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~,) ~ HELIX CORONA 

GAMBIT FULCRT.JM 

DORIAN VJP,.SH~NG'TON 

FUN GT IONS: NRO I {}t,f) ~.,.,_ ,&;-J/ 

April 22, .1966 

MEMO&~~NDtJM FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEF_ENSE 

DIRECTOR OF CBH'.I'R.AL T.N'X'ELLlGENGF. 

SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT 

FOR SCIENCE AND TECtil~OLOGY 

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SUBJECT: New .General Search and Surveillance Satellite System 

Over the past sever2l months, the NRO Staff, with the 

assistance of the CIA and SAFSP, has carefully evaluated all 

aspects of the proposed new General Search and Surveillance 

Satellite System. Dq.ring this period~ detailed analyses and ' • J • ,... • • • 1 . - 1 'h +- • ' h aer~1onsi::racions o:c cr1xica. ... ·cecll.no_ogy dave con ... inuea on L_ree 

separate ca.~era designs at two different contractors: one 

design concept at Perkin-Elm'0r (considerably changed and 

i...'Tlproved ·from a prior Itek effort); and two .d~sign concepts 

at Itek Corporation (one of which was transferred to Itek from 

Eastman Kodak .last fall~ in view of the EK workload at, the 

tirn.e the MOL sensor 1;-;ras 2.Dnroved). . Sii.uultaneously with the ~ . 

contractor efforts, inhouse studies on this new system have 

been continued by CIA-OSP, SAFSP, and the NRO Staff. 

I have reviewed the background, studies and work accomplished during the past two yearso Two ad hoc task groups of 

CIP.-OSP, SAFSP, and NRO Staff representatives have been convened to make recon~~endations on both technical and project 

management mattersQ Corn.1.uents on the reports of these task 

groups have been' solicited and received from the CL~ and SAFSPe 

Also, the camera designs have been reviewed several tii.ues by 

D:c. Le.:."'ld is PSAC Panel on N-:RP matters •.. vI now wish to recommend 

a specific course of action for proceeding with this project 

.as outlined in this memorandurn. 

One of the more difficult problems has been to devise a 

technique which will permit the equitable competition of the 

th:cse ca."Tlera des·' gns. which were designed against varied technical 0 
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DORIAN 

c.nd oper.e.tionc.l requirements~ and 211 of which are at different 

stages of analysis, design and demonstration of critical ,_ 1 _, c::· . L2CClnOJ...Ogye wl.nce 88.Cll. ca12era appears to be fundamentally 

capable of m2eting the basic USIE. requirement established for 

t!:1e new system (namely, resolution eciual to or better than the 

ICH-7 and cove.rage equal to or better thE~:::l the KR-4), great care 

has had to be exercised in the establishlnent of other technical/ .,, .,· . " operationaL criteria so as to assure selection of the best 

camera syst:ertl without regard to arbitrary restraints~ limitations) or secondary requirements such as may be i."llposed in the 

course of specific system design. I believe that the proposed 

evaluation methods and criteria, which are described in the I 

attached docu:nents, will provide a sound basis for camera 

system selection in<·the light of the aforementioned considerations. ·· 

There is general agreement .::.rnong the .NRP participants and 

·myself as to the general system configuration which should be · 

adopted. It involves a- system with 25 to 30-day on-orbit lifetLue which includes sufficient fiLu to photograph approxin1ately 

20,000,000 square miles in stereo, a stellar-index camera to 

provide for application of the product °to mapping, charting, 

and geodesy, and from two to four recovery vehicles for the 

return of fiL'rfi. (I propose that the RV decision be deferred 

until the completion of the spacecraft and sensor competitions; 

RV development is not pacing and deferral will not delay the 

earliest possible first launcho) The orbital vehicle will 

tequire a booste ./of the TITAN III-D class (TITAN III-C ·core . 

with two 120-incb. di2.:neter, three-segment strap-on solid rocket-· 

motors) since the tot.al on-orbit weight probably will exceed 

- 12~000 pour:.ds. 

After considering several alternative management approaches, 

~ have arrived at the conclusion that an assignment of responsibilities generally in zccorda.nce with the normal assignments 

described in the 1965 NRP Agreement will best meet the condi- . . . ". b 1 • ,.. • • .c ~' A. t ~ions iluposea y tne speClLlC requirements or Lne greemen· 

with respect: to .this system end the require:ment for sound and 

effective system project management. Accordingly that is the 

annroach recoffiil:ended: CIA-OSP would be responsible for the > J. "" -
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DORDj~N HELIX CORONA GP..MEIT FULCRUM 

entire sensor sub-system and S~Li"FSP would be responsible for 

the ren-1aining S)TS ten1 e~Len1er1ts Q T:-:e Director, SAFSP 1:·JOllid be 

design.sted as the System P:roj ect Direc·tor, responsible for all 

overall system enginee:ring, system ird:egration c:.nd integrated 

p:coj ect management. The responsibilities of SAFSP for the. 

overall syst-:em \voulc1 inclLtdc all i:r.d:crf'a.ccs wit:li. tl1.e sensor 

sub-system. In the e:rnrcise of these interface responsibilities, 

in considering tradeoffs in system mission perfo:cmance reliability 

and cost, as well as other progr&u factors, SAFSP would give due 

·we:ight to the requireraents of the sensor· sub-system as defined 

and presented by CLO.-OSP. SAFSP responsibilities would not include 

syste::-,1 engineering, technical direction, or contract supervision 

fo:c the sensor sub-system. These latter three functions would 

be included in the CIA sub-syste.m management responsibilities 

assigned directly by. the DNRO. · 

Attached to.;this memorandum for your consideration are the 

following docurr1i:.jts,: 

1. A Systern Operational Requirement (SOR) which sets 

·.forth the desired and/ or minimu.:.u technical and operational 

criteria for the e1:.tire. systern. 

