Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

e Air Force WS-117L .. Derived Projects 

SAMOS E-1/F-1 (WS-117L and 

Project 102) 

The requirements fort.he Advanced 

Reconnaissance System, Vleapon System 

1171 CWS-ll 7L), were incorporated in 

System Requirement No. 5, published by 

Headqua:ri.(~rs, .i\ir Research and Development Command (ARDC), on 29 November 

1954, and were validated in Genera] 

Operational Requirement 80-2, issued by 

Headquarters, US Air Force, on 15 March 

1955. At that time E LINT was the res po nsibil ity oft.he US Air Force, as spelled out 

in DOD Directive S-3115.2 issued on 13 July 

195,5, Intelligence requirements for the 

ELINT sate>.llites of WS-117L were developed under guidance from }:i..ir Force 

Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence 

l'.AFCIN), :MGen James Walsh. On 29 

October 1956 the ,.\ir Force awarded contract AF 04 (647)-94 to Lockheed Missiles 

and Space Division (11-ISD) in Sunnyvale, 

California, for initial system development 

'lludie8 on \VS-1171. In June 1957 L~fSD 

awatd~d the first contract for US ELINT 

satellite pa,doad.s to the Airborne I - . ll..itrument.s Laboratorv iAJU at Mmeola, 

Long l.sland. New York~ The work on con~ 

tract was Subsystem F (SIS f), the ELINT 

Payload of \VS-117L. 

Because the US did not have radar 

data from the interior of the Soviet Union 

at that time, the requirements for WS-ll 7L 

were stated in very general terms. 

Consequently, the SIS F ELI NT payload 

designs were based on various national 

estimates of the Soviet radar environment. 

These estimates were contained in the 

RAND Corporation's Report 280. ·'Signal 

Density Study," published 1 September 

1955; the Air Force Technical Intelligence 

Cent.er (ATIC) report, .. Handbook of Soviet 

and Satellites RADAR Equipment,'' 9 November 195.5; and in estimates by the Planning 

Research Corporation. a subcontractor to 

R.amo-V{ooldridge, Inc., under contract to 

the Air Force for development of the WSll 7L Intelligence Data Processing Sub~ 

system I ( SIS n. These estimates relied on 

peripheral intercepts from ground sit~.:-;. 

airplanes tincluding limited U-2 collection}. and ships. Radar data co 11 ected by 

the early satellite ELINT payloads (Navy 

GRAB/DYNO in 1960 and Air Force ferret. 

.systems in 1961 t showed that the actual 

density of radar data collected oveT the 

Soviet inte1ior 'Was many times greater 

than anticipated. Accommodating this 

large volume of data slowed the development of data processing systems, chani;ed 

payload~tasking plans, and resulted in 

some payload modifications. 

The first true source of national 

requirements for satellite reconnaissance 

systems was published by the US Intelligence Board (USIB) in USIB-DT33.6/8, 

"Intelligence Requirements for a Satelllte 

Tap !!li!!iUiii,I 

.1,. 11 .. : fqn • 11.1:r1 .s,, · £t ·r 'i61··:1 •t?ll 

(kH115 '7 Cc r .. · 1 (I I / · Ip Chapter 4 

l'l'H-Q197·'5'-1 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
I 

J ~ l ~ 

r,', 

~ ,C 

:-~ 

.e 

.. 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

STRAWMAN operational concept 

Program A: Projects I 02, &,&BK. & 770 

<SHtAWMAN sdlcllilc -;hown! 

Orbilal indim1tion: 

Orbi1.-I .tlrf1udt!: 

O.-hi1.il 1,h.i1w: 

Ground ccnerag~: 

Co11ection lechniqu~: 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

t.1·~· 7s;• 

27'. mrl,·~ 

C'i.-cul,u 

10ll·rnile•dl•nn:-lcr ,i,i:h: 

Re~d .. in gver dt>!'1il'd ul'•, 

•~tord, •nd ru,J.-mJI lu 

S(f rll"ttmll! lr,u"ing 

~1,11iom. 

t:ircular horn1 for high 

h,qu~nq. toK.nilhmil 

conical t,pir41 for VHF/UI If 
l 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Reconnaissance System of which SA.MOS 

is an Example," 5 ,July 1960. It .stat.ed, in 

part, "There are important problems 

toward which electronic reconnaissance 

could contribute critical information during the research and development phase .. , 

One of the most important of these is the 

search for emissions associated with an 

ABM flystem." P(lragraph le. stated, 

"Additional types of directed coverage may 

be req ti.ired. Provision .should be made to 

procure such equipment by Quick Reaciion 

Capabilities ( QRCL" Also " a dose 

working relationship between the R&D 

organization and the intelligence community i ~ rcq uired," 1 

Col ,lohn 0. Cople~· 

Prior to the publication of USIBD-:33.6/8. Maj rlater Col) ,Iohn 0. Cople:;~ 

the Air Force \VS~ll 7L Project Officer for 

SiS Fat the Air Force Ballistic Missile 

Division (AFB1\:ID), Inglewood, Cahfornia, 

had worked \•,dth LtCol John Poe of the 

AFCIN staff. Capt John Marks of the 

Headquarter~ SAC r ntelhgence staff. and 

Jan Foreman and &.\rt Thom. who ,vere 

8

enior analysts at ATIC, Wright-Patterson 

AFB, Ohio, to determine collection 

requirements for the SIS F payloads. They 

decided that. the urgant requirement of 

SAC for an electronic order ofbattie iEOB1 

was the most important factor guiding 

payload design. TI1ese data were essentinl 

to SAC in planning bomber penetration 

routes. Next in order of importance were 

the detailed technical characteristics. of 

these radars, especially for the early 

warning and ground-to.air missile systems. The F-1 and F-2 ELINT payfoadR, 

with their compressed digital desert ption 

of the radar intercepb. were designed for 

the EOB and general&search missions, 

while the F-3 payloads. with their wideband ( 6 I'i.·[Hz} analog output, provided the 

fine grain technical chnractcristicb of 

selected radars. 

The 5 July 1960 GSIB i:,,uidance 

appeared to validate the de.'!iign uf the S/S F 

payloads, if a QRC effort were included. 

The QRC requirement ,,vas met by a separate series of relatively simple, .singkmission payloads that could be developed 

rapidly and mounted on the aft. rack of the 

Lockheed Agena sp11cecraft 

The S/S F pay load::,; ,.vc:rc mounted on 

the front rack of the nose-down. vertically 

stabilized Agena, which was continuously 

Earth-oriented when in orbit. The threeaxis stability of the vehicle was provided 

by control moment. b')Tos supplementing 

the natural gn1vity•gradient force that 

tended to orient the vehicle vertically. 

Nickel-cadmium batteries supplied the 

pow tff, limiting aver age spacecraft life to 

five or six days. depending on the WtJight 

of bat.t.eries that could be carried. 

Top >te,tl · r: ,. a 8' f:, LI "': it[ ·T •:s:·r 153.!:[ 

fi.'? kt f~.t: r ·::-c nO'! I (:Sq ~ I lg f 1• • Ch.:1pter 4 77 

ifYt,~1<;l?i'l~ _ 
I 

t 

Approved for Release:,2021/09/01 C05134315 

The SIS F • 1 payload covered the frequency range of 2.5 to 3.2 and 9.0 to 

10.0 GHz. These frequency bands were 

the popular World War II 8-band and 

X-band in which most of the area search, 

air-to-air, and ground~to-air roise,ile radars 

were still operating. One additional frequency band, from 100 to 4001\-lH.t.. was 

used by the higher power, ground-based 

early warning radars, but the FTl vehicle 

was incapable of carrying an antenna of 

sufficient size to be effective in that radiofrequency range. This wa:s remedied in 

the follow-on F-2 payloads by extending 

frequency coverage down to 59 MHz. 

The F -1 superheterodyne receiver 

scanned the radio frequency bands, mea-

.:mring two pulse repetition intervals 

f PRis), pulsewidth WW), radio frequency 

rnFi, and time for each signal intereept.ed. 

This information formed a digital word for 

each intercept that was then transmitted 

at a lO&kilobit rate via a very high frequency <VHF) down-link to the tracking 

stat.ions. The dat.a could be transmitted in 

rea]time or stored on a magnetic-tape 

recorder over the target area and played 

back when the satellite was in contact 

with a tracking station. Spac~raft and 

payload status data were transmitted on a 

second VHF telemetry link using pulse 

amplitude modulation of various t.one.s to 

frequency-modu]ate the down-link 

r PAM/Ffiifl. Commands were sent to the 

vehicle vi.a a 3.20OwMHz transponder on 

the Agena vehicle, which was also used for 

tracking. 

The payload intercept antennas were 

nadir-pointing- directional arrays, with a 

coverage circle on the grnu nd a bout I 00 

miles in diameter.at the center frequency 

of each band.* Additional nondirectional 

antennas performed an inhibit function, 

preventing signals originating outside the 

coverage circle of the directional antennas 

from reaching the payload via the sidelobes of the directional antennas, The sysw 

tem was known as a "sidelobe" intercepter 

because it intercepted the side lobes of the 

ground radar antennas using its own main 

beam whi1e, at the same time, it rejected 

signals {mostly main beams.I from other 

ground radars that entered its sidelobes. 

The payload intercept antenna main bea.m 

looked only at the zenith lobes (sidelobesl 

of the ground radar, thereby eliminating 

the scan rate of the ground radar main 

beam as an influence on the probability of 

intercepting the radar. Thi~ 11ystem was 

the reverse of the Navy DYNO payloads, 

which depended on seeing the main beams 

of the ground radars. In both systems the 

sensitivity of the system was adjusted very 

carefully to assure reception of only the 

portion of the ground radar antenna power 

that was desired (sidelobes for S/S F and 

main beams for DYNO). 

The S/S F and foHow&on payloads 

were built by the AlL at rii-lineola and Deer 

Park, Long Island, New York, under the 

direction of Win Fromm. The F-1 payload 

used components of a vacuo.m-tubeTtype 

ELINT receiver. the AN/APR-9, which All 

had developed for the Air Force in 1948 

This equipment was extensively modified 

to operate in the space environment and 

was unique in being the only vacuum~ 

tubewtype ELINT payload ever flown jn 

space by the United Stat.es. F-1 used 

motorTdriven mechanical CA.11S for frequency scanning, which was also unique to 

satellite-borne ELINT systems. 

¥ For 11 fixed ant,enn,i -~•:z.e. the diameter of the coverage 

---...:irdEt is an inw~rse function offrequeney. 

Tmi, S@i!l !!!I 

78 The SICINT Sarell ite Stof)• , is.aii\i ,,a 8, bet;\; 4 ;·, 11£, z r >1.f11 19tE 

6£,\;111 ;·r :fwmuf €1.a,;.:_JJ ;a{rnh 

Brf q;~;:.,;;~ 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

r,uuc1pancs in the ded ica1 ion ceremony ot the Ai rhome I n~1 rumenti; 

,'\lcvw York, where "iud~<\ldFLm F.'.md ~ .. ,~~"'-lu.-, &9881( 

fop StClitl 

{J&11ch: tis 81 E.n I ¥~if ~t[; :¥~dE. i Jdt[ 

Cei,43!. 4 ;z e'OliilCJ !_J,:;:;mif~#; W,iilit· 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

4 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

calibration van transrrutters to evaluate 

the accuwcy of the output data.. It was 

pi;,.1rned tbat N'adout data played back 

fnm, the vd1ide recorder. consisting of 

data intercepted aver the Sov:i,n Union or 

nthc'r are:H rmts,dH lh<c e,wen1ge drele (of 

tlw gruond tn,ek,rlg stat.,un. would he 

r<cct•nleff at th,, trackmg station mu! fo:rtiiohed to Urn prueessors at :!m 'Strawg":-

A.1r Com:rmmd iSAC) Heaclqm:uter~ at 

Or:wha. N"s"brH.ska. Th<cre, fum:tions simi• 

losr tn tb%e u,;er! at thB ST(' would bs" per• 

fonnecl using the W!-;-1171. SubHy3Wm l 

Uata Jl.fanagem,mt System to d.,-,;eiop fini~hBd intelligence data. 

When theSAMOS Prugram Office 

!SA.FSP, ;,;as fonned at Lis Ani:;eles Air 

Yorce Station, California, 0n 30 Au.,ruot 

1960, twn [lpvdopme11~ ;rreas were ddined 

Prng,:,m, I ;nduded the readout proj<>cts of 

Subsyst"ms E and F. The E 1, E-2, and E ;"l 

vhnin paylnad~ (ir, i1>e,,,.aBmg ord<'r of 

i;rmmd r"rdutwn, becwne Proiect 101, 

while th" F-1, F 2.. and F:} ELJNT pav 

load~ Om:rune Pn:,jEct 102. Proi,;ram II was 

r"~""'Hd for tbe photo rP~<wHry pn,j,w1.s 

ln Program L the SA ..\10S l pavload wns 

umque, eomhining as it did th" F-1 ferret 

and ~:. l pho:o neadaut payloads. This 

t,rrf,r.g(cmfnt 1⁄2'a.s devdnped durmg rb~ 

n)llme ofrlw Advanceci Re-s,,;1rth Prnj,,cts 

Ag"ncy i,\RI'A) a.5 a cost-saving m"asur,; 

Tl,e F-1 Wfb nw,rnte,t m frm1l ,,r1hs E-1 

Jt,ns: :hm lens lonbod Earthward 1hrougb 

;1 lw!r· wt m tho S,hund horn umer..na of 

the F, J. Th,~ novel arranp:em.,nt severely 

ngm<.w,: thP "11'" :,[ t.lw E-1 emm•ra. Th~ 

prnh!,,rn w/J.H sulved by mst.J.l!abuu of a 

sqaib which, whrn fi~d on orbit ::!1. detached 

d:t> f'. L lhen:0:s' pra,·1thnp: the E·l .1 foll 

ii+•ld (>f v;ew, 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

To detennine the accuracy of the PRL 

PW, and fl.F measurements made by th(, 

payload it was neces,;ury to use the reCJ.J 

tim>' mode to ~oliect radar oip1als with 

known parameters and then cheek thr 

payload measuremenG ;,gainsl th,, si~,nuis 

berng trnnsm,ttPd Tl,e SiS F ProjPn 

Officn, M"J ,fobn Copl"y, rem'<'ml""rt'd tk,: 

m bf pre,,wu~ ass-lp,ment ,rn 1.lw {)RC 

Officecr nJ R"me Air DevEiuprr:ent Cca~cr, 

New York. he was reffXms1ble for the mod 

ifkation of ,s<'<"€P.l P."-'>J/GP(Ffl t,ai,-,ini-'. 

set~, which wi,r,, va!l-motm1.e<l rarbr 

receivers and s1mulafod rad,ir trCJ.nEa,it 

ters usc,d by SAC for training ekctroal,c 

warfam nfficer.s, Since tlw radar :.ransmitters could smrnlute knawn ractars. tlo0y 

seemed an extclhml chojrn for t,ilihrati,;,-_ 

,·,ms. or 'nil ,·;m$." to tn,,n$mit rud:v sJg 

nah w 1.h" Ml.e!li1e '~""'"'"~- Cupky 

located three .-ans in /,,..ir F,,rcc mv"ntory 

and the,v W€N prov.dud to L118C to m"dify 

for thi~ tlSH Th .. ~e ,·aas w~rn \lH'll for St-'Vnal ye>a1~-; until requirement~ for ~;;dar 

,simi,btian becam,, too sophbt)~at~d for chir, 

rel~tivdy ;mc;cnt equipmc:it, onpn;:dly 

lmilt for tl:w Ko,..,,m War k li)fi.) lhcy 

we,,. replaeed with mar~ modf'rn eqcnp 

m~nt ffiQUntc·d ir, modifil'd t,,;1r hus"s. 

Tlie S.!U\JOS 1 us,od /,n c\lb~ \Ji,\lot!'f 

~o lift thf' Agena w,'hide into air,,,; Eanh 

orbit. The first igninan c,f th,-, Agon<1 n:a1n 

engin~ placed ,tin ~n n·~pntric :rm,~f<T 

nrb1t with an apogn, uf27,"> ,mle..~ A s~c• 

nnd tfJ)Hinn at apogep cireuiarucd thr 

"rbit ut 27') m,;.,s, Pdur mclinat;cin ()f 1J,,, 

,1rbit H~S<J no, l cnvern~e < ,f 1.he enl.1nl &iv,.:,; 

land tnasA. 
Approved fo~ ~_e_lease: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

";.:?SP. "Sirij•@s11 

Despite all obstacles, on a dear, crisp 

day on 11 October 1960, Copley, G-eorge 

Pnce (the LMSC payload manager). Vince 

Henry {the AIL F-1 specialist), and the 

rest of their crew stood in the Vandenberg 

tracking station parking lot looking out 

over the launch base. The great day had 

arrived and SA110S l was on the pad, 

ready ta launch. They watched it rise out 

of a plume of white smoke m a picture~ 

perfect launch until it \\'as out of s1ght. 

,fubilation reigned momentarily unt.il t.hey 

reentered the tracking station control 

rnom and discovered that, during the 

launrh, the umbilical connector had stuck 

to the cold-gas bottle connection, thereby 

releasing all the at.t.i tude-control gas. 

Because this gas ,vas needed to control the 

vehicle during the burning of the orbital 

engine. the Agena did not. attain orbit. 

The launch of :SAMOS 2 a few months 

later was somewhat different. It was a 

gtay, rainy day on 31 January 1961 and 

the launch pad was not even visible from 

the tracking- ,;:talion. This did not deter 

the launch crew. and vehicle 2102 was 

launched into the desired orbit with both 

the E-1 and F-1 payloads working as 

expected. On orbit 8 a reaitims :readout at 

the Vandenberg tracking station produced 

the first orbi ta] intercept data from the 

F-1 .systBm. These data were processed on 

the F.1 ground data handling equipment, 

Which lransfonncd the 1 Ow kilobit data 

stream into individual intercepts. This 

Was done at Vandenberg and the STC in 

Sunnyvale. Output Qf the F-1 ground data 

handler ut the STC was processed on the 

1

604 conrputer, producing 69 ident.ifiable 

intercepts of .signals from US West Coast 

tadars and the cal vans. This verified 

beyond doubt th:at the AIL concept had 

produced a working system. The 2&kilocycle 

inverter m the payload power supply 

failed shortly thereafter and no more 

interrepts, friendly nr othenvise, were 

made. 

In the meantime the E-1 photo pay• 

load ,vas collecting pict.urtls t.hrough the 

hole in the S-band horn and there was 

great elation at the tracking station as the 

E-1 ground processing system produced 

100-foot-resolution pictures on many 

orbits. even though they were ru ther 

vignetted. There was great anticipation of 

bigger and better pictures when the squib 

was fired on orbit 21 to remove the F-1 

payload, but the results fiuggest that a 

catastrophe had occurred. The spacecraft 

was never heard from again. 

This proved to be the only sucCci=.>S[ul 

SA},1OS Atlas/Agena readout program 

lalmch, and it was only a partial success. 

The third E· 1/F • l was ~ancelled to save 

money for the E-2 launch the following 

spring. Unfortunately. in Apri1 1961 the 

Atlas booster for that vehicle blew up on 

the pad; consequently, shortly thereafter, 

the photo readout program was cancelled 

1n favor of the more promising photo 

recuvery programs {the already successful 

CORONA, and GAl'?'I.BlT, approved for 

development). The third E-1/Fwl payload 

was placed in storage until the F-1 wa~ 

resurrected and used as the G:roup O payload in the upcoming ProJtict 102 missions. 

The F&l payload worked long enough 

to produce 69 intercept words, but that 

,vas not the whole story. Just as importantly. under the leader.ship of Frank 

=Fop See rct w 

• •. ''* >:lJ ,t1.4-T.t1 t ilIDnr1.11t.JCt--

:o ,1L,T Ce.; vi eiw. ID 

1

, Ju It 81 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: _2021/09/01 C05134315 

SAMOS 2/ Atfas/ Agena launch, Vandenberg Air force Base., 31 January 1962 

1:e, ei:f!lf@. 

1ft s\z @ 0' [) 11 t" NH£• T fr:f1"JJ(Jt[ 

81 The SlGINT Satejli1e Stor,• ,_t:,,FJt ;fC;;:.1,11(1.l Cxa;,1)e/s ;o,111/; 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
._, 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

_lfing, tht.> L.MSC crew at the STC pruc:l!esed the data on the CDC 1604 eom• 

puter. Using known West Coast radars 

and the cal van signals for verific:ation, 

they proved that n workable system had 

been developed. Not, on]y could the data 

be roUe<-tHt. but the data could also~ 

proces11td and a US('ful output produfed_ 

The approval of the follow-on SA.J.\iOS 

Project 102 ELl:-iJT mi5sions on 9 Ma.rch 

1961 by tht· Under Secretary of the Air 

Force, Jo~t~ph V, Charyk. wa.':! very 

!!trongly influt"nced b~r these fru::tor:a: ,: 

The F·2 and F-3 Thor-Boosted 

Projects: 102 .. 698B~ and 770 

On .:.!J December 1960. even prior to 

the succf•~:sful E-l/F-1 laLrnch of ,J nnuary 

19fit Und<.ir St'crctary of the Au Fcm.'.e 

rk d1r11>rted modification of tht~ 

.,fOS ELIKT ProJect 102. as follow6: 

'The us.1;- of .\tl.a.s bo<1.sterl3' in rhe flight test 

Program for !lub~ytz:tem F-2 wilt he terminated. Sub,;ys~rn F-2 and F-3 flight test 

~ill utilize Thor boosters m combmst1on 

With th(' Agena vehicle, and wiU bE- condttcted ai:; an integral part of the SA.l\.10S 

Pn:i~am, The mitial F-2 flight test should 

he schedult•d al the t"nrhe.;:;t practical date. 

In Plannmi,: for the F-3 devel.opment and 

ifiight te-sl. ~onsideration _-;,hnul.d l:M~ f:.'11."l'n 

to •ndude pro,•1:-:ions for secure t rtmsm1s• 

sion o( anu)()~ readout data throur,:h 

en~ryptmn 1.1r other technjque~ ·•~1 

'turinl! tti .. !-JU] ~;T ~~••·llit,~ HL:<.t<iTv r"'4'r n·~·,••w ill 

' •ITti I~◄ 8G~11 W1llmm G. Nti~ Jr wnc,, pl1t_vl"ll,. 

r11I!' 1:i a11;: h1:.wn: .;;i.ml. --,-1,. .. l:'un. nnur11 <Jf 

Iii ~ ·, rl.1r-:-rnc,n re, reci1rei::1 Pml!'t't liJ:t "'"'" typical 

:.tat- f-11;7\il~li ;am1 riuKt in;;;Lruction, ..,., n·n;,v,;,d 1n lht 

::·~ •. ::lo•lfl:r,1 ~•"u. h14':/1.lqi:~,1 1h1.,. f!lrl It r,rl'lhlbly ,, ... 

·•· i,, u ... L'!'liRO m.ilJl.a~mPnt .JppruJ<fi 

~C!!n W1Ui•m C. ,IC!1ng, Ir. 

The- switch from Ada!); interconttnem.al 

baJlistic rrus.sile 1 [CBM, to Thor interm1.'1.li~Lt.e• 

rnnge ballistic: mi;5silc I IRB:\I J boo:iott:mi w;::1;., 

a logical step m light of the rnpid developments m sohd-Btate elel:lronic.i,, a.nd digital 

eireuitry L' se of these techniques, plus 

new lightwtsight materials. re:'rnlted in an 

F-2 payload lei-:s than two-thirds the 

we1,ght oflhi.• F-1 The F-2 co1.·en•d more nf 

tht' radio frw.~quen(:y .5,pec:trum 11.-;,ng three 

frequency b:mds, as compared t.n the cwo 

on F-L Nonetheless. CaJ I later BGeru 

William G. King, Jr .. the Project. 102 director. recommended four F-2 and four F .;, 

launches, using an Agena vehicle patterned 

after ttw A~en:1 of the DlSCOVF.RF.R/l'hor 

program. Hcn1ing first-hand knowled~P of 

the f ailll.re'S that the DLt;CO\ 'ERER prn~am 

had O\'fl'l't'Offle, he felt that four Jaunche~ uf 

each pnylnad would. provide adequate 

assuranc~ tha.t at least one of ea~:-h '-''ould 

be suct:es.zi.ful {DISCOVERER had finally 

been auccct.!Lifu I on th.e 13th lauticb L This 

philosophy, along with the succeee off'. L 

was convmcing enough to gain Ch:iryk'Fappro,.·al of on •~ight-launch program. with 

t.he .first launch in February 1962. 

lop Su1ct I i£JJL f Pi&! n 1"£ 4L 41 f;f;t:5, 4 r ;ff'' it ]tfl 

t'.' ,;1; \T Cu ! '' f]u fl 83 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
T ~ JI 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

On 9 March 1961, Charyk allocated $35 

million in FY62 funds as an .init.ial increment for Project 102, scheduled to launch 

four F-2s in 1962 and four F-3s in 1963. 4 

The new Project 102 required names 

for each payload more specific than F-2 

and F-3. To accomplish this, Copley and 

hfa counterpart, LtCol Ed,\·in J. Istvan of 

the Air Force Office of Missiles and Space 

(SAF~VIS) staff, devised a .system that identified payloads by the t)>pe of output data 

they produced (a digital data stream or a 

wide•bandwidth analog signaD and by the 

radio frequency bands that they intercepted. The frequency band configurations 

were numbered 1, 2, or 3, and the term 

''digital" was adopted for payloads with 

digital output and "analog" fbr those with 

analog output. For example, Group 2D 

provided radio frequency coverage from 

0.059 to 0.130, 2.5 to 3.2, and 8,2 to 12.4 

GHz and produced a digital data stream as 

the output. ·whereas Group 2A provided a 

wide-bandwidth analog output covering 

the same frequency bands. Payloads \\,'1th 

digital output were EOB and general 

search ( GS} collectors. Their output v;rns a 

IO-kilobit digital data stream, Payloads 

,vi.th wideband analog output collected 

technical intelligence (Tl) to detennine the 

fine-grain characteristics of radars of the 

highest pnority. Their output band·width 

,vas 6 :vIHz and they utilized the analog 

magnetic instrumentation equipment 

{AJvfIE) wideband helical scan video 

recorder developed by RCA for on-orbit 

recording. 

A.s a further cost-saving measure, the 

third SAf.1OS E-1/F · 1 Agena vehide. 2103. 

with the E~l photo components removed. 

was redesignated 2301 and reconfigured 

for launch on a Thor booster. The F-1 payload became Group 0, the first of the 

Project 102 Thor-boosted launches. 

Although it was conducted as part of 

the SAMOS Program, Project 102 had 

much more in common with DISCO\.~RER 

which ,vas the cover name for the "black" 

CORONA photo recovery prnject.. They 

both used the same Thor/ Agena launch 

configuration and had mtmy common subsystems~ they were both under contract to 

LMSC, and administration of the ·'white" 

elements of DISCOVERER had been 

transferred to the SAM OS om ce on 9 Sepu~ m ber 1960. 

It soon became dear that operating 

Project 102 as part of the SAT\f OS office 

required duplication of most functions of 

the DISCOVERER office except for pay~ 

load ope1-ation. A..<; a resultT in April 1961 

BG-en Robert E. Greer moved Project 102 

from SAFSP to the nearby DISCOVERER 

office, both uf them locate<l at. the Air 

Force El Segundo complex. This essentially meant that :Maj Copley and his secretary Katherine Holt moved in with Col 

Lee Battle and the DISCOVERER development team. The arrangement worked 

out very well with Copley handling the 

SIG INT payloads and Capt Bill Johnson 

handling the photo payloads. Most other 

subsystems were common to both programs, and from external observation it 

wa.,; impossible to teU the difference 

bet.veen a SIGINT and a photo launch. 

