Satellites


Satellites



Preface
This document is dedicated to all the men and women who are involved with ensuring the national security of the United States.

The following information was derived from these sources:

Body of Secrets by James Bamford.
Wizards of Langley by Jeffrey T. Richelson.
Top Secret Tourism by Harry Helms.
The Bureau by Ronald Kessler.
Newsweek magazine articles.
Time magazine articles.

Although I have attempted to gather and arrange the data into a comprehensive, understandable format, any errors and omissions are mine and not attributable to any other authors or works. This document was created prior to the reorganization of the intelligence community following 9/11, so in many respects, it is out-of-date.



Satellites

Sputnik
Launched in 1958 by the USSR, it received attention by the US intelligence communities, and was a precursor to spy satellites.

Corona
The first U.S. satellites to do mapping, launched from 1960 to 1972. 100 Corona satellites were built by Lockheed Aerospace and placed into orbit by USAF and CIA launch platforms. These satellites collected images, then were forced out of orbit by command of ground-based control stations. After the satellites reached a certain altitude, they deployed a parachute and were plucked from the air by specially equipped aircraft. The first aircraft to be modified for this mission was a C-119 flying boxcar. Image resolution provided by the cameras of these satellites was 5 feet (1.7 meters). Information on these satellites was declassified by order of then President Clinton in 1995.

Hexagon
A spy satellite first launched in 1971.

KH-11 Big Bird
These satellites were first launched in 1976. They relay visible and infrared spectrum digital images to a secret Washington, D.C. area ground station. Big Birds orbit at 300 to 500 mile altitudes.

KH-12 Big Bird
These are a more advanced follow-on to the KH-11, first launched in the late 1970s.

Keyhole
Keyhole spy satellite with the designation of "KH", first launched in the 1970s. (See KH-11 and KH-12).

Lacrosse
A radar imaging spy satellite first launched in 1988.

Crystal
An infrared imaging spy satellite first launched in 1989.

Ikonos2
The first private, high-resolution imaging satellite, launched in 1999 by Space Imaging of Thornton, Colorado. Resolution is 1 meter.

Quickbird II
A $100 million, DOD high-resolution imaging satellite built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies of Boulder, Colorado, in partnership with Kodak, Fokker, and Digital Globe. A Quickbird II was emergency-launched by a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg AFB, presumably into an optimal orbit for image acquisition of Afghanistan, on October 18, 2001, following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. The projected life of the 2,100-lb. orbiter is about seven years, based on normal fuel usage. Imagery is managed and distributed by Digital Globe of Longmont, CO. Web page address: digitalglobe.com.

Private (commercial) satellites
A high-resolution private satellite launch is scheduled for 2005.It will have the same resolution as the current Quickbird II. Advantages of commercial satellites:

  1. Lower resolution than DOD satellites, which provides a wider angle of view. This is valuable for some U.S. Government requirements, and it buys many images from commercial imaging companies.
  2. Images are unclassified, so they may be shared with alliance partners of the U.S.


Ready-pad concept
The intelligence community has become more dependent on emergency, ready-pad launches of reconnaissance satellites which require minimal support when not needed, but are ready to be sent into orbit within a few days of a launch order. Several reconnaissance satellites were emergency-launched from ready pads in October 2001, following the terrorist attacks on September 11, including a Quickbird II. Those launches were delayed several weeks following the September 11, 2001 attacks, until early October, presumably to facilitate reconnaissance target selection and to program the launch vehicles to place the satellites in an optimum orbit to collect intel on the selected targets, ostensibly, Afghanistan and other selected terrorist areas of the world.