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2. A Request for Proposal (RFP) for the.sensor subsystem. This RFP will be issued to the two competing contractors 

as the basis for their proposals. The RFP will also serve to 

establish basic guidelines for the source selection evaluation. 

3. ..6. rnanagei:nent pl.e..n fo:c the development, production, 

and operation of the new system, including the assigr.ment 0£ 

"b·1· . c-" "'SD , s··-,.-,p .....,, . -I •. th ,.. respo1-:.si i ities to '.!...t'~-u l a.no lU: 0... • lnis p _an is in - e :corm 

of a memorandl.1.l~ from the DNRO to the Director of Reconnaissance~ 

CT.A,· and the Director, SAFSP. 

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;.. .i::. se::::-1.es or: r:ive papers wnic~l. exp ain i:ne rat..i.ona e 

for the most signific2:nt portions of the SOR, RFP, and management plan. These briefs cover requirements, system life considerations, recovery vehicles, the technique for measuring 

sys'l:em effective·~.··.ess, end syste::::1 n1a11.e.gement: ~ 

5. A. schedule of planned Nl~O actions for the near term. 

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DORIAN E:LIX'CORONA GA:MBIT FULCRUM 

S?ec~fical.ly., ~~?2 Excc·:.i't i:·ve Co:ts1itt:ee c..n·oroval is recrt1est·ed • - i 

fo~ the proposed 2~~2gement plan a~d for the system concepts and 

-Fu-..,,d.-::;nen·:-a1 1J>A1nc i ""S 0c.·:- .L.cu~~-H, 1-:·_1J.P ~u"'._R .".>Dd Df:i'D_'. • W-it"h - -- ............ 1... ... '"""' - l. - ----- ............ '-' .._. - ....... 1:..1 ....... - - - ...... ........._. r.u ....... .c.,J., 

:c2ga:.:d to t:he SOR 8:.::.-id 8211.so:r S·ub-systen-: RFP, I am sure tl-ie 

Con1ft ... it~ee reco'g11.izes tl1.c:.·t t11e:re will be 1111n1erous refinements to ~"' "I. .. • :l ,, "{ 1 .. ::J i...nese oasic qoc111T1e.A.l.ts J...:.-i t:..1.e ~vee1cs aheaa" 

On a tir.1e scale con1pa:i:icle wi.th the sensor development, 

c.o:c:.t:ractor corn.petitions for severs.1 o«':her sub-systems will be 

,.'! • d - . •"I • •': r' 1 ,- , .. con~uc·ce " · 1 propose ·cna·c ·c:ne spacecra:ct e.:..ement or ·cr1e system 

"'"' 0 reco~n.oo·:-er:J - -rie c:o; ·;-e ·;-~,c. .c.., ·" +- ·:-!-. "'·'- bo ·'-}1 QA 'H'S"P a,~ a" C'A-QCCD h"' d ;..,;..__ "''""'.L'-""" \...+., u ...... .i.-'""' 1..r ...... 1.;;;:-.:..Lc.;..\...1,.. ._,,. ... ........:.i.., 'L- '"'-' ... ..,_._ .-..1. .!.. l..JJ.. c;. 

. ';, p:reviously sslected Gene:::-21 Elect:ric as the spacecraft contractor-- ~ . ' ~7 . ~ . ~ ~ . • d 1 , • • :cor ~C:..!e reaso:.""l Ll.~aL r:o·c all. co1;.~cr2ctors hCl equeJ... oppo:ccur1ities ~ .b .. , .. . .. ""1 ,...... .. .1. :t .. • 

·;.o , l.G aga:Lns·c precise.Ly, ·.__~-ie .sc..me requireil1e.ncs ana, in any even-c, 

tl-1e cu:=re~-.:.~i.: requi.ren--~e1-its differ i::.1. several respects f:corn tlLose 

p::::-eviously used 2s a basis for cor11petition. The RVs should be 

:::eccL.1peted for tlie sa:ne. ::-easoi!o ~4. brief s1:iacecraft· cornnetition . - . should not del2y the first launch by more than a few weeks at 

most~ 2.nd the RV. developrne:c.Tt ,is not pacing at all. Additionally, 

it. is proposed to compete the strc:p-on solid. rocket motors for 

tl1.e TIT.~-11 III-D. 

Upon ::e:ceiot of Execu:::ive Corn::ni·ttee approval, I ,propose to 

emb.:::.::k on the schedule included as Att-.s.d1n1ent 5. Within ahout 

sixteen weeks after receipt of your approval, we would expect 

to h?ve selected the sensor and spacecraft contractors, the 

solid-::ocket strap-01:1. motor co::.:.tra.c·::or, c:.:::-:..d would have them all 

on contract toward a firs.t lam1ch of the r.ew system in late 1968 .. 

v h :t 7: -r-.~7~·· ... '-.- _, ., ,- .. .. ,... -3"f'":'i- --x -'-ou mey · .. :::..ve not ea. tne b;,.&v.:..c" • .;.'\ cl.assi:rJ..cation o::c 1.:...c...L.L on 

tl-:is n1emo~..s.ndurnr,) T"l---:.ct is the code vJoz-d desig11.ato:c proposed for 

the l\'.'e<c·J Gener.s.1 Search and Su:rveilic:.nce System; it supplants 

the previous designc:.to::s of FULC:;(.UJ::Vl in the 'CIA and. S-2 'in SAFSP J which we.re used to sc.feguard ectivit:ies pertaining to this project., 

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