There ,vas a difference in the :security dassit'katiorr of the payloads. The photo pay~ 

loads were developed and operated using 

the CIA's covert ("black"} CORONA security 

Jop11 Sa1u 

The SIGI NT S.:itellite Story 

I ikJ,%1114. CA§ &J5C,¥t%; 4~iE, if@ f4 f.J(j i\ 14 .'~ £ ;z 

·:·ct 10 ·r Fu I 51 .rr iliiikJ\ Jt>J,.J,.~ 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

system. whereas SIG INT payloads ,vere 

DOD SECRET, with strict "need-to-know" 

enforced. 

That this combination of the two programs worked well was proven when, 

instead of the mmimum two&out-of&oight 

succesE.es King had predicted. by the end 

of 1965 the SIG INT program had grown to 

nine launches, aU of which had been sue• 

eessful Lee Battle believed that one manager per subsystem or element was more 

than adequate a.nd steadfastly refused to 

fill extra billets that were made available 

to him. The success of the DISCOVERER 

and 102 projects certainly validated this 

position. 

\Vhen the joint ClAIDOD agreement 

was signed on 6 September 1961, forming 

the National Reconnaissance Program, the 

administrative bond between t.he photo 

and SIGINT sections of the DISCOVERER 

Pro1ect Oflice was strengthened further. 6 

ThP.- most notable effect was that the CIA 

CORO)JA pa,vload was now procured and 

operated under t.he ne\,;,1 joint-agency 

covert DOD-CIA BYEMA.t'J system. which 

included both the CIA's CORONA comparty 

rnent ~J.nd the Air Force "black" compartn1ents (GA .. MBIT for the photo reco\Pery 

s,vs.tem and E.tillDROP for. SIGINT projeetsL The A.ir Fotce ELlNT payloads in 

Project 102 remained DOD SECRET, with 

a strict "need to know." and were assigned 

~mis[.ion numbers" int.he TALENTKEYHOLE intelligence product protection 

~erurity system, .starting with 7151 for the 

!' 

.rroup 0 launch of January 1962-

By December 1961 Project 102 was 

settling into its ne,Y environment. Due to 

funding limitations. every effort was made 

to simplify the confit;,>Uration and the project was cut back to seven flights. four in 

1962 and three m 1963. Them would be 

no Group 2 analog payload and no tlex1ble 

on-orbit programmer for the analog missions. Encryption for the wideband analog 

down-link was still required- A project 

ceiling of $33-4 million for FY62 was 

irnposed. 6 To meet this ceiling, Copl('-y 

worked closely with George Pnce, the 

LMSC payload directort to assure that 

the Project 102 payload designers were 

imbued with a ~no.frills'' attitude. Digital 

Group 0 wa8 not a problem since it used 

the last F-1 payload and was compatible 

with the subsystems of the Agena vehicle. 

The new digital payloads used many 

of the F --1 techniques in duding frequencysweeping superheterodyne receivers, but 

with lightweight solid-.stat!::l components 

that provided 1mproved versatil1ty and 

reliability. Elct:tronic frequency sc.-=in and 

,:;witching ;,ve:re a great improvement. uver 

the former electromechanical methods 

employed for these functions by the F-1 

payloads. The digital output continued to 

be a 10-kilobit data stream similar to that 

of F&L The frequency range from 59 to 

12,500 MHz wa-'=i covered in three configuy 

rations (Groups 1 through 3). To provide 

the wide-bandwidth TI needed to underitand the operation of new Soviet AB1'1 

and ground-to-air radars, operation of the 

analog payloads was necessarily morf~ 

complex. Recording of radar intercE1pts 

was accomplished by the Ai."\:IIE recorder 

developed for this task by RCA in Camden, 

New ,Jersey. To obtain the 4·MHz 

i:011 !i.@er@I If; I' z §I&) 14? ]Vd rt·- l'!rfi()li:f 

(ii)t t't T ;'": ti" ~!M L JS 1~! Chapter 4 85 

l:fff" ~ I q_;-:.-,;1,4 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
l 

1 

... 

,t 

Approved for Releas.e: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

~d3TBR, J csmca~, 

bandwidth of the early models, a helical 

scan machine was developed using four 

recording heads Beanning sequentially in 

exactly the way present-day video cassette 

recorders (VC.Rs} operate. To obtain maximum utilization of the w1deband record• 

ing capability of th~ ~i\li.HE recorder, it. was 

necessa11• to stop the frequency scan of the 

receivers and dwell on the frequency of 

interest. while making the recording. The 

receiver had to either recognize a signal of 

interest ( at least) the presence of a sign a]) 

or be pretuned to suspected frequencies of 

interest. Because the AMIE recorded only 

when the receiver "recognized" a specific 

signal. the recording time IXJr orbit. was 

frequently very short and used a small 

fraction of the tape available. To avoid 

wearing out the tape by constantly using 

the first few minutes of tape recording 

time, it was necessary to allow the analog 

payloads to collect for many orbits before 

reading out the data. This often caused 

the analyst processing the data great difficulty in identifying the segment he was 

looking at, particularly when (sometimes 

inadvertently) another read•in occurred 

before all the previous data had been readout" To ease this problem, in later payloads the digital data word describing the 

signal characteristics, in addition to time, 

was rl:lcorded on the AMIE recorder tape 

along with each intercept .. 

The Agena support systems ,vere very 

similar for all DISCUVERER flight.s 

except that the photo-mission spacecraft 

were horizontaUy stabilized, while the 

SIGINT missions were vertically stabilized, with the front rack of the Agena 

vehicle nadir~oriented. The Agena space~ 

craft would naturally assume a vertica] 

position with :respect to Earth while in 

orbit due to the gravity-gradient effect. 

This made the attitude controI fo:r the 

SIGINT spacecraft much less tomplex 

than for the photo systems, which had to 

make constant adjustments. The command 

and control systems were very similar 

except that the SIGINT vchides had two 

encrypted 10-kilobit down-link transmitters on the digital mi.9sions and an encrypted IO-megabit down-link for the analog 

system. Actually, it was not technicsBy 

feasible to encrypt the full 4-MHz band· 

width of the analog recorder at that time 

(it would have required at least a 40•cn~gabit 

down-link), so the first analog mission 

returned 750-k.Hz bandwidth of analog 

data via the 10-megabit. down-link. This 

system was flown on the first analog mission, 7156, on 27 February 1964. Afterward, 

the Director of NSA reviewed the situation 

and determined that, due to the complex~ 

ity of wideband analog data, encryption 

would not be necessary for future analog 

down-link data. 

Both the digital and analog payload 

commands were transmitted via the 

S&band (3.2 GHz) transponder used for 

tracking the ~.i\gema. The command instructions for each orbit were generated by the 

Mission Control Center (MCC) in the STC 

for the f<"-1 and Project 102, Group 0. On]y 

offion commands we:re availablt'- at this 

tin1e and the normal commanding was to 

turn the payload on as it came within 

sight of the Soviet-Sino Bloc and turn it off 

as it exited the area, Command instructions became more complex for the Project 

102 payloads, starting with the Group 2-D 

launch on 18 June 1962. 

Tep Szc1c• 

'1⁄4sttd,t 4.Ji 81£,t "' Ii, Gt[ F P,ffr 1St[ 

The SIG! ~T S,Hellite Slorv 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
aJ1 urn, t .. ru o,::: 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

On 2 May 1962, the National 

Reconnaissance Office (NRO} was formally 

created and in July 1962 the Director of 

the NRO (DNRO), Jo=ieph V. Charyk, 

defined his support staff, known as the 

Office of Space Systems, Office of the 

Secretary of the Air Force ( SAFS S). An 

operations staff, SS-4. headed by Col Tom 

HerrtJn, was responsible for working with 

the- appropriate committees of the USIB to 

translate their requirements to specific 

payload operations and to advise these 

boards of present and planned capabilities 

of the NRO. By this time. tbs SAM OS 

Program Office at Los Angeles Air Force 

Station had been renamed the Office of 

Special Projects, Office of the Secretary nf 

th~ Air Force tSAFSP). and was still 

headed by BGen Robert E. Greer, who 

reported directly to Chn.r:,vk. Greer gave 

his ope~15,taff at SA.FSP the office 

symbolL__J 

DNRO Cha:ryk proposed and received 

an approval from the President."s Foreign 

lnt.elligence Arlvisory Board {PFIAB ii~ 

1962 that, .. . . all satellite projects of the 

National Reconnaissance Program (NRP) 

should be handled m the same manner by 

a 0 ingle operations unit oft.he NRO 

Staff."7 A Satellite Operations Center 

i~O{..,. 

. .__ • _.) was created as part ofSS~4. an 

f>ffice m SAFSS, and was \ocated in Room 

BD-944 in the Pentagon. Initially, the 

SOC was concerned primarily with tasking the CORONA and GMIBIT photo prograrni:; and exercised minimal control over 

the SIGI~T sutenites. which. like the 

Photo satdlites, \Vere controlled from the 

Satellite Test Center (STC ·) in Sunnyvale. 

In the SIGINT arena, the initial function 

of SOC was to translate USIB requirements 

into mission requirements for specific payloads. The ~ at.ional Security Agency 

1. NSA) representative. Hank DeCourL who 

had joined the ~O staff as part of the 

1962 DNRO agreements, became increasingly involved in this process. In 1964. as 

the SIG INT satellite pa_yloads, and consequently their commanding or "ta.':.king·· 

(planning and controlling their collection 

~ions) became more complex~--~ 

L__JofNSA ,vas added to the SOC staff 

to oversee the SIGINT tasking require· 

ments. These requirements were transmitted t1 lin Los Angeles where, m 

conJunction with the .:\.1CC personnel at 

the STC, they were translated into specific 

tasking for each mission. Lockheed techmeal p.:irsonnel at the STC e.nsured that 

operation of the satellite vehicle support 

subsystems was optimized. 

The lifetimes of the early vehidl'~ 

were limited to between six und 20 days 

depending on the weiRht of the batteries 

that could be carried. In late 1962 lhe 

"1:t.andarrl" Agena D :;a telli te development 

was initiated at AFBMD. basically to control cost- This vehicle made it po~siblc for 

each project t-0 choose "accessories"' to cus~ 

tomize the :st.andard Agena bus. This 

improvement, plus the thrust augmented 

Thor (TAT} pru1:,:rram. which added three 

solid rockets to the Thor booster, in~reased 

the available on-orbit weight and flexibi1~ 

ity oft.he Agena. Lockheed incorporated 

solar arrays starting with vehide 2702, 

launched on 19 July 1965. ELINT payload 

1ife gradually increased from 51 days for 

2702 to over one year for the follow-on 

lVfULTIGROUP and STRAWMAN payloads. 

lHp S@E!!l@I: 

i 1a11J1@ ¥13 fJ i f,;j.Abt FAL.11⁄4T~K£ ii 1etf-

?'"'Jt F"t T ~( d' ·::-•.; - j .': Ji Chtif>ter 4 87 · 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

The ,;,., ,uJJ () di t{ibl mi""m", vph;cfe 

::nn1, ,nirn,on 715L wa~ Lrnnch0d Gn 

21 Febmary 1961: frum V,rnd"nbng AF~, 

C[l!Jforrn[I. The tube-Cy1Je ~, 1 ,·ecr'1v,;r 

operated. sutcessfui]y for ~,x day,; in urb,t 

:uni! ohc spa~ecrnft batterie~ w~rf tlepkkd 

and the mi;;SJDn w,J,; 1.Rm1in:1kd. h be~am<' 

t.hf' finil Pr03e<'1. 101 miss"m to cnllf'ct ,bu 

frurn tl1<· Soviet l: n.wn ,-,nd noad-,iut data 

at the :-Se-w I-lamp.shire C1nd Ifawai, ramnte 

trarklng .s1c;linn,; r RTS~\ ,H wFll as lH dw 

V,rndenlw.q; RTS. HJ.ta Wi·n' prOC!!B~f'd rn 

essm:hally tlw ~,\rte wJy th,ll U10 F-1 (i;,t:, 

i,nd b<·en handi,:;,:;_ ·Tua output from th,:; F l 

gT01mrl di,u, handlini;- ,.1nipmfni 1n u,., 

STC wa~ prn,"PK~<><l on 1.Jw CDC !604 nm1-

r,u:er t,, v;,lida,;r ,,ndr insercrpc and. h;1s,,d 

rm th~ ,~h,de epherr,ens. tr:msk1te t,m,, of 

:n:ereeμt :JL!n ge,•pnH1tion 

DBvalopmem nf the, datQ hnndlin,; 

.subsyotem. :-l.'::i T nf V>S-1 l /l,. was ur:d,., 

WRY J>rwr W tl-:w frrnmttwrr ofSAF,SP h 

"lils ,t,,_swni·d w., pr<>t<>s,; Llk Jaw from rhe 

wideband phcto readout \RF down-Enked) 

6Hn-eillance 6yotem nn film ~nd thP dB ta 

frum th~ t~Ll:'JT readnut sy~rnm~ RH they 

ware- recorded on mn~etlc t.aμe ctt tha 

trarkmg ~taiion,; When Acting Se~retary 

Hf th,;, i'.rr ~-ortP ,lnsfph V Charyk directed 

the chilnre oi pn,g-rarn ,:mphas,s trom 

rt~ctm1t to ,m,n-~ry on 4 Novernher 1951;. 

hP also <:ancdled Sub~ystem l' Thi:; leil 

tlw SIS F EU:-:T data usn,s with nr, system in pror;,ss the S/S F du1i1. 1':'10 LMSC 

,fa:a v;_weo~ing Df reult:me- readoutc 111 tiie 

STC for ~npnedin,! ev(;luation '-"J.$ the 

rrnl:;- ::ap,Jbil11.y :ivctilabJ~ tu prod11n' vah• 

dntc>tl and g,;,,ipo-sitionad intTTcepts from 

th~ (",r,,up (J pavfo!ltl By applying t.h~ 

L.MSC prncessrng ~yswm to ctll of th" C!;;m 

(,·all"" th:rn Ju.st Ht€ r,;,a Ir ime !'f'ad, >uts ,. i l 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

w~-~ pws~1bJ., to pmvide bnlh U,P :'\SA ,;rut 

SAC with v,,nf>Pd rnl»reepC..\ nmuumng 

t'm;ttt'r paramP1.er.s m1' l l'":atior1s. 

During 1961, incr<oaung cmphn:;1~ 

,~,16 plated on pr<.>tectin1; thL ,ie~t;_n:,· ,,f 

Pr,;_wct lf12 data c,nd 1mosion oper:i:ion~ 

.Juhn <~ . .S,'haub. i.lrn l,wkfwG<i PrnJm,t 111~ 

manilgrr. r,;-rn;;nnPd tb,-:: dlffirnfry of prn• 

tccting both th,;, hardwnri: and the, dnw m 

bn,ldlng lfl-l. th;, h;,an ofdw L,>dilleod 

bmldrng C()mplex at SLrnnyYalP. Californn. 

v,]m;b wBs &urrour.du.l b; n m,na,J of 

und:is~diEd actwii,,:,s_ T;, pro~,d(• ;1 '.:1cdi t y wh .. re- gnt>d wn,r(t y rpu'.d b~ ma;n• 

tm,rnL lw ronvinc,sl r,ocklwPd :r,;rn;,~+'-

ment i:hnt '.ll1 J8Jbtcd lowtwn v,sr n>-cjllm:-<l 

Th,s leJ tn th,· ,onstrnttic•n of bmlam;.:~ 

ci'.!:l and :'i'.14 man J.snlHt-t,d art'a Hf' 

Sunnyvalo brmnly ocnipoed h_y wmalo 

fidds. For many _,-Q:,.r:. ,h,s aro1 w;;,,, 

lrnnwH :10 tht' "torngu; 1nLch .. hmldir:g 

ci:!:i J«m~t'd 1lw 1rnda.ss,fiP<i spansnc1ft 

d(•,·~loμmrm. aad \i~i ,,cti;'i!wa .• md bw1'1 

ing 524 prnv,ded a secur~ Jre" 10 c-ondu:-t 

tl1e rlu.sMfird d1cv~lnpmPnt vrq:-r:;rn, ch~ck 

out the payload, aml prcn'H~ 1lrn ;m:aJL, 

na1ssan,c- data. 

TbP t•mldmgs we,., compJct,,d m 

,January 190'.c. slwnly hpforo th,• l,rnn,:h uf 

whide 2301. and mduded an F-1 grnnnd 

data handf,er and CDC 1604 comp1,t1or for 

;mwe.ssrng rb;, dat.n, Th,· orrtsu1;,.J p;:ms for 

buddmp, 52:i m:d 52'l, which wc-r~ ~,1d1 

two stoni,w, ;ailed for a. ~inμis< ,nan,vay rn 

rm,;, P/ld of tlaeh building Rn,iizrng tlw 

rn,·o,wP,<\JClll'U thi6 toufd cauHt· wh,:n an 

rndividual on the stairl.ess end willll<Jd tn 

gn from. floor to floor, Schaub insisted tint 

there be 1tair.-,uys nn beth ends of the 

b.1i!ding;s Wiwn he wnn 1l«B b;;itlH, th., 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

second stairway in building 524 was 

dubbed ~The ,John G. Schaub l'ifomorial 

Sta.itway,:,, a name i.t presumably retains 

ta this day. 

The data from mission 7151, Group 0, 

was checked in bu i1 ding 5 24 by com paring 

t.he computer output with manually 

processed data from the calibration vans. 

Thu STC capability was used ~)rimarily for 

realtime data evaluation for missiun control purposes. Preprocessing of mission 

7151 data at both the STC and building 

!:i24 produn~d 4,800 intercept words of 

high-quality corr~ctcd data, which were 

,sent to NSA oo IBJ\.'I 727 digitai tape for 

processing at their operations building at 

Fort I\•[eade. Maryland, Initial processing 

was done on the IBM 7090 computer and 

later m ;\I 7 94_ Each int r e t 

from mission 7151 

"-----=-~------~ 

ata, which were provided tot.he Defense 

hitelligence Agency [ DIA) for EOB listings 

and to other customers for their direct use. 

But eady location accuracy produced by 

the overlapping circles ,1vas generally poor. 

with a circular e7r probable (CEPJ as 

great. asl _* By the condus10n of 

mission 7152, in June 1962. the L11SC 

team in building 524 had refined selected 

data to al land 

concluded that this was about the limit of 

the system as then constitutsd. The preprocessed ELINT data were also sent to 

the 544th RTG at SAC Headquarters, 

Offutt AFB. Omaha, Nebraska. for further 

processing on their Finder ( AN/GSQ· 1) 

computer system. The output of this pro~ 

cessing was added to the Single Integrated 

Operations P]an i SIOP}, which SAC used 

to control all their bombing missions. 

Ed StiUman. one of the early Ll\-fSC 

processing team members, recalled that 

his first assignment at Lockheed wal:l in 

building 524 working with Jack Shepherd, 

also of Lockheed, to handle the ground 

;:;egment. of t.hi1, rnission and alr;;o mission 

7152, flown m June 1962. To verify the 

accuracy of the data,. Stillman used locations of known radars in Alaska I.such as 

the MSQ-1) to correct the biases m the 

ELINT reconnaissance data. The first 

thing that Stillman djscovered in the data 

from vehicle 2301 (mission 7151.l was that 

the arithmct.ic signs of spacecraft pit.ch 

and roll had been entered int.o the corny 

puter re,•ersed. Once this was corrected, 

Sti11man was able to correlate the data. 

He discovered this error through manual 

analysis and has since come to believe that 

manually checking computer data (at least 

the initial and unusual data) is really 

mandatory_!:' 

~ Cin:uJ.er e:rror probable iCEP1 1s a term fnr .~~ur~cy_ 1t 

mean~ tbat ;'\O pert~nt of an the h1-Catiom, reported will li~ 

within this distance of chi:; eorri:;d locatiorL 

fop Xtitl 

: t.1, zf2 , di B!'&r 1 ,, r .cr 1 T ~·n J ,ctr 

rn:rp1<& r i!!! Chw. els w,,111; 

6'rf-9 .

1 !~l.c',4 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

11fiiffi .. lil BRCC , 

Vehicle 2312, mission 7152. was 

launched on 18 ,June 1962 carrying the 

first Project 102 digital payload, Group 2-n 

This first all-solid-state system had many 

advantages over the vacuum tubes and 

mechanical scanners of the Group O ( F-U 

payload. In addition to extended frequency coverage, this system was much 

lighter, more reliable, and used considerably less pm,ver. Expectation.s for a lon~. 

useful life, however. were dashed on the 

second evening of operation i:at about four 

a.m.}. In those days program office personne] felt obligated to be in the Mission 

Control Center (MCC) of the Satellite Test 

Center {STC:i to supervise the conduct of 

all orbital operations until everything was 

checked out ,-=tnd became routine. When 

the satellite was wacquired'" on orbit 26. it 

appeared that the tape recorder would not 

read-out during the pass, What actually 

happened was that a uread-in'' command 

had been sent by mistake. So, ,~·hen the 

proi,rram office decision to send another 

readTout command was executed, the tape 

recorder tried to operate in fonvard and 

reverse simultaneous]y. This ended the 

mission and caused an immediate redesign 

of the recorder command system. It also 

tenninated the continuous presence of program office personnel in the MCC (without, at least, some occasional sleep,. 

The Douglas Corporation, which man~ 

ufactured the Thor booster, invented a 

method of increasing the booster's thn.i.st 

by strapping three XLR-81 sol.id rockets to 

it.s base. Lee Battle of the DISCOVERER 

Ul:am decided that vehicle 2313 would be a 

good one to use for testing the new booster, 

which was called the thrust-augmented 

Thor (TAT). Unfortunately, George Price 

and his Lockheed payluad engineers could 

not deliver the Group l D payload by the 

November 1962 launch availability of the 

new Thor, so Battle subf:tituted a photo 

bird. When it was launched un 16 November 

1962, one of the solids fulled to fire, promptly 

dumping the pay1oad into the Pacific Ocean. 

The next flight, vehicle 2313, mi.s.sion 7153. 

with a Group 1 digital payload, launched 

on 16 January 1963 using a Thor, was successful. However. the mission lasted on!y 

two days due to a battery failure. It. collectedl I 

I 

new and updated radar sites in "-----=-~~~ the So,riet Union, Some month:=', before, 

short]y after he was designated DNRO, 

,1 o~eph Charyk changed the project 1dP.nrifier from 102 to 698BK. This made ve hide 

2313 the first launch under the new pro• 

gram number and changed thti security 

classification to DOD SECRET, SPECIAL 

HANDLING. 

Vehicle 2314, missior1 7154. a Group l 

digital payload, was launched on 29 June 

1963 using a TAT booster, as did all subsequent 698BK launches. It established a 

program record of 10 days of orbital operations and produced approximately 140,000 

good intercept words. The first wideband 

analog mil,sion, 7156, ,t•,u launched rm 

vehicle 2316, 27 February 1964, with a 

mission life of 12 day.'l. The value of the 

data wa;-; degraded by erratic operation of 

the wideband AMIE helical-scan tape 

recorder, mostly caused by tape "gunking'' 

of the recording heads, resulting in frequent loss of data from one or t,vo of the 

four recording heads. The down-link data 

lop Seu et 

I ~fj!i#i!i m .Qf'ft LlN f.\tfNT MC 1tt5ltfApproved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
1Gf3Etht 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

lop Sca:n:I !JJJ :cJ:e z;;a .51,·?•Lt c 1',1tf.4p,,;1;;t ·;; !Ott 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
.... 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

r1tJ/fJ:O: i 4 h.c (J1::; 

