We have used observations from both the Bennett ion mass spectrometer and the retarding potential analyzer on board the Atmosphere Explorer E satellite to study the longitudinally averaged O+, H+, and He+ concentrations from 150 to 1100 km in the equatorial ionosphere during the 1975-1976 solar minimum. Our results suggest that the ion mass spectrometer measurements need to be increased by a factor of 2.15 to agree with the densities from the retarding potential analyzer and with ground-based measurements. The peak H+ concentrations are about 2.5¿104 cm-3 during the day and 104 cm-3 at night and vary little with season. The O+/H+ transition altitude lies between 750 and 825 km during the day and between 550 and 600 km at night He+ is a minor species at all altitudes; its concentration is highly variable with a maximum value of about 103 cm-3 during equinox daytime. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1992