10 November 1959

The attached copy of a report was submitted to this office on

2 November 1959. Title of the report is "review of Visual Satellite

Reconnaissance Payloads - Readout and Recovery Types, " dated

September 19th, 1959. The author is Mr. C. W. Chillson of

ARPA/IDA.

NORMAN C APPOLD

Colonel, USAF

Special Asst. for ARPA/NASA Affairs
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• The purposeof this memorandum is to describe and evaluate itesent. *".

• possible future 'satellite reconnaissance payloads in the light of .

'midi's' intelligence objectives. with special attention to the relative

t!.• merits of photographic payloads of the readout and recovery types.

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11. SUMMARY OF PROJECT TO DATE

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The SAMOS program has as its objective the development of a satellite

reconnaissance system to collect and process visual or photographic data and

Ferret or electromagnetic data. More specifically. the SAMOS system is intended

to •acquire a great amount of technical and strategic warning intelligence.

resulting in a more precise knowledge and evaluation of enemy military and industrial strength and their thiployrnent. The data obtained should enable us to

do a better target analysis job and to detect and identify unknown targets.

Obs e rved change s in concentrations of weapons, transportation patterns.

tons density. together with the rates of change. will provide evidence of buildup

and consequently relatively long lead warning of attack.

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There are two approaches being developed for acquisition of intelligence

data: (1) The recovery system in which a data capsule is ejected from the

satellite upon command and physically recovered. and (2) the electronic data

readout system in which all data is transmitted upon command to ground stations.

The recovery system is used for photography and the data readout system for both

photography and Ferret.

The general characteristics of presently planned visual payloads are as

follows:

Designation El Ez Es Es

Type Photo Photo Photo Visuals

Readout Readout Recovery Readout

Nominal Altitude (SM) 300 300 180 300

Focal length 6 in. 36 in. 54-72 in. 7

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Ground Resolution 100 ft. 20 ft. 5 ft. 5 ft. • •

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The relative merits of photography and of systems using various methods of •

. image retention prior to readout are being evaluated for this payload

on which only preliminary work has been started.

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Inference (a) instructed AMID, Ai A's field went, to defer .-1.::."1,..

-2 pielsedi loz er to develop the tachnigies inialved tenors

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.P::•4 's.8 .... MA-reviews% At that tine, substantially all vendors' !potations hell . 4. ..•41.1c0 41.:12.. • 4. r.- •:•••• I been received fir the various elements eat vendor selection was in process.'• 1

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budgetazy• awl lavolvid ;the • - - •Iii-rola

- . allocations of approximate Fiscal 1960.* This emmoreadma : .'"' ''.1:4

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...:. The 2-1 OM 2-2 payloads and associated readout electronics

-..,....- . ; were largely pest the prototype steel with final gaits being is arse bag' .;.; •!....•-t4:*--

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la. CXSIPARISOR at =war vs. RICOVIEf IPONOCIPAPICW mom a =mu.' ::-.4t4iii, ..:. . •• •

This omiparisca treats of tai relative merits of the /me tne:

. pea-load fiat the standpoint of their potential etfeetivemess is

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;. national intelligence objectives, their relative cosplexity sad

•• •- their relative status and tiasvise availability, end thLtr RAD moat

eats.. Lang (emanative data, eagerness is sane areas suet bs Ipe3147... t • tattle's, pending further study and analysis.

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. • ..Techeical latellisesee is available to cagy I very limited rattiest '.N

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 • ••. trim the vest interior lard messes of Commaist Asia,• from *AA en attedr'.:

an the free nod* night be lamached. The ativag need tor smelt latelliaseeek'•:: •

whicb it is hoped ems be prodded to a significant dinpne.by satellite ' ••••••

' reeoemaisseace, is the reason for bustitating tbs NM program. It is ••-:. view of this dram means that references (c) and (a), efuldi go into ' ••• *

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coasidereble detail regarding technical latelligenue reesirommts mad thic.k.;::.

fox. the beleke for the MOS program, were issued. It ip apparent fon%

thee* seeress that a masiderable premium should be platted Gs the Ineediaci.tor currency of recoenalesesce information. While many long range regiiremmitf.

asy be filled adequately by delayed information it is only It technical :

limitations preclude obtaining the desired detail "tidily that dalayek.

receipt of the infonsation should be accepted. Inherent is the seem* ;-

system is • delay la obtaining the desired visual data with presemtly.;::..-i4:

. •• eamtmegelated systems. With a data gathering Ms espaelty of sum 30 •
7 • '

earlier recovery of the film cam only be achieved if less than the total

capacity is recovered. Unless techniques not now contemplated are employed,

the major • portion of the file recovered will Show only cloud cover and

ground areas devoid of targets. If selective techniques are employed to

void these areas, the time to recovery of a completely exposed film mime

will be increased many fold. In contrast, the photographic readout system

can make available information after a delay of only a few hours and

inherently provide a bests for selectivity in subsequent passes. Also,

by the use of any other techniques developed for avoiding the accumulation

of uninteresting information, it MI similarly extend its total information

cethering capacity before the film payload is expended.