limited the analog data bandwidth to 

about 750 I\fHz and further degraded the 

data. A previous payload named HAYLOFT, 

mission 7210, had been orbited as an auxffl 

iliary payload on the POPPY Program 

launch of 11 J anual')' 1964 as a test bed for 

the A.MIE recorder and K\V-26 encrypt.or_ 

(mistaken) that the 7156 mission ,vould be 

successful. Ve~• few radars were intercepted by HAYLOFT; those results pro• 

vided additional evidence that signals prev10usly intercepted by 6-rroun.d intercept 

~~~~-~~=-~~·~dwereMl~m 

Project 698BK, vehicle 2316. also carried an auxiliary payload that was to 

become an integral part of future Project 

770 missions. The stOI')' of this payload 

began in Garland, Texas, a little over two 

years earlier, at the Electroruc Systems 

Divisjon of Ling-Temco.Vought (LTV). By 

the summer of 1962, Maj Copley had instl~ 

tuted regular monthly meetings to review 

the status of all the Program A SIG INT 

projects. Frequently these meetings would 

be held at fhe facility of a payload ~ontra~-

to r, Organ 1z.a tions and representatives 

typically attending, in addition to Copley 

andtor his newly assigned assistant, Capt 

John O'Connell, would bec==}rom 

the Office of ELINT (OEL} at CIA r.who 

was assigned to assist Copley in interpret• 

ing requirements and eva]uating payload 

configurations },~----~from NSA, 

Eldon Sasser fron1 SAC. Don \Vipperman 

from the CS Air Force Security Servu:e 

(AFSS), and on oecas1on, representatives 

from other govf~rnment organizations, plus 

LMSC and tht~ payload subcontradors. 

George Price. Bill Harris, and Vince Henry 

of Lllr·lSC would present the project status, 

which wou1d be foJlowed by a d1scl1ssion of 

problems or changes necessary. It was not 

unusual for ne,\' payload ideas to be p:re-

.'=_;Cnted at. these me1:.~tin1::,"S, followed by discussion of their merits. 

Introduction of the new auxiliary payload ca.me about in exactly this way. Gene 

Kieffer, President of LTV Electronic 

Systems Division (later E-Systems:i m 

Dallas, Texas, had approached both Price 

and Copley about an interferometer-type 

payload that promised ta obtain 5~rnile 

location accuracy from a 275•m1le-high 

orbit. At a meeting in October 1962 at. the 

LTV E-Systems facilit Kieffer present.ed 

the results of a~~~~----~~ircraft 

test that supported t is accurac Jlrediction when translated to ~ I 

I •~•ce ~•vload targeted agamst the new 

_"fop s,u,t 

92 ! ht~ \ lC INT Sate II ite Stor,· r 1:;:u 1rJ1t L ,:;;; b I l :.;1.@\1 ,_; s;t ... ,, ~ili,c:f 11 ,et f 

CS.al:' «T .: .ail cl C!ia:11.t '• ;f,J,11!1; 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

srsPJ* a,,:ee1, 

version of the S-band system that shot 

down F. Gary Powern' U-2). The payload 

idea gained wide acceptance and was 

named BIRD DOG for its pointing 

accuracy. Despite some concern for sensiBIRD DOG was included as an auxiliary 

pay1oad on 2316 and the following three 

vehides, 2315 and 2317 of the fi98BK 

Project and 2702 of the 770 Project. 

The mterferometer used phase measurements to describe the angle-of-arrival 

of a .~ignal based on intercept of a single 

pulse. A digital word was fonned in the 

payload. identifying the location cell by 

the phase measurements of the intercept. 

New digital words were formed for each of 

the multiple hits on the same radar while 

the emitter wm; in t.he spacecraft field-ofview. Oigita1 words that described the 

same sjg11.a1 parameters and whose cells 

were in an approximate straight line parallel with the flight pat.h of the spacecraft 

Were combined to produce more accurate 

locatinm; than was possible with a single 

direction-finding hit. The digital payload 

output was preprocessed at LlvlSC to corre.ct for vehicle attitude and receiver and 

a.ntenna ca] ibration. These data "'''ere sent 

to :N°SA, where intercepts were combined 

a.nd emitters identified. SAC also received 

and processed the same data for direct 

entry into the SIOP BIRD DOG produced 

the first high vulume locat.ion.=1 with accu~ 

l'acif.!!S. better thatj I Accuracies 

\!,·.,r ft - e o en as good as 

Vehicle 2315, mission 7155, a Group 2 

digital payload, ,va.s launched on 3 July 

1964 - c""-'It"---=-""--"=--'=-"--'...___._..'-'--------'"---'----"'~"-""'-'-""-.,__.__,,~ 

duced 

The last Project 698BK digital payload. 2317. mission '7157, carrying a Group 

3 digital payload, was launched on 3 

November 1964 and operated for four 

days. In addition to the digital output. to 

supplement the technical intelligence (TIJ 

output of the wideband analog missions. 

the detected video output from the 

receivers was recorded in analog format on 

a 100-k.Hz bandwidth Leach magnetic 

recorder. The analog data proved to have 

limited value since the radar pulses had to 

be "'stretched" to fit the 100-k.Hz bandwidth of the recorder. thus preventing 

effective analysis of the "fine grain" characteristics of the radar pulses needed for 

the TI mission. The location accuracy of 

the 69BBK digital data provided to SAC 

and NSA had improved to approximately 

)y the launch of mission ~----~ 

7157, and some locations were redutcd to 

Also launched on vehicle 2317 was 

the auxiliary payload BIRD DOG 3. This 

version used an inflatable antenna system 

to cover the lower frequency range of 521 

to 648 MHz:. The my1ar used to construct 

the antenna proved to be incapable of 

,.vithstanding orbital condition5 and collapsed, completely ending thoughts oflow~ 

frequency BIRD DOGs. A powerlul 

ground camera snapped a pidure of this 

subsidiary payload in orbit and it was an 

ugly, wrinkled sight! 

';;;.,xJA ;.a B' t Ll:i '"' 1j 1, ij rili,u '' l(.iift 

((:.,,1, ·rfm.! o/Cfr tf .·e •fi Chapter 4 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
.J:; 

,Ii,, 

v-, 

ii.I EXTEND SOLAR ARRAYS 

[ 

-ii) 

UFT•OFF 

)> 

"O 

"O 

..., 

0 

< 

CD 

C. 

-

0 

..., 

;:a 

CD 

CD 

Q) 1"SURH ' CJ) 

CD 

I\) '" 0 

I\) 

...... 

--

0 

co 

--

0 

...... 

() 

0 

0, 

...... 

(,.) 

.I>,. 

(,.) 

...... 

0, 

T~•picat injection trajectory, Prnjec-t 69BBK and 770 

pc 

•-

AldlffN.NA 

1 Df Pt.DYMENT 

PITCH OOWN 

·-2NP BURN 

(2.5 SEC) 

)> 

"O 

"O 

a 

< 

CD 

C. 

o' 

..., 

;:a 

CD 

CD ,,JJ Q) 

·CJ) 

~ 

I\) 

0 

I\) 

...... 

--

0 

~ 0 

...... 

() 

0 

0, 

...... 

(,.) 

.I>,. 

(,.) 

...... 

0, 

, 
1 op .,c ~ cz ~ - - - - - ,ru ~ 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

After the earlier June 1962 launch of 

the Group 2 digital payload, mission 7152, 

ail of the Project 102/698BK digital data 

were preprocessed by Lockheed 1n building 

;j24 using their CDC 1604 computer. In 

preparation for the processing of 7152 digital data, it was necessary to update t.he 

previously used F-1 processmg capability 

t.o match the new payload fonnat. The F~l 

,l;l'lmnd data handltff was not useabJe 

without major changes in hardware logic, 

and it was recognized that, with the 

advances in data processing technology, 

writing computer software was much more 

effective than constant.!y rebuilding hardware logic circuits to match new formats. 

A program was written for the CDC 1604 

cornput.cr to translate the IO-kilobit F-2 

down-link data int.o radio frequency, pulsewiclth. pubc repetition rate. and time data 

for each intercept. A second program vahrlated this data and translated time into 

geolocation u.sing the vehicle ephemeris. 

Si.nee the project number ,va.I, still 

102 at that time, given the contemporary 

P0pularitv of a St. Lom.s beer known as 

Brew 102~. it wasn't strange that these 

computer software program.'l became 

known as BREW l and BREW 2. In the 

s.ummer of 1962 when the CDC 1604 computers wen• upgraded to much more capable CDC 3200s and the proje~t name was 

changed to 698B:K,. it. seemed only logical 

to change these program names t.o the 

rnnre conv(mtional ferret svstem tenns, 

ROOKancl ~ 

The validated ELINT output of these 

s.oftware programs was sent to both NSA 

a.rid SAC. O~ce NSA had assumed the 

te:sponsibi]ity for processing ELINT data 

in the fall of 1961. NSA and SAC had 

become parallel processors. A Memorandum 

of Understanding between NSA and SAC 

was signed on 11 September 1962 that 

clarified these ELINT proce."=;."=;ing arrangements, SAC would process certain .space 

vehicle ELINT signals data in response to 

the operational intelligence need and in 

satisfaction of tasking mstructions 

provided by NSA. NSA would provide 

planning and technical support and 

gmdante. 11 

A practical demonstration of this 

cooperation occurred late in 1962, ·when 

Raymond B. Potts of::--SSA Research and 

Development (R&D) met with Maj Eldon 

Sasser and Capt Donald \:t{agner, SAC 

544th Reconnaissance Technical Group 

{RTGl, at NSA., Fort MeadeT Jl.faryland, t.o 

discuss a SAC requirement. for a specialpurpose signal deint.erleaver arid photographic output t.o procc;:.;s U-2 and satellite 

data collected in dense signal environment.c;. 

The deinterleaver consisted of specialpurpose equipment that accepted analog 

signals on magnetic tape and used digital 

To.p Secttt 1 !a, 1d', , ,a B VE r, t ◄" T itf,\ T ; :t=\CI 1E:ltt 

cc• 11, ·:r c111 .1 C'1t11111-:ID . .1s;,.1h 

8r€-!nF.~14 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Chapter 4 
Ii 

• t ' ' . I 

r 

l 

I . . 

j 

I 

j 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 ~~"l ---~ -~ 

Mitford M. Mathewt 

counter~ a.nd ha.rdwore logic to supamte 

overlapping l:)ignal:iii (dointerleaving them) 

of the ~mru:~ puhie repstition interval 1PRI) 

before filming the analog data for analysis. 

1-litftJrd )f athews. Assistant Director for 

NSA R&D, approved tht: development of 

the spedid-purpotic dcintcrleavcr and proposed to <lPvalop an a.na.log-to-digitaJ 

convertP.r snd the nec:l:!'1.&ary comput.l'r ;;oflwan· to pr(,vidf' an .:Hlt()mated an!llys1s 

.isysL<:m for SAC. Mathews personally 

dt-veloped the i;oftware and Pott..:,; directed 

the development of the 11nalog-to-d.igital 

c,onverter in-house at NSA. Fort Meade 

Potts also obtaini'd a five-thannel photo-

,rrnp)uc ,trip film unit to photograph tbe 

ouLput from the spec!ial-purp()e1.(' deinterie:.wer fron1 Spi1ce Tkhnology Lahoratories 

iSTLi in El Segundo. Cahfomia. The work 

at STL wa..::; under the dirttction of Doug1as 

Royal Th.iR e,1uipment wa~ insta1led at 

SAC hea<lqu.,1rtN,!! m Omaha. Nebraska. in 

ead_v 1965,$1:.! 

• Tin, ,pe_~t.,l··IJUrJ.111••·' .J.,n11,:rl1io1'>c:r w1;1.1 J, llurdwar,.. loar1c 

device ttl i! ! w ou I rt ,1,i,-n l'1-ti'\~ ir•tfl'I or ""'i rid nwl' ~o that !ill 

thu .u1111L1>.-: put~ .. ~ rr.01:ll • p;w.ri:irul,1.t t1,1,1.L.t ¥1.UlJld i:Jolt il"ioHI· 

a.bk fur filn'llllft m, ,m11 c.tu1.rtn11l or trlick. un thw film. Thi1o 

sv.~c"'m would .~'l)IJ.tf!ll' up to t\v, ~11~'11.lJ! trom /'hr~ d1~r-

,.,,, r:.t<.hln, ""Ith lbt: •,111:ui f'Rl 1111: likr1:1.:ini,: ,h.,vi<:<~ would 

pn1H-•nt fi\'I' J'lllfldl,I track11; of dui:.-~•llt> Fr.om. le'llch d~tn• 

r~r1~~Y~'T uutpul .. ~-- · 

Since the initiation of the 69BBK 

Project in June 1962 .. the projec:l bad bPen 

operating under the secunty of' SECRET . 

SPECIAL HA.'lD.Llt\'G. even t.huugh thf" 

balance of the ~RO projects h'.\· now wen· 

all operating under the B"i"E:\L\N !ili!cur1t\ 

system. including the POPPY p.l"()tttt.. In 

order to achieve unifonmty, ti!-:t8RI{ '"•'l~ 

brought under the B'i"EMAJ\; :.yslt;:m m 

November 19£3 and th£: program n.umb ... r 

was changed to 770. Since th•: ctmtractu'l~ 

was switched from Air Forc.:e SECRET. 

SPECIAL HA.:ffiLING to SECRET! 

BYEMA>T, it was necef.sary tn change tht.' 

vehicle m,mbering syAtPm to cli .... ,1t1.,1~fl tbe 

connection between 698liK and 7i0. Th.,. 

first 770 Agena vehicle became :270 l. 

which ;,yas a POPPY Project launch in 

March 1965 

.i\.s a consequence of these changes. 

Copley had been mov~d frorn th@ 

DISCOVERER Program Otlice back to the 

nearby Air Force Special Projects Office· 

iSAFSP1 in EI Segundo in ND\'ember 1962 

Within SAFSP, all the SIGI~T proJe-ct~ 

were ~ to the SIGlNT Proie-ct 

Officel__Jwith Col Rnhf"rt Yundt Ju1; 

chief. )pley her.amt" Chief ofthf' PayJoad 

Section~-- In July 1964 Copley w.Js 

transferred from L~, Angeles to Andrew'-

AFB. Maryland. and Capt. John o·conndl. 

who bad joined Cop]ey during the DISCOVERER days. took cha.r~c ol ITu 

prol\•lde O'Connell with adequate support, 

in the ~ummer of 1964 Yundt requt•fll.f•d 

technical assistance from The Aerospace 

Corporation. similar to the support that 

firm was. providing the photo prowa.m!-1 

An Aerospace group unde.r Sandy Evan:; 

was formed for this purposf!. Hr ass.igned 

--fsp ;j@tl It" 

t Ld31Ll OG tJ !"£1~&,4, PfA(f, (, ili>.J I I 11:,£,fApproved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 fiit3fi;_d}'!;.---..J'm!_..l,"'i I,., V.''¥ 

Col RohEtrl W. Yundt 

Daymond Speece to support software development.s. ~:Iaj John G. Kulpa was assigned 

as Chief oj !shortly t.hcreafter. 

To further improve relationships 

,etween the NRO ,'.lnd the )JSA in their 

collection and processing .activities, the 

D!\SA proposed on 28 ,January 1964 to 

est.ablish an NSA position at the STC in 

Sunnyvale. !3 In the summer of 1964, following several mont.hs of negotiation, the 

first West Coast ::"JSA representative to the 

NRo~~----~was ~d to 

W[lrk with the project officeL__Jat El 

Segundo. California, with duties primarily 

in the pay]oad-developmen t a:rea, 

Apparently, Yundt preferred to have the 

~SA representative dose by where he 

eauJd keep an eye on him[ Shortb,• after-

\\i"ard. LtCol George Barthel. USAF, was 

a . ssigned to the Sunnvvale area as the 

~AC Tepresentative t~ the STC and build-

~g 524. Also ,lt this time . 

S Army, who had be-en recently assigned 

~e CIA intercept site at 

~as assigned to the satel-

- ata pr~cessing area. In Ocwber 1965, 

following a series of monthl trips to 

Sunnyvale, California,! ~vas 

assigned to represent NSA at the STC <1nd 

building 524. Yundt was unsure of 

I - I NSA motives and reqmred that 

he calj~-~~very time he vrn1ted 524 and 

to log in and out when he did so. Eventually, I ponvinced Yundt that 

I !efforts were desirable and this 

unnecessary prohibition \vas lifted. 

The first Project 770 mission was 

vehicle 2702. mission 7158, launched on 

16 July 1965, the legacy of vehicle 2316, 

rni.'5.sion 7156, which had been the first 

wideband analog pay1oad (it was launched 

on 27 February 1964}. It was a Grotip 3 

configuration covering: 640 MHz to 8.28 

GHz. It operated for !i l days and marked 

the first effective use of so1ar arrays•,on a 

SIG INT vehicle (vehideR starting with 

2316 had solar arrays, but battery problems prevented effective use or very 1ong 

life L )J SA had be en planning to process 

these data since late in 1962, when NSA'.'=i 

Ray Pot.ts responded to a requirement 

from NSA operations and conducted a 

study of the analog-to-digital conven,ion 

needs to process the analog data that 

would be collected by the 698BK ana]og 

system. A special high-speed ana1og4odigital converter, BEER~1AN, was pro~ 

posed and subsequently developed inhouse in 1963 by !\~SA R&D. 

The BEERMAN equipment had beun 

operated in the R&D space;s at NSA to 

support the mission 7156 and 7210 launches 

in 1964, and it used the R&D CDC 1604 

computer as the buffer tape controller to 

provide temporary digital-data storage 

and control for the di6tital&tape recorders. 

hp Stuet {Ll.itJ!ss! t1 6it[r11t T:;L[& T l;[lq:IQl[ 

,-.,"'?, t(t T €z ,gf Chia t 1t ls ;ta,,iih Chapter 4 97 

8Yf-')l 'F .. ·',I~ 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
I' J Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

Th<> BF.ER'\fA:-l aiutlog-to-digitai ;;Qnvener 

,mo a dig:,t,,l formut for wmputcr pro;'e6~-

in)!. BEEHMA.'\'I 

I Th~sc ~~---~-~=" opcratwns ,,cr,:cd a useful R&D fomticm. 

but du+' Ur LhP ~hort. hlfl nf1he :;ns,n:'1LS 

and relrmwly narrnw 750 kH,- b,rndwidtb 

ni'1he ,mern:r-yptNl dHta. q,ry l11.i.k u~"11ll 

product was wUccted BEE.fn,·lA."' w:,,~ 

,nsb.11;,d in opEralional ,q:ia~er at KSA :n 

li<l~ lfl$4 af1,n t}w ~pecrnllv ,lPai1piPd 

buffer cape controller wns dcl,vcred l:w 

Cmitro! Data C!Jrporation. PotH. mem1-

whil~. mnvetl forn, :s/SA R.&D to SSA 

()pernlnm~ M· Cind'of '')p~c"1J h'o1t,ct;; 

: K--1,'$P1 in )by lfi65 -tnd Wll$ responsi\!k 

for pn>ces6mg. ,crniyoit. and reporting 1-•f 

:fa1a <'l;ll,.;·r .. d by !'i[(;l/,;T sat,-.liilPB 

En·r:rthmg "as m plate to suppc,n 

mwswn 71 ~S. the fir~l mi63i<;n who~e outpu1 data wm,ld "'~"rd pre,l1ol£C1.wn rn ti-MHz 

bandw:dtlo :lnafog fonn snd tnmsmic to 

th,: f,'rtmnd ,.,-ith1_,11t enu:,-ptior:: C~rnputn 

pm;,,,rn,~ lfr«l bB11n wriuer, h_v NRA I,:, pr~-

co;;;. chin da,,, :,.nd to rir0duco lo,ai1on~ ond 

i.rienti5cation~ Th" rnrnpuccr μr:,ntouts 

w0rn abu u~ed to scan the data for signab 

;rn,ilysiH Con.si<ferabie manual aual_l'~;,,_ of 

the anaH,g dm:u and th;: computer nuepu: 

was Ycquired fo produce 115eable rc,s-ult~ 

from rh,, i1r,t w1dtb,ir,J n;-,ni9g m,s.sinr, 

Exp,,rwncn emncd m p,·ocr·sHng nnd analy-zin,: rhn dnta from thi.s rmsmon in !96?;, 

pro,·1dP<l ,·alu'1hl,- des1;:,;n informatwn for 

i',,llow-nn 1v;;iems.1t 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

The last F 2 type pnyh:>ad was 1:i1sow:1 

7160, rnm~d on VEh1cle 2703, Ll Group :J,.l) 

pi\yi;:,ad !aunche<l un 9 F~bruar:,- 1':'ll\C. lt 

;:ilso rnrriEd d lO•J.kHz bondw:dth L~an, 

mognNic tape re(ord,r Jf fr,e ,am,- t;-;w 

us,,d nrr mrn.-1nr, 7lC,7 i'nr ,rnalng-~1gnal 

d(,tf'ct,on. A.itognher, 7:16 rnwlou h of ,!1e1-

r ,ll ,1ml 428 , hld<>"1.~ nf arming datJ wen· 

collectea dur:,ng the b~ven month l,ic,«rn,: 

of the- paylotHJ SPwral t.ho%nnC updr,t,·s 

10 :h,, EOB tfaw. w<crP run1l~hed r" !)!A 

,wd Si\C. but th,; arw.iog dakl si,fkrcd 

from t.hc, same band-..,dth re-stnctinn~ tk11 

pbgued the mi~s,,,n 7157 duLl. "nd httli· 

t ~rh:11 C3 I in tdl iμ-fll\'~ t T! · wa" prtd ur-(•(1 

V1h1de 270-3 "b" caITi,'-d m, au,ilrnr:r 

puyk:1d pn,po.'!ed by LTV t>Sysi<ims m, n 

foiiO-'··OH 1-U lb,· B]l{l) l)(l(; H"U·s Tl,rn 

V•·r,1,~n. wwr. as '-ETTER. -,,as d0si·m,-.d 

,_,xp<cded that SETTER .,,,,,,Jct mtcru,pt 

1m11i_v ntl,cr 1.rochHt: am! ~:iriy wm·:tlll~ 

radars as WQ]l. The SETTER l pFload. 

mi$~ion 7228. v,a:,~ ,ntc•1-,rruted unw the 

frrmt rHek nf A[;er,a vf'-hidP '.)7(\l ,ilnnr 

,vith the Prnw~t ·;·;o (;rr,up :J.!}_ ,\II ofciw 

SETTER 'and ,t~ foll,,w-on, REAPER1 pay• 

bad~ wt,r•.: ;;inm m,ssion numbQr,; rn lhe 

AFTR.A('K .s;•1·in~, 7200-7~89L Ji>liow;r,g 

the BIRD DOG ,r:.dinon, even ,hou;;h 

tl:D:,· wurn integrated with she other 

FmjPri 77li pa ylo;,d~, whwb q,,,ipJ 7 1()0 

~crwg m1~swn mrn::hrns. SETTER 1 opnrated fur 40 days nnd ,although the fre. 

quency covern,,.,, was l1m1tnd w ~ tffi w 

2.936 GHz.I 

l 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

the best achieved to that date. A byproduct of this bes t.-ever accuracy was the dis -

cove!')' by Ed Stillman of LMSC that the 

vehicle was yawing in response to the 

interaction of the vehicle's magnetic field 

with the magnetic field of the Earth. 

Duane Scott of the guidance department 

was able to calculate thase forces and compensate for them by placing magnets 

appropriately on the vehicle structure to 

counteract the natural forces- This procedure was m;ed to damp unwanted oscillations on the foUowing 11-fULTIGROUP and 

STRA\VMAN missions with g-reat success. 

By the end of 1965 it was becomjng 

increasingly obvious that building 524 v1..as 

bursting at the :;eams. Moreover, building 

524 was not de.signed to provide the electrnnic security required, particu]arly for 

personnel involved in data analysis at the 

product level and for the COI\1INT payloads, where testing and processing of sensitive data were very difficult_ The need 

for a more secure facility, adequate to support expanded testing and proces:sing 

requirements, became obvious to contractor and government personnel alike. Bill 

Harris and Bill l'roetschel, L:\,1SC, responsible for the AFTR..ACK packagea~ George 

Pricf±, L11,ISC in the 698BK area; J errv 

~en, LJl.lSC, in processmgj~~·~~ 

l______PS Army, representing NSA~ 

and LtCol George Barthel, US • .\ir Fo~e, 

representing SAC, all lobbied John 

Schaub. LMSC Program Manager, to press 

for a. new building adequate for all their 

activitie-5. Schaub listened and with the 

backing of Fritz Oder, LMSC Vice President 

for Programs, and Jim Plummer, also an 

L~fSC Vice President, convinced Dan 

Baughton. LMSC Chairman of the Board, 

to invest in an appropriate facility. Thus, 

construction of~----~ ·as initiated 

in the LMSC complex at Sunnyvale, 

California. and was completed just in time 

to process the output of the first of tbc new 

).fULTIGROUP payloads, launched 28 

December 1966. 

MULTIGROUP Launches 

By the summer of 1962 tt was berorning dear to many on the 698BK development team that improvements could b,± 

made in the de~ig11 (lf the 698BK payloads, 

which had a set of fixed frequency mmbinabons labeled Group 1. 2, or 3 and covering 59 to 12.500 :MHz that had to be 

selected long before launch. No other fre. 

quency coverage was possible without 

major payload modification. This was pr:i~ 

marily because the antenna configurations 

were very difficult to change without 

maJor rede.'=.lign and testing. Additionally, 

the command and control suppon systems 

were limited in flexibility by the small 

number of commands available. 

To develop a payload more responsive 

to changing reqmrernerrts, Ll\lSC and AJL 

initiated proposal activity to develop a 

new payload configuration to be called 

MULTIGROUP. It would have eight frequency bands. each with a mat.ched 

ant.en.mi.. A.ny four bands could be flown 

on any given mission wit.h minimal 

turnaround time_ It also wou1d be capabhcl 

of both digital and wide band predetect.ion 

(6 1\-!Hz,1 analog recording of all bands_ A 

32-command ultrahigh frequency (UHF) 

system and an on-orbit programmer would 

also improve system flexibility. 

fop Stc,cl 

d I l't it BFE.i 11 t 7 H ;1&7'~141 l i sn~,rftJ1~h Qf COihiix! Cf1 UiiCi. }.Miil,i? 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Chapter 4 99 
... Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 ·~r--•u P:;o, c,M:1 q::C,il!t:a1 ◄ 

In June 1963. Lt.Col John Copley1 

along with George Price. Chief of the 

LMSC Payload Office, briefed the members of the ,,rashington NRO staff {SAFSS) 

on details of the new payload project. In 

:,J ovember 1963. approval to initiate development of the lvH:LTIGROUP project was 

reteived from Brockway Mc:ri.•fillan. who 

had replaced ,Joseph V. Charyk as the 

DNRO in April 1963. In April 1964 

Md,,lillan approyed launch of the first 

:.H.:LTIGROUP for April 1966, plus three 

additional launches tn FY67. This was 

later reduced to three total launches when 

the successor STRA.\VMA.N project ·was 

approved in September 1966. 

The configuration of the first Project 

770 I\flJLTIGROUP vehicle 2731, mission 

7161. was similar to the previous Project 

770 Agena launth vehicle 2703 with ths 

exception of the new payload and improved 

UHF command system. It was the last 

Project 770 mission to use the TAT booster 

of I.he former 698BK proJecL The launch 

date slipped to 28 December 1966, mostJy 

because of change.~ caused by concerns 

over ths technical characteristics of the 

pay load. The numbers and density of 

Savi.et radars ,.,•ere increasing rapidlyj and 

signal over1apping and interference were 

becoming difficult to deal with. Additionall}'~ 

the presence uf high-power continuouswave (CW) signals I such as television and 

high-power point•to-point communications l had made processing of 698BK pay• 

load data even nwre complex. These sig• 

nals tended to overpower the antenna's 

sidelobe inhibit system, reducing the reliability of the location-finding and anaJog 

signal-processing programs. Tu address 

these technical problems, the bandwidth of 

the receiver system and the overall gain of 

the payload receivers was reduced. Also, a 

special~---~recognizer was added, 

making it possible for the data processors 

to, at a minimum, detect the presence of 

interference. 

MC.en john l. Martin, Jr. 

BGen Llater MGenJ John L. MartinT 

,Jr .. named Director of Special Projects at 

El Segundo, California, on l July 196fi, 

became concerned about the efficaty of 

perform1ng a system test of the integrated 

payload and vehicle system in building 524 

at Sunnyvale and then disas.semb1ing it for 

shipment to Vandenberg .~B for launch. 

This required reassembly of the system at 

the Vandenh-erg vehicle assembly b11ilding 

and retest prillr to launch. Not unly did 

this process cause excessive wear and tear 

on the system. but. it also made very 

attractive the option of shipping the payload and Agena from Sunnyvale with problems f"open items") that presumably would 

be solved or fixed at Vandenberg. After 

considerable study, a new, rnore rapid facM 

t.ory~to-pad system of processing the payT 

load and vehicle as a unit was initiated for 

"Fop Sccsci 

F IJ1fh? :;1J 8 I LCIA,.;;ili! AL.,:;; I ilikt JI )6b'"-

100 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

► 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Agena vehicle 2731. Named FASTBALL, 

itset as a goal 17 days from receipt of the 

payload at Vandenberg AFB to launch. 

