 Ariel 3 had an orbital period of approximately 95 minutes, with an apogee of 608 km and a perigee of 497 km.It initially spun at 31 rpm for stability, though by the time the Ariel 3 deorbited, it had slowed to a rate of about 1 rpm.On 24 October 1967 the tape recorder aboard Ariel 3 began to malfunction.