The recovery method has slightly superior performance (assuming

the same altitude, optics, film, image motion compensation) since the degradation associated with readout (scanning, transmission, image reconstitution)

is eliminated. This degradation is not, however, expected to exceed 20%, a

scarcely significant loss, especially Lim view of the built-in image enhancement techniques employed in the readout system. Similar techniques can be

set up to enhance recovered pictures, but are not an integral part oche

recovery scheme. The recovery. system is also subject to degradation of a

possibly significant amount as the result of latent image growth, a post

exposure phenomenon, and from film fogging as the result of temperature

cycling which may occur during the recovery sequence, both of Which phenomena

can occur until the film is developed. The severity of degradation from

these sources will depend an the length of the period between exposure and

developmeet, as well as on the temperature extremes encountered.

In order to obtain full utility of a reconnaissance system, it is

necessary that it have the highest degree of reliability. Domed on reference

(e) study, it is apparent that this factor deserves =jos° consideration in

the relative evaluation of systems, and that it is indeed a serious problem

to keep even a simple sytam operating with acceptable performance unattended

in space for long periods of time. Of the two grasses under consideration,

• there is little reason to doubt that the recovery camera is less complex

than the readouV'eamera with its film processing and readout and communication

elements. Furthermore, since it will be operating for lesser periods of time,

Its overall reliability requirements are not so stringent.. levever, in any.

objective evaluation, it should not be forgotten that considerable caiilexity

exists in the recovery sequence, in the equipment for separation, retro-rocket

firing, high temperature re-entry, parachute deployment, end subsequent

location and recovery. Per can the fact be ignored that with respect to a

particular mission the degree of operationnl success can be much more

imsedlatmly appraised in the case of the readout system. In the event of

failure, corrective actions can be more imeediatnty instituted either by

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Launching an additional package or in the event that the failure is in

the ground-based portion of the equipment, by repair. A Quantitative

evaluation of reliability of these photographic systems along the lines of

reference (e) is necessary for other than a qualitative assessment of such

factors.

IV. MIMIC COMPARISON OP 2-2 sad PAYLOADS

The 11-2 readout camera with 36 * rock length will in general have

approximately 1/2 of the resolution of an 1-5 recovery camera with a 72"

focal length, other conditions being equal. In the development plan, the

recovery camera was further favored from the standpoint of resolution by

plactng it in a lower orbit. Sere the attitude stabilisation problem is

somewhat more severe because of the greater aerodynamic drag, and the life

in orbit is reduced if additional propulsioi is not made available. Rance,

the lower operating altitale of the recovery system is consistent with

recovery after a relatively short period of time. On the basis of one to

altit.Jde dIfferrntial, and a two to one ratio of focal length, the E-5

Tayload has approximately four times the /wound resolution of the S-2 readout payload (e.g. 5 ft. vs. 20 ft).

It has been considered that with a 6 mc space to ground transmission link, the I-2 readout camera would be limited in the amount of

information it could supply, as compared to a recovery system. The E-1

readout camera with a 6" focal length was not considered to be so limited.

Ile 36" focal length, 1-2 camera is limited to transmitting to earth

arproximately 1/5th to 1/6th as such infornation per day as it can acquire

=ler ideal conditions. Roomer, a review of Reference (f), study of cloud

cv•T. over Asia, and the extent of ear.-target areas, suggests that the amount

:f Lmformatian not obscured by cloud cover may be relatively small

that the 5-2 readout system may not be in fact, limited in this ray

'.:."tier averts cooditiona.

From the a:amdpotat of probable costs, the RAD necessary to bring

:7., readost system to • reliable operational status may considerably

eAceed that of the Z-5 recovery system,. Hoverer, once operational, the

czot Ter bit" of intelligence information could well be considerably less

thaa that of the recovery system which requires the launchiag of a complete

siesile for each payload. It shoat/ be noted that many of the expensive

ant• cooplex elements of the readout system are the same ones which are

em;loyed in reading out the information obtained by the Verret payloads

and which are, therefore, required in any event.
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In summary tbe following factOre are pertinent to a decision op

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the 1•.5, recovery psyloed, at this point is time:

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It should be developed:

since it will provide the earliest means of obtaining 5'

ground resolution desired fbr technical intelligence;

- as eback-up' to the more complex 12 system;

as a possible source of optics for a later 13 system;

- since the recovery techniques resulting 11/1 be a long

stride towards meeting man-in-apace requirements;

Factors not favorable to its develePneet are:

- It duplicates, to a degree, the 12 read-out system which

could be flown lower for limited periods to obtain a

ground resolution of about 10 feet;

•

A meth or more delay is involved in obtaining both

intelligence Information and any assuranos.that any

information has been obtained;

of the pictures obtained, a relatively large proportion

will be of cloud cover only; •

V. PYTENTIAL CAPANLITTIE

The previous section dealt with currently conceived configurations.

As objective, general comparison of readout and recovery systems met also

include considerable of their future potential capabilities.