Lt Col Jack Sides, who had replaced 

Yundt as the c=]Project Director, felt 

confident enough to direct the launch on 

29 December 1966. just 25 working days 

after 2731 had arrived at the base. 

Despite the misgivings of many of the coritractor,;; and launch crew, and much t.o the 

delight of Sides, the launch was perfect 

and the spacecraft operated with no problems on orbit. Sides. who ,vas retiring 

from the Air Force at the end of December, 

eonsidered this an excellent Christmas 

pre~ent! His successur, Col David 11. 

• Bradburn, presided over the remaining 

two MULTIGROUP launches with equal 

S1JCCf.:$S, 

Project 770 :.VIULTIGROUP Agena 

Vt-hicles 2732 and 2733 were boosted into 

orbit by an improved Thor booster using 

CAE,TOR Holid rocket motors replacing the 

former XLR-8ls. The extra thrust made it. 

possible for vehicle ~73.2 to carry an addon payload called DO~\~ which used a 

6-foot parabolic uwrapped rib" dish 

antenna that deployed on orbit, in addition tu the originally scheduled SETIER 

1A and JvIULTIGROUP 2 payload.-:;. 

MULTIGROUP set ne\1,• records for length 

of on-orbit operation. Vehicle 2731 lasted 

over five months. the DONKEY payload 

on ~732 went a few days longer, and 2733 

Produced data for almost 15 months! A 

great deal of this success is attributable to 

irnproved solar arr a vs and batteries develtlped for the Agena D vehicle. 

The more sophisticated commanding 

and programming capability of these payloads, which permitted many different 

adjustments of the payloads during each 

orbital coJlection pass. stimulated an effort 

to use the collection system in the most 

effective way. In July 1964~----~ f 

NSAJomed the staff at the Satellite 

Operatioas Center f SOC) at S~.\FSS and 

became a part of the effon to translate 

USIE gtlidance into vehicle operation11 

responsive to this direction. NSA ui.sking 

messages were sent to the STC from the 

SOC, providing both long-term and immediate operating direction. These ·•ITEM'{., 

messa.f,t"es. as they we:re called, combined 

NSA and NRO interpretation of USIB 

guidance. Alerts to upcoming Soviet activ• 

ities ,,,,,ere provided by NSA through their 

Defense Special ).'lis:sile and Astrun,:1.uuc~ 

Center <DEFSJ:\-1.AC) so that pay load tasking could be responsive. 

In the late Rmnm.er of 1966, the 

Director. ~SA, LGen Marshall S. Carter. 

US Anny, and Ray Potts visited the 

SAFSP contractor facility at UdSC ·.vhile 

·as under construction. The ~----~ 

possibility of expanding NSA's participation with the Air Force and its contractor 

was discussed with the local SAFSP representative and wit~~----~fhc NSA 

represent.ative at LMSC. On 28 October 

1966 NSAforwarded to the Din>.etor SA.FSP 

a concept paper regarding the establishment of an NSA Support Detachment 

(NSDl at Sunnyvale. California. 16 

___ C_ompleted in December 1966 ~-~ 

~-~ 

was put to immediate use. Vince 

Henry of LMSC, now manager of the P-11 

payload program. had established a need 

le;p 5,ci ti 1 hiiith! d:a B\I ,1:t/'1 ?I 1Lf,*1f J(£1·1 16(£ 

co.,1::iTS,1.J:1../ Cftftil.){ is ft.,,:L;ip 

1l r'f ,<n 9.:C/9.t • 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Chapt~r 4 101 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

11,l''U,&1 'Jt't;[Ut 

hiei Snai 

; !JIM}!;t '' J, g i L" ,[{ <, 4ii I 4ijj ~ '4! J ,)i;:: I I •elt.f ~ 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 • ,srcf1Jti (H@:(0,, 

for a secure test and checkout are a. This 

need dovetailed well with the government 

ne€d for a secure data-analysis facility. 

The DNSA forwarded a letter to the 

Director, SAFSP, on 14 February 1967 

describing the scope and nature of a \.Vest 

Coast NSD a ~----~and advising 

that SAC had agreed to participate in the 

detachment to support NSA processing 

and to serve as the SAC liaison officer. 1-; 

The NSA Assistant Director for Production, 

Oliver Kirby, subsequently forv.1arded a 

memorandum t.o DNRO A.l.exander H. Flax 

on 29 February 1967, informing him of the 

plans and rationale for the detachment. l3 

On 15 !\larch 1967 the Director SAFSP 

concurred with the objecthres and functiom outlined for t.he NSD and agreed to 

arrangt~ for rnnt:ractor gupport by LJtSC. 19 

The NSD was established m July 

1967 at LMscl lwitCJ I h Chief.I ]had resigned 

from the Army in 1Vlarch 1967 and convened to civilian st.atus with NSA. reporting to Potts (K4/SP). Assi ed t. 

wer 

was also assigned as an NSA 1⁄2-------~ 

intelligence information research technician. Also working foc====}ere 

Maj Bob Jackson, US Air Force, and Maj 

Billy Thornton, CS Air Force, of Operating 

L0,cation 6.5 i:OLfi5i, SAC. Two analvst 

pos1t.ions i: opera.ting stationsJ were quickly 

set. up usmg Mincorn !-MHz recorders that 

0"obtained," although the recorders were 

riginally intended for George Cotter, 

already a senior official at NSA! Later they 

were replru:;:ed by properly ordered recorders, 

and Cotter got his Mincoms back. This 

capability was augmented by signals analysis support from LMSC that was later 

expanded by the establishrnent of an 

LIVI SC Special Signals • .i\na 1ysis Team 

(SSAT), headed by ,John Riley, which did 

m-depth analysis of new and unusuaJ 

intercepts. The mitial mission frJr the 

~SD wa.s to pre;':;can data and do preliminary analysis on signals of interest. In 

addition. the detachment was to support 

all West Coast NSA operations and interfaces with the SAFSP and their contractors located on the \Vest Coast. To do this, 

the detachment had dired comrnunications 

with K4/SP at NSA using a dedicated 

secure teletype link known as the 

"SUN COM." 

The NSA Support Detachment (N-SD 1 

activities pretty well filled up one side of 

~----------~ 

was built 

essentially in the form of t,vo mirror 

images, with space between the t\\T.1 halves 

of the building to park and check out the 

calibration vans. On the processing side, 

the new building made it possible for NSA 

to delegate certain ELINT data processing 

M,- S<utt _ , , 11 a arr t 4 t I Jutf,r ,(rn ,oee : ·t1t p( T Cc. ... ' c•:s;; ds k ;' ;/ 

tl~T.<I/·~~··•~ 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Ch.ipt~r 4 H}3 
Approved for RelE:as_e: _2021 /09/01 C05134315 

• \0FBR, , aRca,, 

and analysis activities to LMSC personnel, 

under NSD direction. In December 1966 

LtCol Jack Sides~ land Patts agreed 

to piace an NSA engineer as an integrated 

member of the SAFSP staff in El Segundo 

to manage the SAFSP processing operation at LMSC in Sunnyvale {both NRO and 

NSA responsibilities). j I 

was as.signed from NSA., K4/SP, and 

arrived a~~-~ln February 1967. He was 

welcomed by Col Da,rid D. Bradburn, who 

by then had succeeded Sides as head of 

This action coincided with the ~-~ 

implementation of the Mission and Data 

Services (I\i1ADS) contract with LMSC to 

support processing activities i~ I 

c=}nd aJso to support analysis activities 

of the NSD.I I 

i\n act.ion occurred on 29 September 

1967 that illustrn.tes the spirit of coopera~ 

tion engendered by the close working relation.ship of Bradburnj~---~~d Pott~. 

NSA K4/SP was notified by message from 

~-~ 

that the Air Force budget would not 

permit their support of NSA prncessmg 

operations at Ll.\•1SC. Three and a half 

hours later Potts sent a message tq ~-~ 

coordinated through all appropriate senior 

officials and ~SA Deputy Director 

TordeUa. transferring $370.000 to fund a 

compatible computer facility in 

c=]to process data for NSA.20 =Thi~.s~l~e~d~to 

the negotiation of a formal agreement 

between Bradburn,! ~nd Potts 

entitled "SAFSP SUPPORT FOR NSA 

PROCESSING OPERATJONS.1" It pro& 

vided for a compatible Data Processing 

Facility implemented as a joint NRO/NSA 

act1v1ty a~~---~ ,:;hich was essentially parallel t.o the satellite dat.a proce.ssing capability v;rithin NSA. 

This combined payload development 

and processing facility iq lpro• 1 vided the flexibility necessary to make 

maximum and effective use of personnel 

and equipment on a mi~sion-by-missitin 

basis. Additional benefits included 

improved tirnEdiness in processing, improved 

feedback for tasking operations, optimized 

interaction of processing considerations in 

the design of SIG INT payloads. and significant economies by ha"ing an integrated 

approach to collection and processing operations. This effort was provided by the 

SAFSP )..iADS contract with LMSC. The 

individual task orders under the contract 

were defined either as NRO or NSA dataprocessing functions. 

NRO processing included payload 

support and preprocessing. NSA, through 

thc=}1.ADS contract. provided technical direction and selected processing and 

analysis by LMSC. This was the first use 

fop !;a:1 et 

104 The SICl'.\IT Satellite S1orv CG 1;1 <r fa.Loi C.'.w;; eL ,cc ;f; 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
'XI 

... 

7" 

" 

,, 

,<! 

.. 

n 

=r 

II! 

"O 

rD 

.., 

.i-

_. 

0 

.... 

I I 

l 

i 

I . 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

C Mll COMSAT 

e COMMAND GENERATION 

e IMTA ANALY51S 

OPERATING DECISIONS 

e T/M DATA TM ( P/l 

TONKS 

e ORBfrAL VECTORS 

HTS 

Data mUeclton n~lwork, Air t:oru Satellite Control Facility (/\FSCf) 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

TRA.CK1 

e SGLS RANG£ ANO 

ANGLE TRACKING 

e SGlS PCM DATA UNJ< 

• SGlS D)GITAL COMMAND 

LINK 

e WIDEBAND AND NARAOW 

BAND ANALOG A£COROING 

• COMPRESSED PA D>.TA 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

of contracwr proce~smg hy NSA. Ccntn.:t0r 

~1gr,als analysis H!ppmi, lv.d previ,rnsly 

beer. rsui,hlisbid and used by :,.;so ,n 0arly 

and trnnsferred fonds 

Bhan: of~he rook. Wit.!;,c,,0,----"~-~~4 

was respnnsil,I« for h-d\n,r,,J ~utve,lhnei• 

of t:Jc '.vtADA ~ontrn~t. Potts wa; re,,pon• 

~,bl.: fo,· :he :,!:'CA pnrt1c1pae1<rn m d>,:• 

prn;,:n,m. 

W,1.im,L ____ ~the SAFSP 

A:>i,,.,rnnr. Depu:,· for Field Operar,~n~. I.t 

Cul Rith Gray, wa~ r~9pnrH<blf' t,L ___ ~ 

for ,d ,-bt:.,_•pn><:<'k~mg 6JwrntioJ1.s performed un-~,u·. T:1t· ::letndtnw,u. chwrO 

L ___ ~:mJ other >JSA r<cprN~ntat,,·ps 

as apprnpna1P. provid.,,-l 1.iw t~drnirnl 

gurdar.c~ foe lhc '.\SA daw prnn,~&ing and 

were i:echn1c2ll;· ,-~spons1blc for ~onuacrnr 

perfnrrnrrncs' :rnd urc~ptHbill1y oft.he Unal 

prndud A llit:.a Hamtli:ig and \lpprnbon~ 

flan ' IJA H (H-'S ! Hfont, fipd re.;p,m31htl, hes. 

w.ile~:On~;;, dfon. ,md eqwpment :,•1,quire,d, 

Softwa:·f' tkn k,d bet1r: d,w,.lops'd hy NSA 

wan ,;n,s·1rled 1o 1l1e MADS cnntract, l\"~A 

,;ult kno1⁄2d,•c!s;e;iblf' pmc,,:,nnel to asmst th,: 

crmimd1.>r ,n ;!€"\l!TI(.( tht .system op-ernLiunal :rnd in t:·<>ining pP1ar,nnp\ li'Jr the 

pm·L,cub ,, .wl,. ·'' Tlrn «srnnli,;,b rmmt ur th\' 

joint pro,e5sing fadhly in L\fS 

CJ,,vl• the Air Forn,, ;,'SA, ,u)<l the ,;ontra,wr w, ,rk i ng chsPiy t,ii(<,t her 600U 

rf'mnve,;i mo.,t ,f not all, ehe suspicions 

and dir:r-ust that had pre\'!Ou6ly existed. 

Un th? d,g1tal μrneessing side.. NSA 

prov,dcd ,1 CDC-6,Jl)O compm:n. m,i,nl!y to 

handle ~,f1._'LTIGROLP d11,•ital dat,; :R,;y 

Po~ts intQrvened with CDC Pre_,1.dunt Bill 

>i01Tl~ '" ,'-PCHTP u,., complltP!' on tmt€ I 

The CJ)(>64l/O computerw.a~ mstalle<l m 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

~---~in thf' fall nf 1967. NSA 

,;em, tlw Hlfrware d0vf'luped to 1roc~»6 

Ml'.LTIGROJ:P/SETTER m1d 

Comμuttr Pr<Jcessin~ Group IC G,oup, 

"pem many long- hnttr.s cnL _____ s 

hdprng ,Jeu;• Clm.,uausen m11l l,;~ i.:vr.sc 

cr,cw ta gH tbh &nftwan: uFUllt'd and ;nodif1ed for tlk F ,fanur,ry 11!/iS lmmd, "1' 

MULTlGR(ll;-p :]. Th€ 1\-!'lfLTIGROl;P/ 

.Sl~Tn~H C.;ita wPre 1b~ firs1 ln l>P enmpiornly 1:m,1,rncwr-prnc~s-,,d ,,1 l.M.S(' 

under thPJ71lAD~ ,'ontrncr '!ndN S1⁄2,\ 

V•c·hnirai d:rrect1on. The n.·$ults were sent 

dir~;;tly vm ~~rnrtc ,•o;n "" rn kat wn~ ln1 k 'i 

to J'{;-i/l,.'s (J:;krnll<Hwi EJJ'.\T (lr1•:s>1<1u\11u,,, 

lh•;n he:,lie<l l_-,,, I f.vhn twd 

,~place,~ lii>r r~pnrm~~ w :iw 

fr:wlhgeme Cmnr:mm,ty ao,l ;r: :-OAC: !Or 

mte;,:rntl<ln ,mo the SfOP, DIA r<iC<cc-<·d 

the r:idar identi'.itariu; ,rnd l0~al,un d,itcl 

i'rom '.,'SA for mdtHHm m the DIA EiJR 

dambuse. 

fo han\ll<c the w\\lelH,nd :;.rrn)ng, HC4 

mm!Pl TP.-:)~ ('VR prpdpl.?ction r~r,mJt>ra 

"""' used M, the ground ~,tc,, aad prnc•·~,, 

ing rentno. The· TR·22 rewrder~ were 

rurrm,er~irtl le!evi~wn recurdera rmdified 

fi >r cm ,rn ""'"" v tdPo r»curdmg ',CV I{,. " ttt 

irr,proved technical ch"-r~crensticf rn m,:,et 

:he re-quiremellb for prdeterli0n ,lls!rn• 

ment:atiur: r,-.n,rrlmis '.'<SA ~p€cififd :hP 

reorrder" w f>,, us<cd :md 2 ~ombmed p,irchase wacl made- for :all rernrderg b,'L __ 0 

Special pmcee6ing and anal,vs,~ eouio-ment 

wad devefo;wd jnlntly hy >JSA ai«! L-~ 

SSA, throng:~ ~cqi;.1red a 3pc:1dl 

RCA onu-tenth speEd Tll-22 CVR rc~i!rdQr 

lo be Ui,fd for ,fotailed oignal analy~,~ 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

:;( .51 (:.7K, t-L fi:t t.53.:;; 

The predetection analog data, along 

with other payload digital data from 

IL.,fiJLTIGROOP. were filmed a 

Dusing a continuous strip of photographic film. NSD and LMSC {under 

detachment dirnction} selectively analyzed 

the film using the Analog Processing 

Equipment (APE) developed by Ben 

Gardner or Gardner A.:;sociates. San Diego, 

California. The original analog tapes were 

sent to :KSA for technical analysis. At 

NSA the analog tapes were prnce.ssed 

through the BE l:-~Rl\-1.AN ana1og-to-digital 

converter, which was modified tu accept 

the payload time and receiver data, which 

were merged to provide a dibrital tape out• 

put for computer proms.sing. The com• 

puter printouts were used tu produce 

radnr locations and to scan the data for 

fiignal analysis. Cnnsiderable manual 

analysis of the analog data and the com~ 

pute:r pnntouts ,1,•as required to produce 

useable results. 

The technical analysis efforts at :-.lSA 

a~d aj f·sre very closely coordmated. The large volume of data 

r~uircd the combined efforts of aU the 

technical analysis people available. Both 

analysis groups screened the data for signals of interest. NSA used tip-off from 

other sourcE>s or data and the results of 

intercepts from POPPY and the P~1 ts to 

ident1(v datiJ:s and time.s of particular 

1

nteresl to be examined. Duplicate analy~ 

Sl$ w.a.s generally avoided except. in those 

i.:ases where the combined expertise of all 

the analysts and t.he payload designers 

Was roqmred to resolve analysis problems 

~resent.ed by unusual Slb'Tial.s. 

hnprovemems to the digital EOB 

payloads resulted in significantly mon• 

accurate radar locations. Back in 1960-61. 

the original SAl\.iOS collected three successive pulse.'=i from the cone of coverage. 

Processing of the data from each threepulse group using overlapping circles produced locations with accuracies of about 

ifop x,,,. • I '!!I, !t•e &.& i::N],;b L 4 L &t ,; J:e!"i) ,etc 

Ch.1oter 4 Ul7 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Q --

«a Flight summary: - :i 

r:;~ 

,.,, 

(5 

7 

••i MtSSJON 

C NUMBER 

i 

;i NIA 1.11 

~ < NIA 

7151 

7152 

1iS3 

» i ., 

""' !. 

~ 

. 

l 

~JOUP .. t~ ... 

7212 BIR00OG2 

7155 89181( 

Graue 2•D 

7211 BIRD DOG 1 

7157 891BK 

7213 SIRDDOQ3 

7158 · no 

~r~Llp 1 

72:26 BIRO DOG 4 

GS "' Gef'll!!ral le;ar,tr. 

Tl "' TfflJlliUI lnl•~ce 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Program A, Agena-based lowporbit SIGINT satellites 

MISSION 

( 

EOB 

EOB 

ocm 

1960 

OPERATJONALUFETIME 

1111 

t/21 7/9 

I 

1 

2127 3113 

IEOB 

\IHF 

EOB 

DCJll 

C ~-EO-B~ 

E09 =: Elff't,onlc O,-dM of B,n.. UC • Olntel•d Covttaiae 

ABU An11b1ma1ic Miu.I• VHF VMy High F,eq1.11111Cy 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

1 

1965 

Baa1l•t' 

flllUN!I ------ 1 

e 

1 

2 

10 

12 

11 

5 

15 
"' :1 ;;.. 

··D 

"" .. 

·.ii 

.. 

9 

ii" 

I 

~ 

-

0 

~ 

I 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Cl '· 

fligl1t s11111m.ary: Program A, Agena-based low-orbit SIGINT salelliles (umtinued) 

PROJECT, FETJME 

and D•vel ~AYLOAO 

7180 Group 3-D 7 mOli 

····--· 

7228 SETTEff 1 SI.-IIAM> 40dap liDB 

7111 osnx:m 5mos EOB 

72:29 SETTER2A S-BAND 5moa 120~. 

7162 770MULTI~ OSIDC/TI 

GROUP2 EOB 5 mo• 

7230 SETTER 1B 8-BAND 

!'.Ol!I 5mos 

77011ULfi7 QM)C{J'I 7163 GROIJP3 EOB 14 ma• 

1232 SEnERll!I I-BAN> 1,4 mo• EOB 

1184 TRAWMAN1 QM)Cffl tz moa THRESHER2 EOB 

7233 REAPeA 1 Olit'OC/TI 12 mos liOB 

7238 CONVOY1 ABM 12mos r>CITI 

7165 STRAWMAN QSJOCITI 7/31 9/27 Umos THRESHEFI 2 EOB 

7234 R£APER2 OSIDCm 13mw1 E.CIB 

.ABM 7239 CONVOY2 ocm 31 day• 

GS= l)en~ral Sean:h EOB "" Electronic; Order ot BQUla DC ::: Dit~~led Co11•r•g• 

Tl • fe4;,l10ical lnli-Hlgance ABM = ,t,ntibailistic Miaaili, 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

& '·*··• 

;1 
' '!' 

.i:. 

.c, 

-, 

I! 

.. 

... 

... 

0 

,_.,, 

.. 

~ 

ii 

-"' 

9. 

I 

1 

1 

... ·----· -·-· --w-:..= 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Fligh1 summary: Program A, Agena-based low-orbit SIGINT satellites (continued) 

OP!AATIONAI. LIFETIME 

BS 

PROQRAM CANCELLl!D- NO FLIGHTS 

09 = G.afterallea1:h 

Tl = TMhnlC:al lnlelligena::11! 

1!08 "' £Ji,c:1n111lc Ordef ar Banta OC ■ D1.-ected C6111e,1ge 

ABM :. AollhaD11t1c: Ml .. lle R11dilr 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
ii819J !.t!tPil:H 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

L__ __ ~ CEP in 1962. The MULTIGROUP 

mi!!isione starting in Decembur 1966 colltctedl 

I These technical improvE~meots L__ __ _ 

m the .MULTIGROUP collection system 

mncit' it 

with 

sible to identi radar locations 

Thl! technical capability provided by 

Ml.LTIGROUP wide band pn~dctection 

collect1on and the combmed analysis b:,, 

NSA hf:'adquarters. the NSD detachment. 

and LMSC of the collected data resolved 

L__~IMULTTGROUP/SE'lTER payloads 

laimched in 1967 a.nd 1968 pro\,1ded addiAn anportari.t development ,occurred 

111 ihe spring of 1968 when data on SA-2 

5

Utfacl"•lo-.air missile:; and (Jthf'r defensive 

rad.:irs m Vietnam barn.me u high prionty. 

Portunateiy, the orbit of J'I.ICL Tl GROUP/ 

SETTER allowed readout of data to the 

Vandenheri{ RTS on the or-bltal pas,1~ fol. 

lowm Thruugh tht'." 

'.\,L\US 1:ootract. fadtitieg wert' iet up to 

,_~ouril'r the ta, s from Van ' 

This capability has since 

L__e-_e_n_e_x_p_a_n_ea and developed to operate m 

cns1i=; suuations in many different areas of 

th<' wurld. The softwart:> t.echrnquflfl deve-lnped to make MULTIGROUP/S ETTER 

respomnve to crisis operations were further refined for the follow-on STRAWivlAK 

project. and they proYide the basi1-:. for sup• 

port to tactical operations to this: day. 

Even before the first MULTIGROUP 

launch in December 1966, the payload nnd 

it11 support systems had been outdated by 

the rtlp1dly changing electronics technology untl collection require1nen.ts of the 

l 960!ll. The expectation that interchangeabl.E- receiver and antenna. modules would 

give MULTlGROUP more tlexibihty did 

l\ifJ'.!EUE( 

! {p;;)1k ma fHrtrttl Tt\:tf}17 J:f'H T•If 

::tz1ft 'f re ,'% tt 111 

!il~T-<Jl,;i7,-..04 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 ''"T --··· h,(3⁄4I 1, ~;:if, 4 f: RCBflil 

not hold up whsn the realities of preparing 

the spacecraft for launch were confronted. 

A testing program at both the subsystem 

and system level was absolutely required 

to qualify any payload for launch. Once 

the system had been subjected to vacuum, 

thermaJ, mechanical, and electrical qualification testing, there was no way a 

receiver and antenna module could be 

changed (for different frequency coverage) 

without repeating the entire t.est process. 

Although :MULTIGROUP did have different configurations on each mission, the 

configuration had to be determined six to 

eight months in advance. In the case of 

Agena vehicle 2733, the last MULTIGROL "P. 

there was time to change the co nfi gura ti on 

to make the payload collection more 

responsive to the ABM/AES threat. It 

would have been desirable to change 2732 

alsoi but the necessary six• to eight-month 

slip in schedule was unacceptable. 

In the summer of 1~ 

=======rmm NSA join~nte- grated member of the payload staff, and at 

approximately the same time Bob Yundt 

requested technical support from The 

Aeroipace Colrporation. By the summer of 

1965 along with Sandy Evans of 

Aerospace, through both an in-house effort 

and contractor studies, began defining an 

unproved payload t.hat would combine the 

capabilities of the .I\fULTIGROUP payload, 

built by Airborne Instruments Laboratory 

at Deer Park. New York, and the SETTER 

payload, built by EwSystems at Dallas. 

Texas. Although these payloads flew 

together on all the 1\11.TLTIGRUUP missions. they operated independently, 

thereby requiring considerable duplication 

of supportwsystem functions. The SETTER 

payload provided exceUent emitter location accuracy ( +I- 5 miles), but it could not 

operate at frequencies lower than ~ GHz 

due to excessive size of the multiple antennas required for an interferometer-type 

payload. MULTIGROUP used single spiral antennas that divided the target rffea 

into sectors and used singJe-pulse phase 

comparisons to achieve geoJocation. 

Though not as accurate as S.l.:'T'TER, it 

was capable of determining !oca tion within 

+/- 20 miles at frequencies as low a:i'i 59 l\Uh. 

Using improved versions of these payloads 

sharing a ne,v soli d-s ta te core :memory for 

the digital data and an improved t.ape 

recorder called a data storage unit. for 

the wideband analog data, the proposed 

STRAWJ\..IAN payload offered increased 

flexibility combined with improved payload performance . .lltforeover, room would 

be available for one additional payload 

that could share the recorders and other 

new support systems. 

Improvements in the support systems 

now included adoption oft.he new S-band 

Space-Ground Link System (SGLS l deve]-

oped for the Satellite Control Facilities_ 

This provided a pulse cod£~ modulation 

dm"lll-link operating at 128 kilobits per 

second (kbps .i and an inflight-loadable pro· 

grammer capable of L021 commands. 

TI1ere was also a backup command link 

with 32 discrete commands. For th(~ first 

time it would be possible t.o encrypt these 

links using NSA-provided KGR-29 and 

KGT-28 equipment. The 6-1\.'ffiz wideband 

dov;m~link remained unencrypted. 

An improved booster, the THORAD, 

allowed an increased on~.orbit weight of 

the Agena spacecraft and ELINT payloads 

Jop Ste,el 

112 Tht~ SIClf\i T S.,u-ellile Story 

!ztiidt\: % a 85 E.;h L; T. ttf;;:'.fi it:f;·,1 ;6LE--

£S rt T Ca ,11aJ· (¥.n •. 11213 lb{ 21,i 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 zop Jc..:n::t 

1 :MJ&i.~1~, • aRca , 

of 31850 pounds, and a new battery/solar 

array system provided 270 ampere-hours 

per day. Becau.-:;e it was subject to quick 

revision if necessary, the new configuration was cal1ed STRA.\.Yri..IAN. The pay~ 

loads. named THRESHER (AJL) and 

REAPER (£.Systems), covered 125 to 3.300 

~n five bands. LtCol ,Jack Sides, the 

L_____'project Director at the time, briefed 

the STRAW:\tA.N concept to DNRO Flax 

on 1 April 1966. On 6 June 1966 Flax 

gave his approval to protect long~lead-time 

items. In September 1966 Flax apprwed 

the project. anq~-~~nitiated project c:ontra.-crual action with L11-·ISC. The project 

was to consist nf five flights, with the first 

I.a, un ch in Oetn be r ! 9 68 _ There v,ro ul d be 

one flight per year thereaft.er through 1972. 

Key accompliahments, Agena-based 

Prime payloads 

• First scanning superheterodyne receiver and 

on-orbit radar signal digital processing of RF 

and pu[sewidth and interval measurements 

With locatton information, all aboard a 

thre-e-ax;is ,;,table HINT platform, in 1961 . 

'First wjde band magnetic-tape recorder onorbit, in 1964,, provided a technical EUNT 

capability, which led to tne following 

accornplishmencs. 

- First wideband predetected radar signal 

dat.a, recorded in l 965, yielding unprecedented detai Is on the USSR':;; several ABM 

histicated 

The first two STRAW1\-IAN missions 

carried an auxiliary payload designed to 

detenni e detailed characteristics of A.131\l 

radars. The first was called CO~VOY and 

was tar eted atl 

of these payloads were built by Bill Perry's 

Electronic Systems Laboratories (ESLt in 

Sunnyvale, California. The fourth missmn 

carried the HARVESTER payload. also 

built hy ESL. with a capability t1J intercept 

The first. STRlt\:\.rMA.N" launch. 

another in the Project 770 series, was Agena 

vehicle 2734 on 5 Octuber 1968. All of the 

payloads and support systemi:; operated 

- Intercepted many new, unique radar signals 

other than ABMs. 

- First verv accurate location-finding {less 

tha~ · !processed on-board. in 

1966; for SAMs in Vietnam (\.vith le.ss than 

I !data were provided in 

near-realtime ~:hours) to US field comman~ 

ders in 1968. 

- Auxiliary pay toads in 1 968-71 collected 

even more de(ajled ABM and SAM radar 

data, such as ON capability and measured 

power. 

I ia, .i,; [ Hi H i L . L ,; 4 , Al J >< f A£ i I 14 ,.Li~ 

('t v pt·""' C 1r 2 1 :C ~ 1 L ·ID. ·a ui 

.'H'f~~·,•i.:"I ~ ··.-,q: 

Chaprer 4 113 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
i1 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 •'-"I" ,..-...;.,re& 

for a little over a year, twice the planned 

