RADCAL was built by Defense Systems Inc. as United States Air Force Space Test Program payload P92-1.

[4] Payload included two C Band transponders (operating at the same frequency as space-detection radars[3]), a Doppler beacon that transmitted at 150 and 400 MHz, and a pair of modified Trimble Inc. TANS Quadrex Global Positioning System receivers.

[1] The receivers were used to determine the satellite's orbit as a reference for calibrating space detection radars.

[3] It also carried the Small Satellite Power System Regulator, an experiment testing improved battery charging on solar panel-equipped vehicles.

[5] By the end of its operational lifetime, it was one of only two functional radar performance monitoring satellites (along with DMSP F-15) and was actively used by a number of civilian and military organizations.