As vas mentioned earlier, both systems are subject to refinement

to reduce the amount of relativel ► useless information acquired. This can

be accmaplished by p: eating coverage to avoid areas of no, or relatively

little interest, and by incorporation of IR sensors (or equivalent) to shut

off the cameras or retrain them when tbR field of vision is obscured by

cloud cower. As vas previously noted, in the readout system, information

from recent passes can be used to assist in the programing process.

With a readout link already in existence, it will also be possible to

relatively simply include a low resolution (500 or so TV lines per frame)

televieloo-type pickup which can serve a number of purposes. by taking

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occasional star asp pictures, it can be used to more precisely determine

, satellite location. It can instead or also, in alternate frames, record

cloud cover data for use in programming subsequent passes mod for meteorological purposes. As TV-type systeme.with greatly increased capabilities

now under study became available, this concept.coald replace all film4using

methods, a possibility being considered for the Z-3, high resolution, readout

Package•

With the advent of cammanications satellites which can be used for

relaying information, these low resolution ground cover pictures can be

transmitted in real time. Indeed, the availability of a communications

satellite opens up a number of extremely interesting additional possibilities

vetch, it is believed, warrant evaluation. The real time, b y resolution

picture could be employed to directly ate the camera at unobacured targets

wIthin range. The TV camera could, in addition, be refined to incorporate

so-called Zoomar fans which could, despite the relatively limited data

acquisition capabilities of current TV systems, be used to vise r very limited

areas at relatively high definition.

The above-described addition of a TV-type camera is just ans of a

number of combined payload possibilities believed to have merit and

considered as ultimately influencing the selection of options systems.

Following is a discussion of soma others, SOW of which are soda possible

by the greeter load carrying capacity of the now programa, double-tent

capacity, dual born Adana upper stags.

If a 'sufficiently emeset ligbtweight recovery aihem is evolved,

it night call prove to be an operationally sad econcsoloall,flesirsble

step to add one of limited capacity to various satellite stages laces

basic missions vacs essentially different and possibly sot involved in

reconnaissance per se.
The exploration of new satellite reconnaissance techniques.

including new sensors to provide "all condition."

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...RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

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A. An acceleiated study should be undertaken, comparable to that of

Refe'rence (e), to assess the relative reliability of readout and recovery of

phatographic payloads, and to establish a basis for the degree of effort which

should be expended to improve reliability and the specific areas where such

effort should be concentrated.

Despite the fact that readout systems are considered to be

ultimately superior for reconnaissance purposes. a is believed that under present

.•;;:-.ditions the E-5 payload as planned will provide much earlier. high resolution

.photographac coverage that: any new readout•systern. It is therefore recommended

thal work on the E-5 recovery system be continued.

Steps should be taken to advance the state of the art as rapidly

uw possible to the end of obtaining an..E-3. high resolution. readout system

'oon as there is a reasonable chance of success.

D In view of the limitations of present systems and the major

improvements considered possible in the future. it is recommended that studies

and/or programs be started in several areas such as. but not limited to. the

. •following:

1.. A magazine-type recoverable film payload.

A "universal" piggy-back recovery system of minimum

size and weight with limited capacity for application to

a variety of satellite vehicles.

A TV-type readout camera of comparatively low

resolution with alternate star map and ground cover

capainimes. both as a possible "piggy-back" payload

on film readout payloads and as a first step towards an

E-3 system.

4 The application of Zoomar techniques to su

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 ch a TV camera

and/or to one with improved resolution.

S. The possibility of real time camera aiming using a TV

monitor.

Various combined payloads to improve intelligence

objectives and/or lave booster costs.

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1 • SECRET

reconnaissance, independent of cloud cover LThnsination

camouflage and 4amming, and without unaeoePtable limitable=

(see Inference Ck)).

E. . In line with the reccomendations of Deference (s), a long-rens,

program should be Instituted, cm as seaderated basis of basic RAD on

new concepts, new materials and new techniques for the fUlfillment of

complex system functional requirements in a manner providing one or two

orders of magnitude greater reliability than present equipment for use

is an untended satellite environment.

8222MINCOS:

WI Number Del 9611.32dt4 23 Jun 1959 to ME en DSr ARPA

/WI Number DXY 96414 04 % 80 3959 amd. NI NUMMI° DAV' 965117

dt4 9 Sep 59 to Sec. Al fa Dir

Memarembea i1e MN Oen James I. bliak to Dir ASIA dtd 10 Nov se

00M00-3, Deconnaissance Satellite Wagon System, dtd• 26 asp se

C. Preliminary Study of (MIDAS) System Mailability by Arian Miss.

Corp. dtd 31 JW. 59

Tie Required for a Photo Reconasissence Satellite to Obtain

a Clear Look at the Soviet Union - a supglammot to WOO Report

No. 39 (M111tary Applications of Artificial faith SatellItes)

dtd 19 Aug 59.

33N1-IN-122 Slams Us. of Color in Aerial Meconeeissence by

J. 8. Goldhammer, dtd 1• Sept 59

b. IDA-M.158, AU Condition Satellite Msconmaissenceeby C. V.

Millman, 04 22 Sept 59

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SECRET $.