lifetime of six months. Agena 2735, 

launched on :n July 1969, operated for 

over 13 months, resulting in a projection of 

at least a nine-month lifetime for the following launches. Agena 273(i continued 

the record by lasting for almost 18 months 

after a launch on 26 August 1970. The 

final vehicle, Agena 2737. was launched on 

16 July 1971 and lasted over 20 months. 

On this mission the ,.mtenna connector to 

the lower band antenna of HARVESTER 

failed, thereby eliminating any chance to 

intercept the SA-5 signa!!'I at 5 GHz. This 

was the only major failure of any of the 

four vehicles, making STRA\VJl,fAN by far 

the most successful EIJNT system to date. 

By 1970 NSA had expanded the processing facility at Fort Meade for satellits-

-coUected SIGINT to three CDC 6600 com~ 

putcrs, in order to handle the greatly 

mcrcased volume of data from the POPPY 

and P-11 missions. Concentration on these 

program.sat Fort 11eade wa!:i possibl~ 

because of the resources avai1able at 

~-------------~ 

All 

STRAVlMA .. ~, THRESHER, and REAPER 

di~--ital data ""'ere processed for NSA by 

LMSC under thc=]l\-1ADS contra.ct in 

!using the same arrangements 

'-----.th~a_t_w-er_e_e_s~tablished for MULTIGROUP 

and SETTER The necessary software 

modifications to take advantage of collec• 

tion system improvements to provide more 

accurate locations were developed under 

the ~:L.\DS contract for NSA as ajomt NSA i 

and LMSC technical development effort. 

In 1970 a CDC 6600 computer replaced 

the CDC 6400 computer at LMSC to provide the needed threeTtimes increase in 

processing capacity and speed to bandle 

the increased volume of data being collected by the new satellite systems. At the 

.same time, a new :.\"IADS contract was 

negotiated hj lthe NSA 

integrated member of the I ~taff. This 

contract provided the needed flexibility to 

cover premature failure or the extended 

life of a payload being processed. It also 

provided for the addition of a new payload 

to be processed. The funding for the computer and the MADS contract was split 

betwee~~-~~nd NSA based on costsharing agreements worked out for each 

m1ss1on. 

The THRESHER di~-rital EOB col1ection and processing system produced radar 

locations with a 15-mile accuracy. The 

processing of data from THRESHER 2. 

launched 31 July 1969, produced 9.444 

radar locations, induding 183 radar locations reported electrically to US force.-:; 

in Vietnam within hours of intercept. 

THRESHER 3, launched 26 August 1970. 

produced 11,519 radar locations with 

15-mile accuracy in the fir.st four months 

of operation. During this same four-month 

period. RE..-'\PER 3, a part of the same 

STRAWMAN mission, produced ;J3,91.5 

Jocations with a 5•milc accuracy. 2.'\ 

AJl ELINT payloads that were a part 

of the STRA.mLAN collectioo systemTHRESHER) REAPER. CONVOY, and 

HARVESTER-were connected to the pre• 

detection. analog recurder m the prime 

payload. The predetection ana1ag data 

analysis ,-vas split between NSA and the 

LMSC Special Signal Analysis Team 

tSSAT). which was working for the NSA 

detachment (NSD) to make efficient use of 

tt.t:p Scc:et 

1 h.116'2 J 91·£ ,t ,, c ;:, rtE, r JT·~, 16'~£ 

The SICl.~ff S,1tellite Slory cs. ,,, r fe ., c , c• a . r .M 1 , 

fjYf-91'?7.-~4 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

......... 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 4()1 Li(! 4 I .,Rt d, C 

the limited number of technical ana]ysts. 

The signal analysis efforts were complemental)' except for combined efforts on 

special signals of interest. The alI~source 

and multiple-satellite-source techmcal analysis was generally done hy a.na]yst,c; at NSA. 

By 1968 the Grab Bag data system 

was developed by ,Joyce Wamkassel of 

LMSC to storo all "left over" satellite data. 

This included all intercepts that were 

geolocat.ed but did not meet NSA reporting 

crit.eria as valid emitters. This provided a 

1

<ery val uah] e data ha se for comparison 

with other data and intercepts to find new 

h1gh-int.cre~t si!:,rnals for technical analysis. 

For example, Grah Bag made it possible to 

identify and corre 1 a ts data from a frequern~ y agile radar that transmitted signals at different radio frequencies but 

n!:!ver stayed 011 one frequency fong enough 

for the payload to make <ct puls(~ repetition 

interval iPRI) measurement. 

T1::1chnical intelligence produced by 

S'TM\\lvU . .:.'1 lnduded ABM radar detail. 

I I 

scan variations as seen by the THRESHER 

~ayload. THRESHER. with RE.APER, 

lnterceptf'd "sibrnals in the 250 to 600 MHz 

an 'J 

~ CONVO'{ 1 ~~-~---~==--~ talso known as P69THJ provided @multa-

,cn~e~n~u~s~p~r~e~d~e~t~e~ct~io~n~r~e~co~r~d~i~n_1r7_a ____ __Jl I J 

I CONVOY 

'2 provided simultaneous predete.,... ~~~ 

recordin s of two se a rate beams 

pay oa 

The HARVESTER 

against the Soviet 

from the Soviet Union_.12 HARVESTER 

al.so collected unidentified 8- to 10-GHz 

sii.; a1J I 

I f:~ HARVESTER 

al.so made other intercepts at the same 

time a.'=l migsion 7333 (SOUSEA, 8 to 12 

GHz>- 34 These are but a few highlights of 

the technical contributions of STR.-\\:V1i.-1AN. 

The data proce~:sing experience gained 

from the STRAW.i\•1.'\.:'l" predetection d,1.ta 

anal sis provided the basis upon which 

th9~~-~-~~ata analysis system was 

developed. 

The extensive QRC report1ng from 

THRESHER-'REAPER to military forces in 

Vietnam and Europe continued the project 

PEND!:LUM effort. initiated with MULTlGROUP/SETTER All QRC reporting ,ivas 

in less t.h.an 24 hours from time of intercept. wit.h the average time from collection 

to reporting being about 5 L/2 how"S. During 

1969 there were 41 project. PENDULUI\·1 

reports and 183 m 1970. 

Teip CeCH@t 

i a;;:iL ·, 8' [ L T1t[* Th[,• 10.2 

:e ft rec L e'C1.;; ,~'~If,,,, Chi!.ptcr 4 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
~. 

:1 

J Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

:i 

:j 

ln tb,, s11nng of 1970, l)Nl{(l John L 

McL1m:1s rrass,:sscd the SIGH."'f snfollit<c 

prog:rarms m vww ofhudgGtm:y constrnmrn. 

C c•o,-;id0ring tho design capobiliti<'5 ,,f 

th~ capat>ilitis•s of ,;t her low-orbiting 

ELL'\T ~al.ell11.ed P( lf-'f-'Y and f-'. 11 l, tlw 

STRAW11AN cap1,b1ht>c Gef,mcd redl.lll· 

dant. ffo thcre:'nre d1rectcd the q;n~~!Iatior; A vr;tude ~;:33 and ;,11 f,;rdi<cr <lew,1-

opmcnt wurk. t:11dtr d11s pian, 1'.w 

STP.AW:\1A;( svst.<>m ,~umimwd ,,pernl.wns 

through Juh· l!cl72. 

- - - . 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

STR,11W:\1AN repre:,ented the cnlm,-

nntinn <)f n devekipment effort that. ~tar1s>d 

before tnr first s;ian-x,nift wa& lmmeh'c'd 

and inm1'por'1red many pione,•nng cm,. 

,:epts. STR,".\VMA,.\/\;: legaey <:<mld h" sc"'n 

not only in the development -0f spa,·eborne 

<equipment but. ~ven more 1mport;,ntly. :n 

i.J,c ,kvefopment uff:'.:LINT predH~,:-1mn 

tHhm,:al .. uw.lysrn tethmqller; and "'-l"'P' 

ment used bv pra~tkally even- :'nHr>w mi 

sy.siRm 

l 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 tJ:Cfi:?tt "~3iiC~,.,*e 

Chapter 4 References 

1. USIB-D-33.6/8, "Intelligence Requirement.!'! for a Satl!llitc Reconnais!!lance System or 

which SAMOS is an Example" 5 ,.Tuly 1960. 

2. MSG SECRET/SAFMS SEN-61-.29, Part L Program I. Project 102 .. 9 March 1961. 

3 MSG SECRET/SAFMS PHOTO 60-6-9., 23 December 1960. 

4. MSG SECRET/SAFMS SEN-61-29. Part. 1. Program I. ProJect 102,, 9 March 1961. 

5. Letter from Roswell L. Gilpatric, Deputy Secretary of DP.fense, to AJlen W. Dulle!!, 

Director of Ctmt.ral lnteHi.i::Pnce. ~Managemcm of the N Bticmal Reconnahu:iancc Prol,rrc.1.m, .. 6 Se-ptemher 1961. 

6. StMSG to Li\lSC. ~unnvvale. CA. fm jQ SSD. SSZDK-l2-12-15. ··Program 102 

Reonentatic,n," signe Cunl.racting Officer. 27 December 1961. 

!- Memo from Col Henry C, Howard, USAF', "A Cur!'lory Review of the Evolution of thP 

SOC," July 1968. 

8. T\VX ilS • SAF:\1S-INS-64'l-a 1, quoting m.~mo from Joseph V Charyk to Chief of Stilff. 

C.:SAF, "'Memnr.anda Re1ahE:1~ to the Disposition of Sub Sy1tcm 1.- 4 1'ovemt>er 1960. 

9 Ed Stillmun interview, ~g Febrnacy 1991. 

10. L~·ISC Data from 770 History, BIF003/2-021054-69. 22 ,July 1969. 

ll. NSAiri Space.Apri] 1975. iBYE-19385-751 p. 71. 

12. Raymond Potts' per.,onal note5 ihereathir Potts' nouu.i. 

13. KSA-BYE 17835-4. 

14. Potts' note~. 

15 .. Potts' notc1::, 

16.. :\IA.RGO 1535-6 iTS/8/I'Kt 

l7 )fSA-BYE-60000-67, and NSA in Space, p. 33, 

l8. NSA-B'YE-60051-67, and NSA in Space. p. 34. 

19- NSA m Spar:c. p.34. 

21 Potts' nottus. 

!

2

· SA.Fsp SUPPORT FOR NSA PROCESS LNG OPERATIONS 1B'YE-70872w67}tS/Bi: 

PPerldix 4 .. 

23- Stillman interview, 28 Febrnary 199 I 

2

t Stillrnao mlerYiew. 28 f.ebruary 1991 

'JS ' •. K,is ' -o ~-=,,,c,"-------"-lu..au--'1.JIL5'--Ln-12LL-"-'-~---'-""l-cem her 19 f ... 

26, 

27, 

li,p Sttc,ct t a1oft 1t1l!f:1V T%f' T"1"1it:\'iiO!lf 

€9' ut :1 ·', , (i1e u\Jt ... ;;"e 

cJ ... ~ .... ',.,.. .. ,,,. .. 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Chap!f::'r 4 117 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

29 

ao. 

,md 

:n. 

32. 

"~ ,,.,_,_,, , __ ,,,,.,c, 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 l 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

e Air Force AFTRACK and 

Projects 

The Origins of Quick Reaction 

SIGINT in Space 

In the rnmme:r of 195 7, Col Frederic 

C. E. "Fritz'"' Oder, Director of the WS-ll 7L 

Project Office at the Air Force Ballistic 

Missile Division (AFBMDi, ln.glewoo<l, 

California, struggled with a ver;y difficult 

budgetary crisis. Fund.s for missile and 

space activity had fallen victim to an aus~ 

terc DOD budget, providing only .$10 million 

Col f roo@ric C. E. Od@r 

for F'Y57, with promise of little more in 

f1'58 Oder and BGen Osmrmd .. L Ritland. 

th~ Deputv Commander ofA..FBMD, . 

de,cided a ;lew approach was required to 

(lbtain effective support for the project. 

Their previous associations with the CIA 

on the U~2 project led them ta the belief 

th · at a covert approach would be more 

palatable and effective. particularly in 

view of President Eisenhower's desire to 

sm.:urc ~open Skies." The plan would 

involve the concept. of covert. overOight 

from orbit. participation of t.hu CIA. and a 

definite project acceleration. Oder's secretary Betty Hawkins calle<l it the ~second 

st.oryn because sh(~ wa15, required to keei> 

the details ma file separate from the 

WS-117L documentation. 

The centerpiece of the plan ,;,vas a 

covert photo payload with a recoverable 

film capsule, to be launched on Thor boostcr.s, carii~r than the aJready planned Alias 

launches. On 7 February 1958 President 

Eisenhower, in a meeting with .James 

KiUian, approved the plan. Eisenhower's 

decision was prompted in part by the 

launch of Sputnik I in October 1957, 

Richard Bissell. Assistant Director of the 

CIA and the U-2 Project Director, had 

agreed to head the CIA effort that would be 

:responsible for the covert security system 

and procurement of the photo payload. 

A]so in February 1958, President 

Eisenhower established the Advanced 

Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to consolidate all military space syst.cm.~ dev€lop~ 

ment. Since ARPA would be :responsible 

for the "white'' development ofthe reconnaissance spacecraft. booster, and all support systems, Oder arranged for his assistant on \VS-1171, Capt Bob Truax, US 

)Javy, to be assigned to i\RPA to assure 

T 1f M!l:u2Pl!!I 1 ,a:n:1:Jt z •a 8) t,,1:\ c r n,[1,r-,,E1, JO,'" 

co' ppr T Cc l JI CheJ ~ I_ . 21 10 

1nf-•n ~,.,J~ 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

ad~q,wtr nm,clmanon betwron thP whit~ 

~upport systPm~ and the '·bJaek" (fJROKA 

payioad. ARPA n,,med the c•,w·~ for th~ 

capsnlo recDvery project DISCOVERER 

and wss1gned t!l it bwmedical a:1d other 

scientific sctivni~s to disgu:st• its nJl 

mrnsi,m 

1l1 :S<1v,:mhf'r 19,59 t'1e OISCOVEftER 

pro,iect w"~ rcu~~igned fmm ARPA U; 1tw 

Arr Fm-ce "" an "nperntwnal" prn.wc:1 

WhPn BGP!I l-foi'f'rt f;_ GrnHr bet:ilrnf' 

Uire,"1.0J <JI rht SAM OS PrnJBct rn .,\ugust 

1960, he uss'd tlw attthnnty t>f bi,; •,~rmd 

tmt" ,., Depmy Cornmamlo· of AFlnlD 

1o ir>cnrpon,t,, Co) Lr•f• Bartle ilnd th.: 

Dl0C0\7ERER Prnjeec Offic,:, into hi£ ,_aq;amrntion 'fo tl>P \mwi1.1mg i"whilP'i Air 

f(>tce t\ml 1.o 1he wHrld ,,1 rnf'gf' it apJwilred 

1lm1 [)I:-;C{l\'J;;!{l:R wa~ an A.FBj,1D s.::JEntific projud 

T..'w$e ev,;,m~ ~<et the st<1g'e for ihe 

ir;v1cntin1 of the Agen::i. Af1'J{A('f( f'rrijett. 

H,m;ld Wilie. whr; wnrite<l for Georgf' 

'.\hlie,- rn oiw Pffic,, ofELf,s;T (OE Li at CL\ 

Hemlqunrten ,n- Lan-gl,:,y, Virgima. was 

Approved for R~I~~.':~ 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

brif'fori on ,he CORO:-SA pf'JJCct in 19J9 

hecaaHn of roncern 111- r hr ! n t,-lligH1c\' 

C.,mmumcv about the el~,,:c,·0n1c '«·o,n1y 

nfthe DISCOVERER Agen:i op"'c,;,cr:ift"r 

commanding and trac;.;mi:: oubs:,,,t'.'ms !t 

wao though: that the Snv1ets rmgh: ll-€ nm• 

.si.ructing: antibaJ list :e m ,~~, le , AB :.1 , :,r 

anti Eanh-',;;tdlne tAES; rn<lars tlw.t 

(ould be us.ed to track ,,r ~v~n ;nt~rkre 

w;th th<c CS tni.d<.in_14 rif OlSCO\"FRER 

.,ateH1kH, 

Willis was aware of th~ ~olc of chc 

LurLf,e,e,I \li%;)p 1rnd .':ipr«•~ Cr,mpr-1.11/ 

1 UHSCi, ll<)t ,mly ,b ll"k ~y,H<,r. L"ll('.Ull'\•r 

rilr dew,\npmer.1 olthf Dl.SC0VEHEH 

Pr,_;J<'d, but also for tht• • .\;r F rJr\·t S.A:,1 CS 

Prn.wcl. wtnch indud,,d ,m EUKT ,·apabli-

,ry taUrd Sl!bSy~tr,m F :sis Fl. lf ~ S.-"1,·t 

rad,o frequencv , RF' tranrmrnsrnn Dr 1MPr 

fPrenee, t.hrfitt ""-lB(HI. 1l,,.,~ wa., r-1. gnnd 

diam( that rn .,,,,·not yh<6 S:'; F wmJ(d 

bt; ,·npablc :,f dN.:nms it. Du1 \\"1ik f0lt 

tht' Srwwt !lf thre\\t t<,ulti ,h"·,,l,,c> 11:uch 

.,omwr m,J 1lwt wail mg se,·,w,I ye,u-~ !o 

,trw,-t it w:w. ,l ~l'r." r,~J,;, prnpo.sm,m, ln 

discuss10ns with Bill Harris ofchc ;__\.!SC 

,"i/S F pflylna,J ~l.aff,md Jl,faJ .Jolm CGpl<c_,. 

th,, Air f\,rc<! S1'-i l' sA:,,.1os P"Ykf\2 m:,r.• 

.flgPr. W;!li~ e~neh,<l('d chat ~ .1rn-;1:l. s,clt~ 

N;n la med el~ctromr p:,y I r,ad r;erm an;,nt ,v 

auadw<l 1.n rbf Hft rad, d tlw n1scnv. 

£RER Agrr::n wdude wm,l,\ i.,, ertpnlh- of 

detc>cting any Soviet i:rackus.r or mcerfor 

~n~p witl, 1.h~ '.-i-band "beacon \l~~d ,m th~ 

Avem, v~h1d1c. Tins ,:rrti";,l bPae"rr was 

lli\'d f0r truc-kmg r,nd c<1mm:rndu1g the 

vehide through LS v,,~!ort b'Totmd rnd0rs. 

Cc;p]ey t>hlamed appnwal an-d tlie ;nini1rn<i 

fundine !Wf~,sary for tilt> payload dev~lop• 

munt, h·s:. am! mcnr,><,rn~ion "" i.llli ,dt 

rack of th~ AgQna \Villi5 brefod l3is~el! 

l 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 ~ -r ---~-~ 

. ; ,?fO.I? · £SCf'6 · 

and obtained CIA approval of the scheme 

in ~overnber 1959. The small AFTRA.CK 

project was undern•ay. 

Although SIS F procurement was done 

in the white world at the DOD SECRET 

level. there was general agreement that. 

in keeping with the covert nature of the 

CORONA payload, activities associat.ed 

with the AFTRACK project should be handled on a stnct need-to-know basis. In 

the .3anie ,Yay they had provided the Hiller 

Aircraft Building as a cove:r for the 

CORONA development. LMSC arranged 

Dffii;1i space on Hanover Street in Palo 

Alto, California, for Bill Harris to conduct 

payload development and integration 

activities. Only those people directly associated with the project 1,vere made aware 

of its existence. 

From this modest beginning, the con-

~~pt of a quu.::k reaction capability ( QRC) 

payload that was sma11. simple, and 

rEJquired minima1 development time 

caught on rapidly. QRC developmental 

artivities for intercept of ELINT had a history m the Air Force dating back to the 

Korean War. when radar technology was 

advancing at a rapid rate and collection 

·~Ystems that required years of normal 

development time "vere hard pressed to 

keep up. The plan ,.,·as to build systems 

that could be developed in less than nine 

rnonths, did not necessarily conform to all 

tnihtary standards {even commercial parts 

~ere allowed t but could operate reliably 

or a long enough penod t"1 ans\.ver urgent 

que~tions and prov~de inputs to the Intelligence Communit v and to the design of collert" · 'Ir ion systems then under development. 

ie Program had started at WrightPatterson AFB. Ohio. at the Wright Air 

Development Center (WADC} in the early 

19,50s for airborne equipment I primarily 

in the area of electronic \\.'tufare}. The 

ground QRC pro6'l"am wa~ initiated at 

Rome Air Development Center in 1955, 

and Copley was chosen as the first ground 

QRC officer. This background provided 

the necessary basis for the concept of 

simple. rapidly developed, and effective 

A.FTRACK payloads fixed to the 

DISCOVERER Agena vehicle. 

TI1e aft rack of the Agena vehicle was 

well ~uited to th1s application. There was 

considerable vacant space availab1e; the 

rea1 problems were pDwer and weight. 

Small, simple. lightweight payloads requiring minimal power were ideally suited to 

this application. A few extra telemetry 

points were always available for narrowband data to he down-linked and a simple 

on/off comm.and did not overtax t,he command system The Agena vehide developers had only one mandatory reqmrcrnent: 

there must be a fuse in the pffwer line of 

the SIGINT payload so that there was no 

way the primary payload pffwer system 

cou.ld be jeopardized. Since the DISCOVERER Agena vehicle flew \•;dth its major 

axis perpendicular to nadir {so that the 

CORONA camera, mounted at right anglefi 

to the long rucis of the Agena. would always 

point toward the Earth :1, it was no problem 

to install Earth-pointing antennas <m the 

aft rack. 

Initially the DISCOVERER vehicle 

had a lifetime limited to five or six days. 

owing to complete reliance on battery 

power. This limited the collection time for 

the AFTRACK payloads but it was long 

loip Gee~ et 

;" ft J1⁄2c ;jij 8'&[1 iJ % '71tf*b 1,r: IT'G 'C':£{ 

CPt 11: r r 1rtc2' C6;:anp11· i"v ni:1· 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Chapter 5 121 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

enough a, tollen uorfol data. \Vhen rhi· 

CORONA Prob'?am dnvelopt1d a ,~apah,lity 

t.~ ne1un, two nw,:,,pr, ca,,s1tlf•s, a S"St?m 

,~1lle 

1 Th,, '-cc~~~~~-~~-~ AFTRACK pavhad~ took advanuge ohm~ 

capatH1 ity cu -ext end the Jr i1fotime by oper• 

i\t1ng dunng th L-~~--~~ for thk 

it wa.s n<'~?ssary tr: ad,l an mdc1pc'nd2m 

prog:r;;mm~r and data link Th,~ wns done 

cmri rn;-rny Later l\FTXACK pnvioad6 did 

rJp<'ratP rlurrng 1hj I Very 

nadv ,r.. the! AF'I'l{/,CK pn,grarn, r,·t-irtk:·~ 

had been add~ci 'w!wre thsc t<clDmetr;,-· 

,.,,.cnni'cr WJ.6 not adequate,°'' the payload 

~ou!d l'GllP,·t dJU,t nv~r 1hP Snviet Unir:n 

and return it w th~ 1«mote :rn.ckmg st;,, 

t,,Jns '.RTS,J of tne US Satdhto Control 

F:;di1ty rSCFi in Surmyva]p_ 

Scttoricv "'"' " serious ccn;;ern. as 

ment,oncd earbd, not only b<!cau~e of the 

CORONA paylmttl on lhP 3>1.nw whicl<,, bnt 

::dsc to ovo,d p1·ovHimg th" Soviers wish 

Hmmunaion to alta~k President 

Eisenhower·, "Open Skies" dfons Ill 

!'paee [rmially 1.lte prnjen wRs band led :at 

thoe DOD SECRET level and ~tric;; need-wkoow was enforced. The initial DOD/CL>\ 

pru1.,n€rohip al!rPemen1, to par,irir,aie in a 

l<nu(,no; H,cronnmssnnt:(• f-'rogrmn \Nl{P; 

ir, S~ptcmocr i96l reqmr~tl s;tneter secL> 

rit:,·. Thu SA.\10S P,o,:rctm Offi~e in El 

Seg1J ndu lwra mf' 1.hfl ( )Hk~ nf Spe(·1al 

ProJecrf iS!IF'SPl LtC,,l Ed ls;N,lH, wlLH 

had \wen a,rn1gncd n·spn1s1b,ky for Space 

SI GJ).,"t Sy•- ,em'> mi ,;be SAFSS sw.ff m 

Wflshington. was tac;ked wi:n de..-elapmg n 

,11.pproved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

more ~eClll'f' ~ystf'rn·/JCC!•SS cuntml ,-\0,Gr 

slru_~gltng n;J_ghnly w11h Air Frm:e 

Starnncy Flf'guht.wn 205-l :rhe S[(;!NT 

prngrnm wnri ~nu umle-r DOD H'rnrily :·nntrc,l,, he came up with rhr cod,cwnrd 

·'EAR DROP" to prmcect AF'TR.A\K )JaS'-

:,,a<l~ This requin>d all personnel reqmrm_~ acee.ss (n 6iμ:n an EARDl-tOP BFtt1nty 

agre»m~m. ,rn<l a li.st of-rlear~d per,;nnnel 

wn,; !nOlnL/JtlH'd. Doeument.o wen· d.3mp,•d 

·~PECIAL f{A,',DU'.\G." iu th;, same 

n;,nner aF the Air F arc~ \J!u~k GA1-,!BIT 

p'.nw f""l"''t ·n1e :,forior.al Re~Y,rmms;,~n,e 

Offic1J -~RO. was (or.med on 2 :,lu:,, 196::C 

1n De(':ember 196~ the BYEM.A ... "i s:,-.stern 

wao applis"d wall S!Gl!,;T Prngramo 

<"Xct:pl 1)1)!-lBK wh>d1 r"mmn .. d "SPECJ,\l. 

HAl'-"DLL'.',lG" ,mul :-S,wember 1962 A new 

cod,('woni. L'ill:POP, repiacQd :nc , \1 r fore" 

E'.ARUROP ind Navy POPPY desn;n~~or~ 

from that t.1nw on ,lll Jpao· <t'Connmo, 

5ance program~ have been rnnducrnd h· 

ths" :>RO uncier sctunty cumrn'. ,Jf the 

8YE\1AK .spt1crn. 

In Decc•,:nbur 1982 Copley waf tran,,-

rerr~d frnm 1h" DlSCO\·'ERER l'mμ:~a,n 

Off1c.-, :~ ehe 1wwly form('d SJGL\T f'n>Jl!CS 

Office ofSAFSP rm Chief~~_JDivi~ion. 

ro.sponsiblc for payluad devefopmcm. In 

KnvPmbff t9Eil. a"""" pror:ram munh,;r, 

770. w;v assigneci tr, cllsas,;od,1.t(' th,, 1ww 

BYEI'v!.A ... '\ effort from ;;he prllv,ou"- DOD 

6Sl8BK proμ:r;,m Boott<o'7. ,\g,mas, and 

Il%(1<:tared supporl £qmprn"at. cumrn,,ciJ to 

he proc;m;d in the whi~c wnrld, bu,; oincr 

th.:u; time all paylc-ad~ :lave been pr"curu<l 

:hrrmgh hictGk BYEMAN cor1trart.,; 

Vive d:ay~ pr.or ln th~ lat.:ad, <>f!J,,,. 

firhtAFTH.ACK pa:,c!Md (,n msrov£RER 

r:l. liJ August 1880, the US Intdh;:unc~ 

r 
Board 1USIB> issued thti' first nationallevel S!GINT requirements document, 

USIB-D-33.6/8, "lnt.elligence Requirements 

'1r a Sat.eJlit.e ReconnaisBanc~ Sy!!tem of 

\\'hic:h SAl\.10S is ,Em E:x:ample, • 5 July 1960. 

P.'llrat:,rraph le stated: .. . . ndd1tional 

types of directed coverage may Ix: 

ni,qu1red. Pro\"ision ~hould he made to 

pr-ccure such equipment by Qukk Reaction 

Capabilit.ies (QRCL" Alao ·•. . a close 

working relationship between the R&D 

organiz.ltion and the Intelligence 

Com.munity is required," Th!i> AFTRACK 

Pl't:!.Jt.·cl penmnnel felt that the program followt~ this: direction very closely' 

f'ullowing the STARF[SH h1gba.ltit11de nuclear tests launched from 

Johnston Island in 1961. LMSC, m 

rt>~μontilc to a new rcqui rement publi.shed 

by ARPA to investigate the t~ffect of these 

nuclear explosions on the ionosphere. 

devdopt.>d a subsate1lite ~alled the P-11. 

nus was a small spin-stabilized JSatellite. 

a fr~-tl1cr. weighing a little over 200 

P<iund::s. !twas first carnE:'d into orbit on 

the aft ra<:k of the AgcnH vehide s.nd then 

sepurated and boosted into its own orbit. 

hi~her than the host vehicle. to carry out 

Ll!l mission 

\\'urk started on th~ first ARPA P~ 11. 

taJl~d HITCHHJKER. in the spring of 

l9S:.!. Ct \,•as to be launched from l,he aft 

'~k of the DISCOVERER vehicle, once in 

orbit C1Jl Lee Battle and his .staff at the 

DISCOVERER Project Ot11ce brought it to 

~"' attention of MaJ John Coplt-y, \-.·ho 

Poni.ored the fixed AFTRACK payfoads. 

They pc:unted out to Coplev that .a 6ub~ 

111.ellttc.<. free of the Agl!n~ \'e-hide. would 

•llb\l,, s.election of a choice of orbital 

altitudes plus a potential of much lunger 

life. The orbit.al inclination would h.:nre to 

be the same as the host vehicle, but thrn 

wa~ no problem since the host phrJtO missinm1 used the same polar orbits desired 

by tht- SIG [NT missions for ,·ovpra~t" i_,f 

th~ Sovu=,t-Sino Bloc_ 

Shortly thereafter Copley briefed 

:\1G1:m Greer. Director of Special PrnJect.s, 

on the possibilities of the P-11. With 

Greer'•::i approval, CopJl!y bncfed 'the 

Dm'clor ufthe NRO iDNR0:1• ,Jo:-ieph V 

Charyk. m the summer of 1962 and grJt 

Charyk's appmva.l to !'.ltart the proJect 

The firi::-t l.uunch of what wu:e Lo be Pro1ect 

989 occt.1rred in the summer (Jf 1963. Thi::; 

development eventually led to the phasmg 

out 1;f the fixed aft rack payloads on the 

Agl•nu v~hide except for thf' '

1

vulnerability 

payluuds.'' which were cont1ma•d on th12 aft 

rack of all photo missions to detec:t hostile 

rad3r tracking of the veh1dt". Thl· lusr. of 

rhP SIGINT AFTRACK payloilds. m1s~mn 

7225. SQUARE T'\\'ENTY, was launched 

28 October 1965 on vehicle 1620. Although 

the 72XX Rerie.s of misE:lion mimbers was 

continued after this time for 5econdary 

payloads. none were mounted un the a.ft 

rack dunng the time framt' t:overed by this 

history. 

The AFTRACK Program 

In early 1960. concern \c..·a~ growmg in 

t.h~ US Intelligence Community that the 

Suvwt. Union was building not only missile 

sy:;.temi-- but also systems to counter US 

missiles end satellites_ l:-2 photcigraphy 

had shown that large ground radar sites 

were under construction at the Soviet Sary 

Tdp !itclCI 

11.e,i.'e ztBrC11 1 T;t:[; T=lfi; fnf~ 

&;"£1jptt~~!i ~ (t'J p,j'/ I q{I 123 

8 ~··£~ 9 J ..;,:• .. ~ .. 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

rvp11 ;:.cc ct 

t ·cGIYR, CR:O 1 

lt:fi [c:::et 

f!U!L ~ a B\E 1- J. Tt .. f,4F ICE, ,at1-

SIGI\JT :o 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Shagan R&D test site in the vicinity of the 

IIrissile launch pads. The Soviets also had 

:geveral ships and trawlers equipped with 

large radomes whose purpose was not 

known. In February 1960, Harold Willis 

of the CIA Office of ELINT (OELJ. having 

recently been briefed on the CORONA 

photo satellite program, contacted Maj 

Copley and told him of these concerns. He 

expressed the national-level fears that the 

