasus XL. Perigee: 799 km (496 mi). Apogee: 835 km (518 mi). Inclination: 90.00 deg. Period: 101.20 min.

  LEO

• USAF Satellite Database, USAF Institute of Technology, 1995. Accessed at: ftp://archive.afit.af.mil/pub/space/.

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Report (Internet Newsletter), Harvard University, Weekly, 1989 to Present. Essential internet newsletter recording worldwide weekly space events. Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

• Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, University of Frankfurt, 1996. Accessed at: http://www.skyrocket.de/space.

• JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Accessed at: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.