Soviets might in some way int.erfere with 

the operation of the CORONA command 

and tracking subsystems. 

Copley was responsible for the contract with L1'1SD to develop the ELINT 

subsystem. S/S F of the SAI\{0S Sy.;tem, 

for the Air Force with the Airborne Instruments Laboratory {AIL) at ~'iineo1a. Long 

Island, New York. as the subcontractor_ 

V11TiHis had discm.i::ied with Bill Harris of 

the LMSD SIS F office the possibility that 

suppun might b~ available on the aft rack 

of the COROKA Agena spacecraft for a 

srnall electronic ''black box'' that could 

detect. any electronic interference to the 

llli.ssioo. \Villis had also discm.sed the 

Problem with G~ne F'ubini of AIL. who 

became an enthusiastic supporter of the 

AFTRACK concept and suggested a small 

Payload ea!lcd SOCTOP, which received 

signals in the 2.5- to 3.2-MHz frequency 

band 1n which the Agena S-band beacon 

(\~rated, It required only an on/off com~ 

lnand and a fev,· t.elemetry points to encode 

its (JUtput, Copley 1Nm, able t.o obtain the 

nnnimai fundmg reqmred, and Willis 

an-anged for authoritv to mount SOCTOP 

:n the aft rack of the DISCOVERER 13 

Rena veh1de_ The presence of SOCTOP 

~eated \'ery little notice when DISCOVRER 13 w-as launched on l 0 August 1960_ 

Most of the attention was focused on the 

recovery capsule that attained fame as the 

first object to be recovered intact from an 

orbiting spacecratl ( something the Soviet 

Union had not yet achievedL 

111e immediate analysis of the SOCTOP 

darn was almost as remarkable as the capsule recovery. It showed what appeared to 

be Soviet tracking of the CORONA spacecraft on almost every readout by a CSoperated tracking station I.there was no 

recorder. so data could be received only 

when the spacecraft wu.s in view u[ the 

tracking stations). That Soviet. tracking 

was so extensive worldwide was a surprising and alarming discovery: ,vmis quickly 

passed the "'tracking" story on to the 

InteHigencc Community. However, further 

analysis of the data revealed that SOCTOP 

actuaUy was receiving signals from US 

Verlort radars at the remote tracking stations i:RTSsl as th!::!y tracked the spacecraft- Despite the embarrassment to Willis 

and others caused when the error was discovered. the small AFTRACK payload for 

QRC response to urgent ELINT questions 

did catch un ! 

SOCTOP was the first of a long serie.s 

of "vulnerability" payloads, so called 

because of their part in an NRO program 

to detennine susceptibility of reconnaissance sateUites to hostile Soviet ( or other i 

activities. Eventually this type of payload 

flew on almost. every Program A lowaltitude reconnaissance satellite 

hunched- The objective was to determine 

if Soviet or other hostile radars were actually tracking or trying t.o interfere with the 

electronics on the vehicle and the degree of 

success they achieved. A byproduct of this 

¥.i,;, !J<:f! et J/J enc "a:Q~T•L t'T@Lg;fl([V'/O~;," 

15tit £ ;;, ;;; f ,_ Di h, 01 C/iJ! Mll!?IS JC ii Mt Chapter 5 125 ' 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

activity wm, ''"rifioi.ticm of the tratkrng 

radar cilaracter,Etlt6 or dJii~(1v<cry -0fnew 

vanat)Jns in their ptlt!em~ nr;r -'if'c'll prf''-+ 

ou;;;!}·. The payload 0on1lguratrnr1 d\acged 

:u npw and rn,prnv,·d nadung n1d~,~ 

unpenrc,d nr;d a,; rnllection paykmd r,,x:hnology imprnv('d. 

ln pnr-iy 1!163, folluwlng a s~r\es of 

SOC'l'OP lmm0b,-~, a o><np\'tm,m was bcld 

h the Specrni Profecrn Offi~c lo des;g:n,:;. 

mort oophiBtlrnt,,d pnyLnd ~Nx,hle of 

nc~Piv:11g :rnd r~turn,ng diarncw,isnc~ z>f 

,1un:ils i:i tl:PI lfrpqmmc_,· 

ri>ng:t A rc~order wns to he mduded, 

l',Ls,ml,arger 4nd hb rnam ,11 EIAet.rornc~ 

D-Hfen~P L,t,,wat.m":_1- cJS:DL,-.',ylvania ln 

~,foumar, View. Califorr,w., w,:,n the ~om 

p,'tmnr, ar1d prndu,·r,,J 1he np,a,· ,·Prs1m1. 

km:wn as STOPPER Th,s ,m1.iated "" 

,.,,,,. :nntmum;., !hnmgb 197,~, Ul wh,d1 

EDL pr1,duted all uflhe tkctronic vulntrability r:ayhta,l~ th:at w~re i11.stallPd ,m '"'"'1 

phntu ,md SJGJKT sr11.e!H1.e,. 

w thi,. frequenc:, ran;;;e B, :h,3 Ume the 

NRO had bHct\ formed and th<' SAFSP b 

E'. !',f'gtrntlr:. Ca:iforma. had be'c!J giwn 

rP~JWH,• ,t,, hty for the di•vekipm,:1 tr. nf " .,m -

v1vai:niity ;iro~'ral!l for all :XRO vel-,ides. 

Acrnr<lin;dy sponswd11p of ~hrse "BIT 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

boxe3" was transferred frorrc the SA.YSP 

E.:l,J:\'T :>flie€ ta dw S.'\FSP "" lnernbihly 

offir~ 

\·fa1 1furio,y J. SlwdmP d~vPlnp+'d tlw 

com,~pt of tai;c;r:mg the freq uencv c.-,verogr 

of th~, BIT bm,e~ to the known radar th,,~.ntr. 

rothur than duplicating the mis,ion ,,f t.h,, 

~:LINT sM.Plfoe~ ofl,mkjng for npw thN'ato. 

TI«c datn from the STOPPER m1H1Dns v.a~ 

μr,,cc~sed .a.t tho EDL Svlvn.ma pl!mt "" 

M,,nnt;,;,, V:'cw. California. :,;",, lon•igi: 

attvmpts tu pr•rbr,, ,mlock, tlw lw,,-ron Gr 

lo,,_,,.,,., crm:k t:Je 1 'S HpN'P nd1id~ wHrn 

di,,envneci 

\lany VHS!Oll~ of Hw BJT bmws Wf'rP 

c]pvdop,!d ~; lH•W rn,b, data wc·o ,.-c1•1ve.J 

m;d JS pciyioaci con~tn:.~tion m::hnlqu0s 

impi,wpd_ !:ITT [ 1.hrrn, •h fX ·wrninns wPrt' 

lm,li as mnn, rbl.a n 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 1,srSa, ,=6R<?ar, 

The BIT box output was distributed 

to NSA and other interested agencies and 

was also used to program the operation of, 

and sometimes to aid in the design of, 

other SIG INT satellite payloads. ~SA had 

no re,~pon.sibility for procc.'=i.'=iing the vulnerability payloads but did benefit from the 

results. ll,fany reports were issued showing the caoahihtv of thJ 

Following the first AFT'RACK payload (SOCTOP 1.1, flown in August 1960, 

Gene Fubini and his AJL team came up 

With a simplified version of the forward 

rack SA.MOS Project 102 pa,yload (F-2} 

that would simply scan the 0.4- to 1.5-GHz 

haod tD detect radar activitv in the Soviet u . ~ 

nion, including suspected ABWAES 

tadat::;, Its mis-'=-'ion ,\:a~ almost the reverse 

ofSOCTQp (detection of ground radars 

tather than radar tracking of the satellite! 

so, naturally, it was named TOPSOC. It 

Used the F-2 high-gain super-heterodyne 

re-ceivers and. essentiallyl omnidirectiona] 

antennas. Since TOPSOC lacked the 

directional antenna of the F-2 payload, but 

still retained the sensitivity, it ~cooped up 

a Jarge number of interleaved signals, 

horizon w horizon, including sidelobes and 

main beams! Although an RF band had 

been chosen that was thought to be relatively quiet (400 to 1.600 MHz), the first 

TOPSOC, launched on 12 September 1961. 

encountered a signnl environment in the 

Soviet Union that proved far too populated 

and active to be successfully processed by 

any automatic or manual techniqt.1es available at that time. The first lesson in 

matching the collection system to the processing system had been le-arned1 It was 

also dear that, in the 196Us, there were 

many more radars in the Soviet Union 

than previously thought. Another thinglearned was that unless the intercept is 

unique and of very high prionty, an inter• 

cept without a location has very 1i ttle 

value { at the same time, Navy POPPY 

satellites ,~tere proving this same axiom L 

The TOPSOC launche.s occurred in 

the summer and fall of l!=.161, but sometime 

bf:!fore this another approach to the QRC 

AFTRACK payloads had developed. In 

t.hose days, the Air Force sponsored an 

annual review at the Stanford Electronics 

Laboratories (SELl in Palo Alto, California, 

of SEL's activities in support of ELINT. or 

more precisely, the electronic wad'a.re community. These were called the Techn1cal 

Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings. 

Almost all contractors and government 

agencies involved in the development or 

use of electronic warfare systems attended 

regularlyl making it one of the premier 

Te;p Seu<~ , rsuok ma ,i, En ;;,i-'F- ,t.., ~F-,(f• 11eJtf 

:::'.'P 1'* r:e . .,,··:·Ja _1_ Jc xP 127 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

11 i 

-
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

ELU,'T ev('nts of the year. rn1'll this time, 

pf course. ground, seil, and airb<1rne μ'.atforms were the c:,;tcn~ of the dis~ma10nt. 

B,!l Harris, dw LM~C AFTR,'ICK 

pa~lnB<l rn,>rt11g;,r, Pbll OoGrsam, L\1SC 

SIS F ""1n:1g,!r, ilt1.d !>faj Cu-piPy attemh•d 

th,. TAC meeting rn August 1!:f60 m s,!ar~h 

of cuncepb for AfTP.ACK payload,,. At th,, 

me<ctin~. ,J ,m lleBruek11.rt of ~El. d<cn"mH.ra ted a n<'wly dev+slr>ped rrunrnrnrizf'<l 

rece,vN. W,ti-1 c'1_e r~c~11·er cnn,kcted c, :, 

pnwer ,net<cr, h.• h(vl be<cn []yin,,; 1t ,n his 

(>-wnn curpl:r1,,.(fr'.'tllld the San Frnn~,scu 

Hay >1re/\ h! d,·rmm.slniw rndm·-iocatH>r, 

tocrlrriqucs. IbrTis asiw<l DGBro0k<"TI ii 

his r<cteiwr ~n,dd h€ adapted to an 

AFTRAf'K 1n,p!fra1rnr:. Thf' r~Bul! w·rn 

1'}1.lQ man:i.ed afn,r 1t,,1 I 

it wa~ ,mended tn n•t€ ·e ,t 1 and it used 

mcbd,,d H tap~ recordGr, r:rnkrng 1t thf' 

fiEt ,\.:"<-TRACK pa_vlo.id w1th th;o ~apa.hi!• 

it.y. BiU Rambo, ,n ;:barge of SEL at thr 

tirne, ww, it:lrig1wd with thr s,mplicity of 

t\w ,·m:wepl. and e1-,en made ,1 ~hurt t1-mrn 

cnov,c t,_, illns.trat;: 11. This wns the beginning of a hmg assotiation be:μ;oen SEL, 

L;-l!SD, and SAFSP that <cndHI nniy whrn 

1rntdino pn,1.er,t,·d t,;EL',; "'''"ln,rmmt with 

the mititnn' dur-;ng the V)ernam war. 

D,m ~;rnco, whu bernm,, 1.lm SEL 

mnrrngiIT for AFTR,\CK pavln.ads, sec up (I 

smal) hh 1n tho ha,,;:ment ,,f their hullding 

ntl lhe St,mf,,rd cumpus when.' Don 

E~frng<>r bmll i <"H&e.n tiall y singlG-h:snded i 

all thr· SEl. /lilvlcmds, 10 t◊tali. Otherv.,,y 

:a;x1b\,, 1r..,,mb,cr2 n( th,nt .9taff wtr« Jnbn 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

Htimer. Ttmy Ta.u~:;1g, Tom l-,l,];,,,__ and 

Chuck Schoen~. DeBrnek~rt- Miles. :1nd 

Hunter ;,,~nt on tu form ARGO S,-,,ccms 

when the ,miver~ity guve in t!l μron'.~ters 

ir, the -,p,ing pf 1957 arid ~IQ,;ed 5EL 

f,;~lmgPr went to (iPnrgia 'frcb, .::icbo<cns 1n 

SLmford H.c.s.,ard, !.aborntorw~ -SH.Ii. ,rn,i 

!,-. 

c,-,-,,-.-o'f'A',-,,1-i=~'"'ll<~hn~-o'lo-go-,'ln-,---,','T'f-~ 

Tbe .'in. policy WHA t.<, de~ih,'Tl ,mci build 

thf hr.st of n m;w .,«rH<~ u:al tfwn t"rn 

produdic-n <:>vcr to ;nduFtry Fuilnwrng 

TAKI. WILD BEL was mve•r,ted in ~he' 

~pnng cf lfl61 , N€idw~ 1;rae~ nnr 

DGBrack;;n: w,:,uld ;dm1, wh .. + B,llHarris or Rambo----;t was n:1mcd after' 

WlL!) Bil.L's rn,,~ ,~ w·;s tr -,-, 

~l"T'ill" fron--, th,,I 

I SEL huiit 1wo W!Lfl 

cB~f'L'L-,-,-,'lo-,-d',-.",'h~at co, crcd the :'rn)Ufllc; 

r3ng,, of -JO w 15'..I \TH:;:, ~nkuL,kd --G <w 

the most prd,abk band Iha~~~~--~ 

w,mltl utd!!.i·. Tb,, first. WLLD BILL w,l.~ 

launcMd or: 7 Julv lclfil 1nd-0p<crat,,d for 

two d:1•~ ,vith r,,J importC1nt mCer~epts. 

ThP ,p,-,,nd, d<c~ignat.ed WILD R!LL l. w,D 

launched nn 27 Febrnary 19&!! and ,·,per 

at\'<l for only t'ND Jrbns with no ,-;i~iiicunt 

n'~uits. La WY ,:ersions of'\.V1LD BILL 

w<cre lmilt by AT!. whid1 had bGen formd 

Hi lh~ Palu Altv area by ,Juhn Gngahy. 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

another fonner SEL engineer, LMSC had 

contracted with Grigsby to build the fol1owon versions of SEL payloads, 

I I For this rea:=;nn, WILD BILL 2, 

Grigsby\; first copy, launched oo 12 

December 1962. covered the frequency 

range of 55 0 to 6 20 MHz. Once a.gain the 

results were ni]. Since another si al colle 

was es1gn or 

0 ta 230 MHz. This worked, WILD 

~lLL 3, launched on 12 June I 963, co1Je<:t1ng tn the 150- to 230-MHz frequency 

range. made the fir.st confirmed satellite 

I int cem of th: Sm•ier on 26 June 1963. 

I Poppy f'" ,;adc intercepts of~~~~ radar in the same time period. 

The \VI LD BILL 3 intercept was the 

fit st time that th~ I signal 

~ad been collected smce its first ground 

ni in October 1962. The firs~ I 

tructure was seen in U-2 photogp Y m April 1960 and th~ I 

This was confirmed. ,shortly thereafter by 

an intercept by POPPY mission 7102, 

launched on 15 June 1963, plus additional 

intercepts by WILD BILL 4, which was 

launched piggyback on the POPPY launch 

vehicle. 

FoUowing the WILD BILL missions, 

John Grigsby (who ,vas quite tall) proposed a payload that would define the center frequency of thd 

I I The payload was 

given tho name of LONG JOHN and was 

flown on three very successful missions 

between 27 November 1963 and 13 June 

1964_ A fourth LONG ,JOHN (this was 

actualiy LONG ,JOHN 3. launched on 15 

February 1964} suffered a recorder failure 

immediate]y aft.er launch. All of the 

LONG JOHN payloads were launched on 

lop $e,z: et 

/1a1,oft ,a, J:11b?Lu1~J,1]J.<IIDJr:'.f ifll~t~--

('.@J 11> ·r Ce J el .:ID1 x( k !'!It Ch.toter :i 129 

s~·E-'n'!,-·'W 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

The last AFTP.ACK payh,oct de$igned 

and built hy Don Gr:ace and his SEL learn 

was PLY\10lJTH ROCK It c!Jvernd th,-, 

frequency range of2.0 re, 4.0 GHz and v;as 

hm!t n.t ttw r~quest of SA~' .'3AC' lvid cm 

urge;,t electromt order of battle IEOB: 

r<eqmremen1 u; rdl'ntify ,rnd loe:,tp a~ mrmy 

~s p,,ss1bk ~~~---=~~" ,nth,, intc,r,m pr10r to the launch <Jf the 

Projett 69SBK and POPPY mrnsions 

designe,I for tbls ,·,Nernc"- Tlw ml.em was 

tr: prnv,dt· Jll oatput c,,mpatib'.e with thie 

EU>JT proeew,;ng: ~V5tem co.lied FI"\.fDER, 

which h~ci been de~ii,'Ill-ri fo proc~~" dmn 

frum tl,c C-:! nnd utJ1cr uid.,,n,., ;;<,l]<>ctinr, 

av.sU'ms. PLYMOlJTH ROCK l wuF 

;,::, unclwd c,n '.<4 :'.\c,vcmber !862 .md ach.ic,·Ed 

(<( lea,r tWn first~- ,1. WHF- tlw firnt Ar'rRACE 

ps1yloa,1 r.:, reuo<w," m1M,◊1l numb,,r. '!'.!ill, 

m uccndance wirl1 ,hr n,:w B'.{EMA.'\' proc,,dures. and 1t was also the fir~t 5p,we 

p:iylnad lo ,b!· a ,w,-,eprng yttriuu,,,r()O• 

garnd C'\-lG, fil,er for frequencv discrim; 

nation. Two more PL'l:'.1-fOT.:TH ROCK~ 

WPN' bu;lt hy ATt, thP b.s1 of whfrh had 

th(, fonhn disr.:n◊t1un Jf be,ng the only 

AFTP..ACK nayloud also carried by th<' n;,w 

P-11 μr,,4,mn 

Tlw ourput.s frnm tho AF1'RACK payloads, 1ndudcd-c<lmMuUted data from 

se!ecikd po,n\.s nn the primary mNslo,i 

td~m,'\Q' rnrnmuta1or .and ,1ho, J.t f.lm!o~, 

ren1rdi:r l>ld.pul. lr6m tlw. AF'TRAC!{ fl,\ylu;ui Lxt pJy!oad was unique and pro· 

dcc,,,l diff,,rFnl prncc's~,ng ,rnd anaJy.si~ 

ehntlr·nge., L'.\lSC protPs~ed the darn :n 

,,valuate p~ylo.ad perfm,mun~e ar,d asB15t"d 

:,,sA ttnd SAC ,n their proce~omg and mrnl• 

:-Hs pJfor:. 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

Data from TAfil. '.VILD IlITl... TOPS(l(', 

PL'.t:'.,IOUTII ROCK. and LO'.iG .JOHN wrte 

processed at :-!SA en an el~ctronic machmf, 

eompiex KTii-'W!l ns HOPECl!EST. 

HOP]::CHt~S'l' was a :-nmhrnamm nf an 

1)nalog-to-d)gital ronwrt11r am[ a. CDC 

lfi(JA ,,m:ipuler {r11piac~d with,, CDC 3JOO 

rnmput,:; 1n th,, eHd- to Inc\' l~i>,Js,. Tlw 

J.tlfrrcnces in data format for <'.ac-l-. mtssrnn 

reqllir'cd \'i<t<•nsive pn>gnrnrniing pfforl !n 

wnrc aml ext ens,~" rrmdmw-tu11e :u dl<:c¥. 

out the ~omput,-,r pruwams for rnch mdi 

,·1duJl packJ.e'.ic Frequcnt'.yn:wrr tim<:> 

w.Js -;μent ,n developing th( pru,e£smg 

!hrm wa, r,!qum'd w prou·~, Urn ,hi.a Fnr 

,:,x:;.mplQ. on~e the basic compuCcr pml,T~m~ for a TARI m1ss,;,n wtT~ wntten 

3r.d ehedwd out. ,t lnok "r~hmv,•ly srr:311 

;irn,:,unt of time lo prncrss a11 the form a:. 

ted da:a !'com th,'lt TAK! ,rn,-s,,:,n m:d any 

s,,,\:w~q,,ent ,der,htal TAKJ m1,swn. 

l · nfort,rnllkl}. nWH nm;~, ,an~ ",,, e ft(!! 

iaentical b~cause the A.FTRACK p,:iyloaUs 

had to wmpote for points er. th,, primar:,• 

1ms.siut1 1.c>lf'metry cummurntnr. ~o d,ita fo,·-

muw rhania::~d fl'f'qm·mly. An,,lv,1:, ,-,f th<· 

data still required extenr,v<• marn,al effori 

al!er <;rm parnlld w,t.;l tile m,,,:hine p,,1-

c,·s~mf,, 

SAC proce~sin;,: and ,ma]v_s,.,. cf dnr~ 

frnm lhe A.FTRACl'- ;>ayi"ad~ we-I'\' fr<,. 

qucu!.ly d<,n!: b_, U,lSC m buddmg C,24, 

S,mnyvnl,:,. for SAC w1th SAC 1,art:opatwn, L'.1-1SC provided spa~,:, Jud equip 

:,wHt for SAC irnJiyst.s. :'<SA ar<alysin oJ' 

th<' ltnuted durn from tlw five TAKI tl,ghta 

re-vealed a hig-h d,,n,;1ty ofL ____ ~ 

Soviet earlv waminp: radar1;i1mals irnd 

pnwitf~~ h_gnal parum\'terf. 

Thi~ was im JUrt.ant at :bat ome ~ince ihe 

~--~ ra<lur was thought by some 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

elements of the US Intelligence Community 

to function as a part of the Soviet AB:ri.'l 

system. 

The PLYI\1:0UTH ROCK data were 

processed at LI\-ISCj NSA. and SAC. SAC, 

\¥bile the AFTRACK ELlNT story 

was unfolding, other parallel efforts were 

underway in the CO~HNT area. Interest 

in COI\UNT had surfaced in several 

Which he .suggested some elements of SIS 

F of\,~S-ll 7L might be adapted to 

C0:\UNT collection. but he felt that f easi• 

bil1ty needed to be demonstrated. 

It was Capt Don Wipperman and his 

associates at Air Force Security Service 

iA.FSS), San Antonio. Texas, who came up 

wiU1 the first CO),:IIKT satellite concept. 

Together ,vith the AIL team, they presented an idea for an.~ 

ca.pablc of int~rceptin(________J 

communications signal that was then 

thought to be from the prevalent air/ground 

!NG) communications svstcm m the 

Soviet. Union. This res~aed in the TEXAS 

PINT (AFSS was in Texas). Its on]v drawback Was that \',,'hen launcher on ~10· August 

l9Bt, it shnv,·ed thHt had been 

supen,e<l ed b _y rn ore adv an eel~ I 

communications systems. It did provide a 

goOd look at the V11F environment over 

the Soviet Union. These data Wl~re used 

extensively in later payload designs. In 

the summer of 196 L Sanders Associates at 

Their two NE\V JERSEY payloads 1 the 

original idea came from IIT in.Kutley, 

New ,Jersey.l, launched on 27 ,July 1962 

and 7 January 196-3 intsrce ted und 

located severa 

~------~ The follow•on NEW 

HA).IPSHIRE payload ( built by Sanders 

&~sociutes, Nashua. New Harnpshirel 

never flew, due to contractual difiiculties. 

ln another area of the co:r,,n~T 

scene, Wayne Burnett of HRB-Singer at 

State College, Pennsylvania. camt\ up \',,·ith 

a concept to intercept, encode. and rf'corrl. · 

It was necessary to encrypt this COMINT 

information on the down-link to .safeguard 

it from Soviet knowledge. This ,,;,·as 

accom:r: lished by u::;e of NSA•furnfr,hed 

~---~~nc::ryption equipment. utilized 

during rnadout to US tracking stations. 

The intercept electronics, mv~nted by 

HRB engineer Conrad \Vclch, resulted in 

three GRAPE JUICE payloads, launched 

on 12 December 1961, 17 April 1962, and 

1h r 1962. Th ' brou ht back 

l~"frd!1 I hn!i#J s u fY&, 1 1 r T t t 'r ·r •:Tr 1(:Jt E 

Cfl• FF•IT Ct t :tt 1 CJ.a,, t l:s /_,' ,;/p 

Bi'E-91'1?i\14 

Chapter 5 131 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

paylnnd l,rnndrnd ,m 4 Dccemiwr 1962 had 

pretty ir,ud1 the same rn\ll1o A fo1(1.l versinr,, OPPORK:S:OCKITI' 1'•i1. tullf'b but 

Two nwre pHyio;id~, SQ CARE 

TWENTYaw;l D()KX,:EY, launrh\'<1 ir. l!lfi:; 

rrnrl Eiti7, complet<cd the ,10n· uf A [<TH.ACK 

COl,,.HNT rnllcction. \Vith th;, =ren~nc-,, 

t« , la1 P. tl ,., cmwPpt of ropyine cvntPnt 

\l',,rn 11,w nrbil,irs was b,mw its at1.rni:1.10n, 

and accuratu l!!cation Wat' becl!mmg" 

,nore imp,,rt;rnt n,r101deration SQUARF; 

TWFSTY dewme:l to l·:e;a:+' tl•: Srww1 _ _ _ _ Jomrnum-

',c.,c, ,c,,M~,,,cmc,,,,,."""' a<,~,c,cmc,,.,,,,~,,,,1~8 OctolH,r 

1965 h l"«l H mi00,iccc,Ji<dlC1,e,,,,~A_ll.ilim'-a 

ami 11r01h,c,•d rn:itw 

;d,;n ind:, n;py n,pab,Jit.y hut. r,,u:d no1 

lr:ck 011 r,,,. p ... riod~ lcmg f'!lo1Jgh to bf ns,,fol 

One other AFTRACK p;;.yload that 

WE1⁄2 a.-\.uH.lly ;nte_r.'rated imu the frrmt rnrk 

>Jionr. w,1lL .\lFLTlGROUP 2 m,d S~'.Tl'ER 

lB was DCl:'.',rri:EY, iaum:ht.'U on :u July 1901. 

Thi~ payi;,.qd web p;;rt of a progn1m initl· 

,m•d by Cni ,)oh:, Copl,sy, whn wa1:- then 

nsr;1gnd to rh,, )hmn,,d Orbit,11g r~1br,rnror:,, 

· .\'lOL, staff at CS Air Fore~ HoadqunrlErs. 

Tli11 payk:id activities wt•re handfod undE:r 

11w BYE MA:'. prvgrarn h1>i through a 

umC)u,, m:1.nagem2r,t arrang~men,;. rhe 

ov~r;:d! effort was m;i.11aged b,v the Air 

Fwcl, B,1cK m februar:y 1865, Copky hact 

lwen ass1gr.11d l.o d11wrmi,w if th11re Wf'Cf' 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

rmy SJGl:lT apphcill.inns rhat 1mght lw 

enhanc';'d by ~he manned aipect ~f the 

.\fOL . .Sevsral l'~U:,,JT appl1rnl.1mu; Wf'r+' 

axnmmed, but in the nrea of \0.\llVr Uw 

;ntcr~c t-0fthe1 ' 

could rrlso be collened frc-m th;, s,aelub<'~. 

however, intercept lime,; ~nu:d !w lf'nitJ1-

,,r,ed appnuaMy and rnrt:ht pe:"rmt mu•rtept 0f adjac~nt 0mittern ~n t'.rn sam~ lir.L 

rtwreb_v pro,·1ding the nP~eo,ar;- tont,nu,t.:: 

ThiH i.s whctt 1)0;\;Ti.l:Y at1Prnp1td lo 

dern,,notraw. 

A program dtveloμed b;- the '.+nun rJf' 

E-Sys\ems m (iHrbnd•c-lm""\, m,d U)L-

:Sylvam<>. u::,wg So,·1et 

&pedfinlifm,c"~~=--~~c; 

!'lirhnr;w I.PHdnμ rlg;,mot "BlmHlM.P(~--~ 

krmm,1! wst»lled ,-,, tlw E-Sy,,~rn.s foc,ln,:,: 

An Air }'<Jrt"f.' helicopter wa0 llded '.Oily:, 

prtyfo;;.d in an imerrept pat.tprr, lhmugh 

Urn rnurn h,,am und ,nd«lcbes :il'\h,, 

microwctn, <>ncer,na. Phil Fytt nnd:; teclrr: 

of ;ma!ysts at .EDL ;,,n;dyzed dw dJttr, ;rnd 

mnd~ r~cGnmip1H!atinrrn for miss1011 ;,rnf,k;;. Th~ rer,ulh ,v,•rn J>..lfo;icn;:ly ,;,ncourng,ng to condntl' the ka.m that a ~J.tdh1e 

test ohou]d b~ performed 10 verify the 

tligbt"t>,e! dala Ls« uf' a "pintoing f'-11 

&nH;foW was rnnmdered. bUt the n;iect for n 

three-J.X.ls-st.;:ibk platform indicc,ted the 

Agena wh,d~ was the approprint,:,. carriN. 

VmcP Hf'.r1r_1', t.l1f A.FTRAC;( and 'f'.) l 

l 
)> il "O 

"O 

..., 

0 

< 

CD ' 

C. ~ J -

0 ... . ..., :: ,t ;:a "": CD .c 

CD " Q) 

CJ) 

CD 

.. 

I\) 

0 

I\) I ..... ' . --

0 

co 

--

0 

..... 

() 

0 

0, 

..... 

(,.) 

.I>,. 

(,.) 

..... 

0, 

:i 

::r 

~ 

"2. 

~ 

:.n 

Flight sun1mary: Pro8ra,n A, Project A.FTRACK srGINT payloads 

w1ssroN* I PR~~;cr 

NUMBER PAVLOAD 

MISSION 

- - NIA s,ocToP1 ** 1 

-

NIA TAKt1 

- ·---·-·····~ -·--•l----1--_____:::~--I-_JL_j _ _l_J__.: 

N/A WILDBILL 

- NIA TEXASPINJ 

~--. TOPSOC 1 

I NIA ,, I TOPBOC2 

I NIA I TOPSOC3 

NIA TOPSOC4 

QAAPE- NIA JUtCE 1 --NIA WILD BILL2 

GRAPE• N/A. ! 

JUICI! 2 

NIA I TAKl2 

~NEW RSEY1 

GRAPE·-

JUICE3 

ClS = (1pr,•r•I S,u,~l, 

EUHT-01 

HM 

11.IHT.QI 

AIM 

COIIINT CODY 

IU H4'1'. CD 

I ~-·----+-----+-----!-----+---

·----+----+-----lf---+--,;;;:-,-::;-.;;:;;;;---t---1---+ 

I 

1 

I 

♦ M~I- .._.,. • .,,u nbl a1...,.llll!l 1g ,ii, , M &~; I,. p,,, ....... 11111"!1 •! ilfi•••ll'llll I• tlU 

•• fei .................. bllHar ·•·rll!'l•d• 1,.,,,. ·" .. ,c,.,.I. 1.tCUllil 

2 

-

2 

a 

• 

I 

7 

5 

)> 

"O 

"O 

..., 

0 

< 

CD I c. 

-

0 

..., 

I :j;i;:o CD 

CD 

I f el 

CD 

I\) 

0 

I\) 

..... 

--

0 

co 

--

0 

..... 

() 

0 

0, 

I ..... 

(,.) 

.I>,. 

(,.) 

I ..... 

0, 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

-i..; 

""' Fli t sun1n1ary: Prograrn A, Project AFTRACK SIGINT payloads (t·ontinued) 

PFl:OJECT 

nd IIISSNJN 

PAYLOAD 

Elltfr 

ROCK 1 Gs 

4- --· li.lNTQS 

VINO 1 COIIINl' COPY 

7204 I 

EI.Mr-Ofl 

I 

1214-1217 8 

7205 Sl!Y2 

EW 

~ 117-1/14 8 I 

' 

7208 VIN02 COMINTCOPY 

7207 WIUJ,IIILL 3 EllNf..Q.I 

2/28 (l'Illed to orbit) 0 t I 

13 

7218 EUN't-GS 31 

12 

HS 

1 20 

19 

2/15 319 23 

- 13 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
)> 

"O 

"O 

..., 

0 

< 

CD 

C. 

o' Ht ..., 

;:a 

CD 

CD 

Q) 

CJ) 

~ 

I\) 

0 

I\) 

...... 

--

0 

co 

--

0 

...... 

() 

0 

0, 

...... 

(,.) 

.I>,. 

(,.) 

...... 

0, 

Flight surnrnary: Program A, Project AFTRACK SIGINT payloads (continued) 

··---•* PAYLOAD 

OPPOR- 7215 kNO --

722:S Nl!W I 

HAMPSHtRE 

7225 I SQUARE 

TWENTY 

7231 I DONKEY 

u,ss,oN 

...,_.,,ml 

Co.f'fCOttY 

co.n 

COIP'l'U>C 

COMIHT 

~ 

COP'fll.OC 

canceHed due IJO IAi!'!hnlirJIII IDflj blt!iffl8 

LIFETIME 

Deya 

53 

20 

190 

)> 

"O 

"O 

a 

< 

CD 

C. 

o' 

..., 

;:a 

CD 

CD 

Q) 

CJ) 

CD 

I\) 

0 

I\) 

...... 

--

0 

co 

--

0 

...... 

() 

0 

0, 

...... 

(,.) 

.I>,. 

(,.) 

...... 

0, 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

mm1n~er at 1_.:,,1SC, dutermined 6at a Jorn, 

twn c,n th<' forwllrrl nwk w;is lh~ only prn,·-

tirni plan• t.r; mmrnt th~ 6-fnnt Pxpaadab[., 

parnbolir; ar,tenna required for foe rm~swn. 

Ag>-'ml Ydrn:\e 27'.l2, achN!ukd tu lawnd, 

t.!1<: :>H:LTIGfl.Ot:P Zand SETTER lB 

payiocd.s in ,h.ily 18G7, =(mid have n~w, 

mere, pow;,rfol CASTOR !1 ".>liJ rnrhto. 

prov1din1; gre,.i,·r thn:c'lt rhan the prcv; 

mi~Jv used thrurt-nugmented Th;,r iTATI 

booster Thi~ rnndc 1t a logienl ~hoiu, for 

the cictdmon <lfDONKEY. tnst,;lhl1on of 

all lhrP? 1 '" yioad.s ',utcl udmi; ;Jmce nut -

hnard Pxpandal,ll ,:mtPt11msi rrq,ur,:d 1·ery 

m,wvauve engineerm,::-. This n;1ay lonve 

lw<cn t.iw r:nln: ,n ,vh,d: tJ,e paylGad wa~ 

named lH )Nh:YY ,for lack ofn. bn:,:1 

i:xphmuwn,. 1n anv C(l.S(C DONKEY 

boac:tErl an independ~nl dnwn-lir,k and 

when lmmeiwtl "" i!.J. ,July 19157 upernkc! 

:W da_1·., hmgPr dur e. tote.Id Hl~ dm,s' 

\bin :11,, ntJ,.,r payload,; folln1<-ing th;, fa;lvrP ,,[: i).,j r dH u, hn k trn.n~mrHPr 

J)IJ'.\"Ei.EY wn1 unnh:e w pc,,.fonn che 

s:delob,, ,nklligiblity m1ositm (lfl ncbit duP 

t(> th€ fail11rP nfthe pointing lfJtli'hanLSlll 

"" th+< 6-Li,nt di~h ant~.mia. 't'his d,d llGt 

μr;,s·..r1t mapping: oith mitt~r J;,ca- o--~~ lions. re,ulting il1 rhA devFlopl:lent nl'a 

gnd iff'.'uivmg a IH-rg-P mc1jm1ty nf'1.irnL ~~ __ 0 

emrtlen in 1.b, SuY-ie1. l"nion. These prf'-

1,minar:,- COMI:"-IT data wer<.' vahmbl<c ir1 

m;s.wm plannrng for 1he I 

~~ 1 In fa.ct. the nntinl rrirbome inldlig1-

bilrr.y prugrnrn rnnnm:ed G'c'rlfl Pit-senharg,,r 

oft;U[ and \',rwe Her1n· (and bb h!ns, 

C,,oro-e Mrnai-,,,; ofL'.'-1SCI 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

emitter a~ th'c' fow-urbmni; \tOl, flew 

swi/i.ly nvn th0 .So\'lel l "m/Jn 'th:i m;1y h! 

!lnotlwt explrJ.nation for the 1.arnP nf th,, 

DONKEY CO:i.!lNT AITRACi{ ,,, ·Juad; 

The hc:mw1s pr,;ducicd by 

SQCARE 'f\-\'E0TY. DO'.'/KEY. and t.hB 

later ARROYO P-l l pa~ lo;,id i\>rn1sh,.d " 

wealth of ,nformrrt,on rn bnmnc- t}w 

All oflrw di,tu from the C'0'.1-ill<T p,,y-

),;ad,: "-<:r;:a an-'!yz1cd r,t \he ,,,;ntnwnr i;,n:. 

,1.1t•s ,rnd :,t :JSA. mostl_v by rndwr lnbc,r1-

ou~ mnnnal proc~ssmp;. The ,nformntwn 

gained from chu enrly TEXAS l'J.:--;T. :S:EVi 

JERSEY. GRAPE .n:K'E. :rnd \"[KO p,,_.... 

inads was rn1mm.u! except for :h;:a dtvl'kpm'c'nL u!" n healthy r,,,,puct !ur the mterforern:e Bnvironm,•nt ,w,!r ea,;l.~m H:,rn.sia 

/JPPi)Hfi.J\OCKlTY m;idr l~.JOO ,M"r-

~rrc<li;rn1 ~ c 

L___Jsib''Irn]J that c,,nta,nt·d ;,,;,-,,ra! 

rnt,,w· ,, and"''"'" vu,ce m,1des. T)w~,, 

St:,lL'AH.E<: ·r\.\'£:'.\TY macie l,'.:!!;10 lIH.-Pf' 

,~ept;; of r.he Soviel 

r 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

50 miles on single hits. Poke-throughs 

(ground antenna main beams hitting side• 

lobes of the payload antenna) we.re mini~ 

nriz.ed by the payload's ability to measure 

power levels of incoming signall.'i. Unique 

infonnation was obtained on the Soviet 

SQUARE TWENTY achieved its primary 

objectives and yielded su bstant1al evi. 

dence to support further efforts targeting 

microwave communications. usmg satellites for collection. 3 

DONKEY mappe~ 

locations much like SQ~U~AR~E~T-\~N"E~N-TY~~ 

mapp,e~ I During the DONKEY 

payload's five-month lifj starting 24 JuJv I 

1967, it detected Soviet 

signals on over 1,000 tasked orbits. Trusking 

included command selection of various 

RFs e) 

~----~ 

The high sensitivity of the 

systenl resulted in false readings due to 

the n1a1n beam of thel7ram,rnitter 

~lng recoived in the ~es of the 

DONKEY antenna, However. other data. 

such as long-intercept durations and 

am.pljtude-versus-time profile. were used 

to validate the true target location.·~ 

AFTRACK payloads such as OPPORSQU,.:\RE TWENTY. 

<llld DONKEY rnqmred extensive, time-

;ns1Jnring manual analysis. Typically the 

SA analyst would go to Ltl.·1SC when the 

Payload was launched and work with the 

Payload designers and operators for a 

week or more to validate the data and 

methodi::; for anaJys1s_ Data would then be 

~-------~ I The time information 

with ephemeris data was t.1sed to plot the 

position of the satellite at the time of 

intercept. It was then possible to use all 

the manually derived data and make determinations about the Jocation and pointing 

angle of the transmitting antenna, its signal type. and probable user_ These efforts 

were so time-consuming that it took hvo 

years to manually analyze 11 days of 

SQUARE TWEKTY collection. Five 

month,!, of DO:::-JIIBY collection also tonk 

about two years to analyze, even with 

additional analyst assistance. I\fost of 

these data was analyzed b of 

the J\'SA 

~-----~ 

wit e a e assistance 

of other members of his group, including 

~-----~ 

his chief analyst. 

The AFTRACK payloads had run 

their course by the time of the SQUARE 

TWENTY launch in 1965. The much more 

capable spinning subsatellites, called P• lls 

fop Xu ct J hs dJt t.& ei"l:'rut ,, 4 f 1£:f. JT ;4fq J tt:tr iCtPt rrr ITC f . i Gf . ' he: ,, Chapt~r S 137 

fj~•'f.<11'!'7'1;1,j 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

hv L::YISC, tClOk QVer thE "rigmctl QRC-t-.--pe . . 

m1.ss10ns ofthr-AFTRACKs. and went ,,n 

to gmn.rnr rnpabifay. utihty. mod in,,vitctbly. 

the, :;teompanying anri PV<'r-irwreasing ~OKi 

PN.1ject 989, the P-11 Spinning 

Subsatdlites 

Th~ P- l l ,;1 ,h,;at,.llilP prnJe<:t, a pμrnwd 

by D!\W) Char;tk m th€, aimmer of 1962. 

waa to lwcome th« mamFtn/ of tlrn Air 

Fllrrc• J'n,_,rr;;im Ai S!Gli\'T low orhners by 

the: <end of t b<c d,-.n«lf' c\fre r tlw cr<>we llH -

wm uf the ST!i.c\\l.'MA:-; i;roJi:ct ,u Hl7!l. 

th, Atr ?nn~e P 118 and Ciir ;'l°avy POPPY 

romp'."1%ci th~ ;,,w- ~~==~~~ nrb,t S!(;r:srr smdliH• p, og:ram. 

The ARPA-sponsornd devs,)opmenr of 

HlTCHHfKER, th? Fr~t. E.M;SC P-ll, 

~l,nwt'd th~ w,;,y tu u,·,•rt(mt"1l! tlw m:my 

l1m.1tul>ons of ch(· SlGINT AFT RACK pn}'• 

loctc!s, Because the P-11 wn~ lu.un,hed 

from t.h,. ])]SCOVEREX Agena aft?r ;l 

wils rn orb1t, mnllrn:JJ f'm«gy was rrqmred 

u, hao~t tho P 1;: tc, the n,aw_ h,g:her-0rbit 

n~e-dHl lo prr;v\de thP hinger hfe~im,-. 

Key accomplishments, Agena 

AFfRACK payloads 

• Reveoled high density ofSo'/1oot ratlan for 

early warning !Jf oircrafc. in 1961. 

• Prnv+d ]r,wrrnp~ oflnw-powet, law-\1H.F 

rnmmumcatinr..s from spncE, induding 

:al,tomatw ro~ogniiiun of acl.iw; signals on 

s,,.,if'tl fo=urrications. m 

19fiL 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

d~sired for SIGI:--T mission~, ln add1trn:i 

to lon,'; life, :i major ndvantagc WJS the 

mo.nyfold incrs;ase in avaibbk pavloud 

weight, provid;ng greater capability and 

versatility. 

l"&l1owmg ◊n-orb1t reka~\, from !hf 

Aiwna, the ~atdliw was .spun up t;, 

upprm:imntely Dne rE'\'dut;"n per sprond 

hy small s;ulrd :.,ck~t mntoro flnng perpen 

d1culnrly tn the h,w ()f fl,gin On 1!:w 

ARPA '""rsion, EITC:EHJKER. ;,. lnrge 

rn·hd rDek~t ornr mmmrnd on the spn 

a.,r~ wHs thpn firf'd t" obu.in rJ:p dPsar~d 

1·c-::u'.tnc Lirth orh,1 On dw .'HC!.\JT rm,· 

,1rnn ,,mdlites a im3Uer rod,et was LLo~:1 tu 

bo,,n th,; ,~tdlitb t-0 a new orb,t "1th a 

27:'i•rmle apog,•e Virmg ,, .,Pc,mr! r,wkH 

r,ngrnc- ar n.pogrr, ,,1rculanu·d rhi '.H hn :.t 

arc abtudE of 27t, miles, pr0v1drng: y,:arn of 

l"'t~1,w1l lif6r.ime 

The Erst f'-11 c, wrrf' h;,x,1gr,nail )' 

~hap,,ri an<.i abrm\ 40 m~b<cs rn dmr,,d,:c, 

wmgh<id 2?(! pournh, l!Hd ~ulm· :Hrays 

at1.11dicd to the veh1de th3t f!mr;;rd a >nt 

ter:,· for power. ,;nd cDntninud CJ. command 

rPcerv~r ar1d telPmf'1ry trnnsrm11 ~r. 

~ Produced locati;:;;ru, of Sov1et commnnira 

ti,mf lrruu1mitters j<J.r intelltgerwe 

da!.ab6Ar in 1966 thet was bt~t' used for 

I I 

• Mo11itor>2<.l Soviet radar tradnng nf US 

recormafasance 8atellites. 

l 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

lop Ss;>t! t l 

1fa dh r.u :81! t~.@ ;f 1d"11J d'11 ,c:tf 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 ~-i-- ---·-~ 

, . ar~: $it , o:atct >1, 

The power ::!ystem was upgraded with the 

launch of veh'ic1e 4401, PUNDIT 4, on 28 

April 1965, by the addition of a set of 

erectable solar arrays that were unfolded 

on orbit. i\.s weight and payload capabili& 

ties expanded, additional erectable solar 

arrays wore added to match the power 

capacity to the mission requirements. The 

spinning-pencil-beam missions, starting 

with vehicle 4402, FANION/I'RIPOS, 

launcht:d 25 June 1965, introduced a sun 

sensor and a horizon sensor to support 

their direct.ion-finding capability. For 

more ncctarate spin axis determmation. 

three ~un sensors were 1ncorporated in the 

la t~r dirnctio n-fi nding mis si on.s, s tarting 

with vehicle 4423, TOPHAT, launched 18 

November 1970. Vehicle 4427, ARROYO, 

launched IO September 1971, was the first 

vehicle with the electrical axis of its parabohc dircdion~finding antenna parallel to 

t.hc spin axis of the vehicle; it used a magnetic attitudeyc-ontrol system to maintain 

the spacecraft axis withjn a few degrees of 

the orbit plane at 55 degrees north Jatjtude. Commandable spin-rate control had 

been incorporated first in vehicle 4422. 

TIVOLI 3. launched 4 March 1970. Almost 

every P-11 vehicle added one or more new 

features. These capabilities did not comtl 

without an accompanying increase in weight 

that saw the 240 pounds for Pl;t,,~DIT 1 

f:,'"rOw to 380 pounds for MABELI 1 the fir.st 

P-11 launched on the new HEXAGON program, which used a Titan launch vehide. 

The additional weight-carrying capacity of 

the HEXAGON vehicle made it possible 

to build the 665-pound vehicle 4429, 

RA..QUEL l, launched 29 October 197 4. 

The SIGINT P-lls were initially 

assigned project number 770A. but m 

1965, because of an NRO adm1mstrative 

change, the number became 989. This 

number stuck and the project has since 

been Project 989. 

A .. 5 the project developed, additional 

payload capabilities we.re added. The first 

P-lls had essentially nondirectional 

antennas and were intended to (:Ollect spe• 

cific emitters. primarily to obtain textual 

content of the intercept data. These were 

directed-coverage missions, which induded 

PU~IT and SAVM~T for on-pad and 

launch telemetry and \:VESTON for radio 

teletype and voice content of the Soviet 

VHF and UHF mumc-,ty 

tion s ·stem and 

&A,s the advantage of ~----~ 

C01HKT mapping over copying content 

from low-orbit became more obvious I primarily because of the mterference environment and limited time t.o copy content l, 

direction-finding techniques were mcorporated in the directed coverage P-11 pay-

]oads in addition to the content copy 

function. In the C01HNT area, these 

techniques ,vere used by ARROYO for 

~------~ icrowave communicationl:l and TOPHAT for Sovie 

communicatiorn,. 

The first ELINT payloads were 

also directed-coverage missions, with no 

direction-finding cap.ability but with increasingly capable technical intelligence f TI) 

capabilities. These included NOAH'S 

ARK STEP 1:-:l-. SLEW-TO, :MAGNl.Thl, 

FACADE, TIVOLI, and MABEL!. These 

were followed by the general search { GS) 

a.nd electronic order of battle (EOB) 

Tap :5ccmzl 

14(1 [:,th 4 f (tJ!ii!i): ( .. AUi/. ij'. Jm1111t 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved f~r.,!~.e!ease: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

missions that used spinning-pencil-beam 

antennas for direction finding. These 

included FANlON, TRIPOS, SOUSE.A, and 

SMlPAN, The one exception, PLYMOUTH 

ROCK. v,tas the first and only GS P-11 

payload with no dircctionyfinding capabilw 

icy: A combination of these payloads. p]us 

LAMPAN and VMfPAN {to extend the 

search range of SAMPAN), was used to 

attack the ABM probJem when it became a 

vital concern in ]ate 1966- These were 

SMlPAN, LAf.fPAN, VAMPAN, FACADE. 

TIVOLI. ri.-lABELL TRIPOS, and SOVSEA. 

The last phase of the program saw the 

development of spinnmg-pencil-beam, 

monopulse payloads with all digital out· 

put, capable of providing direction-finding 

information un a pulse-by-pulse basis. 

These were URSALA RA.QlIEL, and 

FARRAR, with GS, EOB, and directed-

~overagB capabilitis!:l_ 

By 1962, the long~standing requiremeot tn intercept telemetry transmissions 

from Soviet missile launches had become a 

major problem for inteUlgence analystsThese data carried needed information 

about the missile operation and launch 

Profile. The CIA. NSA, and armed ser~ 

Yiees intercept .sites strung around the 

fleri he ' ,-..,-..nnr l ' 

v t ts t1me, most 

of the critical missile staging and thrust 

measurements had already been transmitted to the Soviet ground station. 

Henry, Pwll payload manager at LMSC, 

'\.Vere impressed with the importance of 

intercept.ing on-pad and liftoff missile 

telemetry. EDL-Sylvania was i:hosen to 

build a payload for the P-11 that could 

accomplish this task in the low ~lHF 

region between 61 and 76 11,lHz. Bill 

Perr:y.* the EDL payload engineer. knew 

from the experience of previous APTR..i\CK 

missions that the payload would encounter severe electromagnetic interference_ 

Tu counter thi::i threat. he incorporated 

interference-reduction nrcmtry designed 

to permit payload operation in the presence of strong TV and FM broadcast sig, 

nals_ To increase the flexibility of the payown-link us N A-furnished 

This tirst P•Il pay\oad, called PUNDIT 

(relating in some tortured way to Charlie 

Tevis), was launched from ARGON verncle 

1601 on 29 October 1963. The payload 

operated for 19 months, but the interference problem everyone had feared mm1~ 

mized the payJoad's ability to extract telemetry data from the intercepts. The 

probability of receiving launch pad test 

telemetry appeared to be good, but, of course, 

the probability that PlJNDIT would arrive 

Qver the launch site just as a missile was 

being launch~d was very low. Three more 

PUNDITS were launched over the next 

~ William J. Perry WE!.l> Din~rnr (1f Sylvania/trtneraJ 

Telephone Elect?"Ont(: Defan~e !..&bnratories rn 1963. and 

in 1965 h" founded l:SL, lnc, Later_ he served as l;JndeT 

Secretary Qf Defonse fo~ R~se:9,rch arid En!):ine-eri g 

d977-l9Sl i. as Deput)· Secreta.-y fDefanse ( 1993,1994;, 

and as Secreta,i, of D~f~ru;e 1.bei,rinning in 1994>. 

'Fop Szc,cl 

Ha, dCte · 8):;S,:11 ti Ia!ft T i•T)';t.lSLE 

cs ,,. f 11t· . c• Li 1£L >m:11!, 141 

8Y.f.t;1J;q7,."':.,1., 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 l{(Jf Sil lfflC C,, 4 

year and a half with rather marginal 

results (PUNDIT 3 suffered a launchvehicle failure!. 

In 1965 Bill Perry left EDL to form 

his own company, Electronic Systems 

Laboratories (ESL,1, in Sunnyvale, 

California. He proposed an advanced 

version of the PUNDIT payload that would 

have the added capability to cover the 

Soviet'.'S newly developed UHF telemetry 

frequency bands that should be relatively 

free from high-power radio broadcast and 

TV interference. This payload, SAVANT, 

featured electronic recognizers to assist in 

collecting ~~~-~~=~~----~ telemetry used by the UHF telemetry 

transmitters. It also featured advanced 

FM and T\t interference cancellation. 

There were two successful launches of 

SA\:-\1\11', on 16 JW1e 1967 and 22 September 

1969. Both missions operated for well over 

a year and produced greatly improved 

telemetry data. 

PUNDIT 1 collected "VHF missile 

telemetry in the 60- to 80-MHz frequency 

range on 24 orbits; some of the telemetry 

I I 

I I PUNDIT 2 

operated for three months and PUN'DIT 4 

operated for 21 months with similar 

results. The data collected by the PUNDIT 

satellites were processed at NSA and conPUNDIT provided the first real volume of data on the signal density in the 

Soviet telemetry bands at satellite altitudes. The signa.1-den::sity data were analyzed at ESL 1n Sunnyvale to develop environmental data necessary for the design 

SAVANT 1 and 2 provided 1-I\·IHz 

bandwidth predetection data that were 

processed and analyzed at _:\l'SA. I I 

WESTON was the on!y directedcoverage P-11 COMINT satellite with no 

direction-finding capability. It was 

de-signed by Wayne Burnett and his 

team at HRB-Singer in State CuJ lege, 

Pennsylvania, as a follow-on to their 

OPPORKNOCKITY AFTRACK payload. 

\VEST~O~~~=~~~==~~~~ 

nt o 

~---~~d a 100-kbps down~link 

using al ~ncrypter furnished by 

~SA. The launch was delayed for more 

Top Szucd 

H?ad(? J ik,1⁄21 q % fl!!*' ·r ••flt !@l:f 

141 The SIGI NT S~t""l lite Story 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

.um two years by a combination of trouble 

in passmg the system test and the overwhelmmg priority of the ABM-intercept 

P-115- WESTON was finally launched on 

30 September 1969 and operat.ed for 11 

months on orbit. Nominal rosults were 

achieved pri.mari]y because of the same 

interference environment that had 

pestered its predecessors. 

WESTON data were manually analyzed at NSA. The data analysis confirmed 

the interior of the Soviet Union, first 

dete-cted by OPPORKNOCKITY in 1964, 

WESTON further demonstrated the severe 

European FM broadcast interforence problem in space. The heavy interference and 

signal-density environments made data 

"'nalysis very difficult and 1imi ted the 

Jlue iJf the collected data. WESTON dis• 

r()vered V 

STON ahm produced data on the ELINT 

,------"=~_._., om ~--------~ 

oviet ABl\-1 radars. 8 \VESTON ~~-~ 

c-"LI-'--'-'---'~='-",.,..__,,__,r.~;3,5, TIVOLI 3. intercepted 

~-~--~·rnd I lradars, 

revealin~ additional signal data.~l 

1c 'fhe P-11 COlVI INT mappers included i ~ and TOPHAT. &.:\.RROYO 

~ L_J,vas approved in 1966 aln~1-o-st~-~ 

r -~Hnultaneous1v with th 

t 

It Was built byAlL ro ma~p-m-ic_r_o-~,r-a._v_e_t_o_w_-~ 

e:rs operating over the 1,200- to 2.200-1\-iHz 

I

. ~d 3,400- to 3,900-MHz frequency ranges. 

. aunch was delayed until 10 September 

1971, primarily because of the high pnori ty assigned to the P-11 ABM payloads. 

ARROYO featured a 6-foot expandable 

parabolic dish antenna point.ing in the 

direction of the P-11 spin axis, which used 

conical scan j~--------~blus 

fast RF search with signal recognition 

lock-on and ~ideJobe-1nhibit antennas. It 

was also capable of precision power 

measurements and accurate RF determination. Orbital lifetime ended after one 

month due to a massive payload failure. 

The ARROYO data from the analog 

magnetic tapes were recorded on roles of 

!ARROYO showed 

TOPHAT. built by E-Systems in 

Garland. Texas, featured a 5pinniog inter• 

ferometer with bac:k&to-back pairs of com~ 

cal spiral antennas r first pneumatic 

deployment) and had the mission of locating and recording selected voice, tone, and 

teletype channels of Soviet trope.scatter 

communications emitters in the frequency 

Top Scc;e1 i I ;qQilr t ii MW Ft 11'!* """"a&fs .... Vf!d 19!£ 

Cf?• fl:11 ftft)1111aJ· Chtt ;11z }1 ,a, 1:!/y 

trrf'. 91 '!~rV4 

Chapter 5 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

' ,, " 

I U 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

range of 450 to 1,000 MHz. The output 

data were digitized at a l•Mbps rate and 

transmitted on the down-link u8ing an 

NSA-fumishe ~------~There 

were two launches, one on 18 November 

1970 and one an 10 April 197 4. Very successful orbital lives of almost four and six 

years, respectively, were achieved. 

TI1e TOPHAT P-11 down-link was 

recorded at the remote tracking stations 

lRTSsi in its encrypted form. The data 

were then fonvarded to NSA for decryption 

~nd nlYlil cc'l,,iina I I 

[ lwrote the software at 

NSA to process the data. TOPHAT data 

analyzed by~----~ nd his team provided the complete stroctun, of the Soviet 

emitters. TOPHAT also provided support 

to the~I ----------~lsystcm in 

its CO~HNT mission. As a bonus, TOPHAT 

The first directed-coverage P-11 

ELINT payJoad was NOAH'S ARK built by 

Applied Technology, Inc. <ATI), Palo Alto, 

California. The S)'Stem engineer was Tony 

Taus.sig (whose first name was really 

Noah ► (lnd the mission was to intercept 

I land other 

iugfi.power radars in the 154- to 550-MHz 

frequency range. Launched on 6 July 1964. 

the tnission collected data for 35 days. All 

analog dstn were analyzed manually at 

NSA_ There were no significant res~lts. 

Next in the series was STEP·l3, bullt 

by HRB-Singer, which had an ABM search 

mission covering 150 to 230 :VIHz. The 

coverage was selected based on 1.3 unidentified signals intercepted by a CIA periph~ 

eral intercept site and believed to be AB:tvlrelated. STEP· 13 was launched on ~a 

October 1964 and operated for four 

months. The data were manually analyzed 

at NSA, SAC, and LMSC and provided 

several unusual signals. including a Soviet 

like radar signaL 

The third P-11 payload in this serie::; 

was I\:lAGNμM. built b, AT~ to collect fort.her data o~~~-----~ nd other possible high-pmver search or ABM radars. It 

mvered the 100- to 250~MHz frequency range 

and featured a recognizer plus sample-and• 

hold circuit · to reserve 

was aunc e 

on ugust a mission lifetime 

of 19 months, and made a major contribution tq th,:. "'~ d, 01 nd rrstanding of the 

Sovietl~----~_μr.\1I radar. l\ofA.GN1J.ll 

produced both wide- and narro-.Nbr.rnd data 

for analysis. Wideband data were received 

through a filter with a bandwidth of 154 to 

1621\.lHz. Narrowband data \r,,ere received 

through a I-MHz filter centered about 158 

MHz, which permitted rm estimate of scan 

time as the signal swept through the filter. 1 1 

The lVlAGNUM tapes were ~creened by 

analyst.s at NSA, and those eontaining sig• 

nals of interest were analyzed at either L----------~ 

lop St<.:.el i '1!1!!iil~ ·:11 :FKf±16 ~' Tj l fh 1

f ···p(tzff?I L 

~gr ilftT ··: 1 '~.·1 I JJL JI Cho.pter .5 145 ll rf. 9 T ~7,"14" 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

·~I"=-•~· ,n,·of~, g',4·~11!\Y.1, 4 

presentation. Analysis of the JvlAGNUJI,[ 

daia determined the~-----~ of 

th lradar signal.12 1\-fAGl"•rUl\.1 

intercepted thsl radar at 

SLEW-TO, built by Bill Pcrry·.s nE£~w 

ESL in Sunnyvale, California. WHB the 

first payload t0 feature predetection 

recording and a recogni2~r and delay line 

to .track the 

adar. It covered the fre- ~-----~ 

quency range of154 to 163 )'IHz and used 

a new 1-MHz bandwidth magnetic tape 

recorder. SLEW-TO was launched on 9 

May 1967 and had an orbitai lifetime of 

three months. The payload .sph t the 

SLE\V-TO's wideband down-link faded 

after four days, but the narrowband 1.150 

kHz) predetection recorder and unique 

The FAC . .\DE P-11 pay1oad was acwally the first in the series of high-priority 

ABM search missions authorized as a result 

of the Hdrry Davis Committee recommendations in lat.e 1966. It was launched on 

2 November 1967, ju.st nine months from 

lspr !i@t:1 l!t 

14b The SIC.INT S~h:llite Scrir,. : !\Jrns'i, ,m 1'I (, ,tz. Pf. 1(L; f~J:rt.,,;; J:,]tfCCH i!>'F C:~ 4 c 'E"a t ¥Jc 11 It 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 1 fJ :'Lh ," rQ::pr 

I'ap S« u,. 

,t;;rnuh <LJ !!)£, t1 4 r ",, r 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
l 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

the time Vwce Henry ut L:\!SC w(l:, h>ivrn 

a ~Zhthead. fo C0Vf'r HU R1JSpe:-t+«l ABM 

fr~•iuerw,rs rt ,·ovHrnd 250 tn ~.250 Mrlz rn 

Th,. TlV()U P-U pay\9qd was in 

:Jmr~lnpm+rn1. when !CACADE "'"~ authonzed bui;, due w ,ts mor~ sDph1$cfrateci ,cir 

~•utry, u,dd nnt bs> readi<'d nn the de6ired 

IHnf' Hcalr 11. waf buill by fESf. and in1ri a 

mure c;,paHc t~drni'l'ill mtdl,i!Ult() !TL 

des;μ;n thci.t (OH!red fae frenuEUC'.- ran~" ,_;f 

JlrO w., 4.0'JO \Jff, I 

~------------~1 Jt WJ$ 

launched en 24 Januury l9B!! and had an 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

,1d1;bl iifotm:w ,;f 15 m,;nn,<; Ther<: were 

Lwn :iddmn,rnl TlVOLl la,mchrs. ,m lfl 

:\,larch t(i69 ;ind 4 _\fare/< l!l70. '.>rhUI '.d'et,m+•s were 18 a:id 2il r:wn\hs, r~sppe1i,·~i_v 

Tb, 1.:,,Jnz bandwidth nrrd,•a·, '1011 c!,, 1 ·, 

TlVOLJ 1 p,oducPd deml,;d s;gn;,lmnduJwion daL, "" nurnnnu~ .Snv1+'t AB \I 

nrbncJ I 

l hP,,t, tfat;, were dth,r l\/'W ,,,ua ,;r ,;,m'.i"-

rnatrons of the dau, pr<>d1werl f'tsrl1Pr t;y 

f'OPI'Y and :\lt'.LTLGROCP [n addi:,on. 

TlVOU 1 1<lenlilied a m>oS1bl,, mode 

~~-~-~----~1TJVu;__.; l 

.abn prvd,wed tlaia on a li\tmber n1 new 

,md ciru<knl1fh·:i rc,dar,;, 

TIVOLI 2 rnlfocted a num':Jn uL,dd1-

t1onal nf'w ~r,d \l(JU,;v(<] digr,JI:;, '"' "Hf ao 

umlirnnnR r~su/(.J frnm TIVOLI l ~nd 

othar sateliite intcrcqJt:; TIVOLI 2 founct 

r 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 ~ .Jl"ll:"-P'C~ 

J()f()R I qmf5fEt :31.;; 

Analysis of data from the TIVOLI 3 

flight refined the technical details of the 

Sovie I 

I I . informution on th~ 

27 New 

signals wen:~ dcttcted in the Soviet l:n1on 

and China. 

The la.st of the directed~coverage TI 

payloads was ~·1ABELI manufactured by 

ESL to provide technical intelligence on 

and measure the effective radiated ower 

'ERP) of the ABM radar. 

aunch was on 20 January 1972 

the orbital lifetime was more than 

S-even years. The :rvtABELI data were 

screen 

)ifABELI made precision main-beam 

'.radiated power and polarization measure• 

rnenta on volumes of radar."=;, incl udin all 

oft 

), analyzed in unprecedented detail from 

IABELI data, and many te(:hnical reports 

were published by :NSA. Some specific 

results included the followimr: I 

Chinese radars were also intercepted.31 

The next Reries of P-1 ls were the 

spmnmg-pencil-beam general search (GS) 

and electronic order of battle (EOB, coilettors. TI1e first of these, PLTIIOUTH ROCK 

vvas an exception m that it did not have a 

spinning-pencil-beam antenna, It had 

been an AFTRACK payload and SAC had 

dev e] oped a capability to process the data. 

In order to provide a longer life and consequently more data, the la.i:::t PLY1i.HJVTH 

ROCK payload was rnoonted on a P-11. 

but there was no way to add a din=dion~ 

finding capability without major modifications. Adclitionally, payloads with directionfinding capability were in the planning stage 

and the primary mission of PLYMOUTH 

ROCK ,vas to obtain data that SAC could 

process for its ELIN'J· EOB files on an 

expedited basis. lt was launched with 

STEP-13 on 23 October 1964 and had a 

orbital lifetime of 134 days. 

FANION was built by Jim DeBroekert 

and the Stanford EJectronics Laboratories 

\SEL) t.eam. It used a Mills Cross antenna 

to provide an in-track and cross-track intercept, the intersection of which was the location of the target. It was designed to collect 

I I 

Fop 5cc. zt 

! J;11aYr , 1;; b1!:Cub\J1, J.H[Nf }([1 J !OLE 

Chapter 5 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

was in :he design stage. DeBru.Ju,rt was 

<:nnvinct"d t.ha! th,. BIRD DO(; would n,iss 

~~~------~ dm·H, 

la,· k nf sm,s, t,vny. 

FA.;,.,"JOK l, m1sRinn 7.107, wa~ 

hund1<•d un 2i> ,fmw 19GS and npurnt,•d fo, 

21 mnn,ns, Tbrn m1SM◊n ,·oUvctwl 1lw 

t;,rc,n-n-a.ekn" s, al from :[le So,·iet'-' 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

f<'.A.NIOK ?. m;c;s1<m 7:Jl7, L;,,ndied 

; b '.-kprern b~,· 19/;G. n;,eru:,✓ Ii" 1/m,c, 

:uonth~ F/,KlOF 3 r?EXI\"0:',11, E·,i,1,C,_;n 

~:,Jf}, :a.11nd1ed on D :,.Jay Wt-7. op<,rc:,t<cCi 

for /'O ,hn ,.;A(: procps~ed ths rbLJ irnw 

bath c,f theb" mis51ons for '\SA a~ da,,cnhed 

,ibovf :-mtl produced a large volume 0[ UfP• 

fo'. EOB dHtR. M:rnu"l .signal :rnalys'-" at 

>l~A foun<ll 

TRIPOS L 1lw fir.st LrnP sprnmagpendi-beam system. built b~- ATL was 

l,rnnthedas a compan,on mis~1011 (m th<c 

er<me P-11 a.s FAN!ON 1 on~:, ,hme l!J&::i. 

Tf{Jl'OS wa~ a ~e.,rch svs;;~ni c,,Jlcctmg 

,,gn."-b ii: the -1· to fl GHz range, with J 

lomtiun capabJlity prav1dEd by a J.foot 

dir,'ctirmal amer1nc1 thc<t ~camwd l'.a.tb'< 

Airfouc wish a patt~m reMmbl,ng a Jkncil 

t;r,:..im.. TRIPOS 1 01wrawrl for 21 mr,mhs. 

TRIPOS 2 was launched wnh FA~ION 2 

r 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

on 16 September 1966 and operated for 

three months. The analog data from these 

systems. were processed and analyzed at 

NSA The software used for each mission 

was modified as necessary to take advan• 

tage of experience gamed on previous mis• 

sions and to account for individual differences or problems associated with each 

m1ssion_.34 TRIPOS produce~ 

described earlier in the FANION processing. The technical signal analysis of the 

TRIPOS analog data produced reports on 

a number of new and unusual signals. 35 

The last P-11 payload developed by 

SEL was SMlPAN. It covered 2 to 4 GHz, 

used a 8-foot parabolic dish antenna and 

had an inhibit function. similar to that. 

used on the MULTIGROUP payloads built 

by AIL. to prevent interference from main 

bea:rn1; of ground emitters. (1\vo omnidirectional antennas received main beams 

on signals seen in the sidelobes of the pencil• 

beam. antenna, A comparator determined 

if the signa] in the omni channel was 

stronger th an that in the pencil-beam 

{;hannel and, if so, inhibited it so that it 

Wou 

from blocking out the ABM-associated radar 

intercepts that were the primary target of 

SA1i-1P.~ 'J 2 and 3. 

SAMPAN l was Jaunched along with 

SOUS EA 1 built by AJL, Mineola. Long 

Island, New York. SOUSEA covered the 

8· to 12-GHz range using a 3•foot dish and 

a sidelobe inhibit antenna similar to that 

on the S.Al\-1P.l\.N system to prevent the 

poke-through problems seen on the earlier 

FANION/TRIPOS missions. SMlPAN LI 

SOUSEA l were launched on P-11 vehicle 

4405. 16 August 1966, and had an orbital 

lifetime of 14 months. 

Top Sa:tuH J JJ111:h'c ;;a tJ fl!, b L; f. ttl lF dfr, 1:Sf:f 

CC,,::;li Jf LO hiU 6id¥Ji1Ei3 n.J{i,it; 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

151 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

•Orei,e ,~o lft-a1 , 

SA.I'l:IPAN marked the swan song for 

SEL. \Vhen militant students surrounded 

and picketed the Stanford building during 

the Vietnam war in 1966, ,Jim DeBroekert 

gained undying fame by remaining inside 

the bui]ding to guard the B"fEJl.iA.1'.- safes. 

Fortunately the students chose to ignore 

him but he gained the novel dist1nction of 

being blacklisted in the Students for Demo-

•l'.ratic Society ISDS} "Pig Book." During a 

brnak in. the picketing, Jim, wit.h Air Forcl' 

assistance, smuggled the SAl\-1PA..'\J pay• 

~Moffett Na val Air Station to 

L____________pt LMSC. \Vith the Stanford 

decision to dose SEL as a result of the stu• 

dent action. SAMPAN l was completed at 

LMSC and SAi.\tP.i\N 2 was built there'. 

In the summer of 1966. great concern 

developed in the Intelligence Community 

that emissions from ABI\'I installations 

SOUSEA 1 analog data were manually analyzed at NSA. SOU SEA 1 provided 

data on the Soviet target•tracking radar 

were not being intercepted by the SIGI:-IT' 

satellites. The President's Scientific 

Advisory Committee (PSAC) asked DNRO 

A.Iexander H. Flax to form a committee to 

investigate the problem. Flax appointed 

Harry Davis. the former Director of the 

Rome }Jr Development Center in Rome, 

New York, and a member of FJax's staff. to 

chair the committee. In December 1966 

Charlie Jarrett and Da.YJDond Speece of 

The Aerospace Corporation briefed the 

Dav1s Committee. Speece and Jarrett 

showed probability data indicating that if 

these radars were active and radiati1,1g, a 

combination of P•lls would intercept the 

signals. On this basis, DNRO Fl.ax 

1S2 The SIC:IN f Satr>II ite Srory 

lQJ," M1'1P@I 

;l ;'a;;G'N! .'ti Brr r., 1£ T \![.'IT •1lYttC\ll 

rr;e111t·-r11r 1 1 C!'n .. ·!· Ii@ q~I 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

approved and expedited the P-11 program, 

with a first launch nine months foilowing_ 

This short time from approval to launch 

was accompiished by those dedicated 

workers cm the FACADE payload men~ 

tioned earlier_ Additional AB~ payloads 

in this series were TIVOLI, Vi\.MPA.N, 

LAMP.A ... 'J'. SA.l\.iPA.N, TRIPOS, SOU SEA, 

and MABEL!. By 1970, this series. plus 

the POPPY and STRAWMAN satellites, 

had identified all nf the ABM radar 

mst.aUatwm,. 

SA~IP~W 2 \vas launched wiih 

LAM PA)J l on 14 :.\farch 1968 and operated for 12 months_ These general sear~h 

I GS) missions were specifically designed to 

address the Soviet AR!l.'I and SAI\·1 problems. 

At this time P-11 dat.a were bein roce::;sed and anaJ 'zed at NSA 

irection, depending on the a.va.i1~ 

a 1 1ty of resources_ SANIPAN 2 provided 

data on several unidentified .signals, su~h 

SA::\1 PAN ;3 ,vas launched wit.h 

LAliifPAN 2 on 1 !\•fay 1969 and operated 

for 10 months_ Both missions had prob· 

lems; thn.t required special manual processing efforts. Th~ ~pin ax.is was 20 dei:,'Tees 

off nommai and there wa. ~------~ 

that coITU ted the radar data. SAMP&.'J' 3 

after the software was mo 1 ,e to account for the spin 

axis problem.40 

LAMPA..'\l' data v,rere anah·zed at NSA, 

I I 

depending on the availability of resources. 

I...A.rri'1PAN i.ntercepted several high-interest 

and unidentified signals. LAMPAN 1 provided data on a possihl~ I 

SOUS EA 2 ·was launched '.'il'i th 

TRIPOS 3 on 20 ,June 1968 and operated 

for 18 mont.hs. The data ,;,vere processed at 

~---~ NSA under the Air Force .\L\DS 

crmtract. Technical analysis of SOC.SEA 2 

data provided some new ~------~ 

signals and, with TRIPOS 3. provided datR 

SOU SEA 3 was launched with 

TRIPOS 4 on 20 May 1970 and operated 

for 32 monthi,L The data were algo processed a~ NSA. SOUSEA ::: processing produced I 120 

December 1970. which \•,mre reported in 

hHrdcopy reports.-4-3 Technical analysis of the 

SOUSEA 3 data rovided additional new 

w1t 

sat.eUite payload fdescribed in Chapter 4i. 

provided a number of reports on rrn 

unidentified 8- to 10-GHz signal.4.; 

The two flat window-shade, log-spiral 

collection antennas on VAM:PAN prnvided 

a phase interferometer Bystcm, permitting 

single angle-of~arrival measurl'.ments to be 

l=iiJI 6@!!!U!I 

, 1a ¢1:r · f'H(d t t t .,,. ,lE> T i;fL! l(JL[ 

ct· ,11t, r eb, .. ,czt c-,,.;,.1,eB ,,.,11111111 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
lr, 

.., 

... 

., 

., 

. 

l. 

L 

-

"' .. 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Flight summary,: Project 989 P-11 suhsa1eUites 

PROJECT 

and 

PAYLOAD 

M•SSION 

HITCH- YAN ::i,Dt HIK2A 1 -----lll --· ·•-LIL--

PUNDIT 1 TILlttr COftY 

PUNDIT2 

NOAH'S 

ARK 

Tl • T ,chnJ~a• !11t&llige111:I! A 8 M ii A tltlllal lls lie Mi!l~ile 

• No m•nlon l'IUtnb•r (1'1D1 p111 or P1ole;t H9J u 't:103 •10~ PUNDIT l: Feilll!-d 011 tau,u:h 

OPEFIATIONAL UFETIME 

1 

I - a/4 11-1 

COP''i' = Lech-an C{lpy C0nl1nl 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

1997 

2 

19 

3 

1 

15 

.. 

21 

21 

19 

D 

14 

3 
Flight sun1mary: Project 989 P-11 subsateHites (cunli11ued) 

PROJECT I II OPERATIONAL LIFETIME 

PA~AD 

MISSION 

I 1967 I 1968 I 1969 I 1970 

SLEW•TO 

~ ..,. .• Uf I I 3 fANION3 ■ )> ffUHT COfl'T &116 1612a )> 

7320 SAVANT1 18 "O "O 4IISU.!IIPACIQ "O "O ..., ..., 

U'ii-219' 0 0 oa,n < < 7321 FACADI! 3 CD CD ABM C. C. - ABM 1124 4/10 -

0 0 7324 TIVOLI 1 Hi ..., ..., DC/Tl ;:a ;:a t ---·---·. - ...... , CD 

CD ~, ,_ co ·,, 7322 U.MPAN 1 ABM 3114 an CD 

Q) -0 I 7323 SAMPAN2 a• 12 ; : el CJ) ... ·: , ; CD 

.... 

CD ti 

7326 TRtPOS3 AIM 6120 1/13 I\) I\) I HI 0 0 7327 SOUSl!A 2 QI I\) I\) ...... ...... -- -- A8M 9/18 9128 0 0 7325 V.1.MPAN 1 12 co co 01 -- -- 0 0 ---,_.,-- -···--• ...... ...... a11a 11◄ () 7330 TIVOLI I CHICOM ffLINT 18 () 

0 0 DC/Tl 0, 0, ...... ...... 7328 UMPAN:2 -.aM 511 a (,.) (,.) ,o .I>,. .I>,. 7329 SAMPAN 3 QI (,.) (,.) ...... ...... ····-····· 0, 0, 7336 SAVANT2 'TELJNT COPY 9f22 I/HI 20 (MISSILE I SP.lCI! ·-···········-····-.. •··-...... - YHF 

7313 WESTON COi.ONT I I I I "''11 I 

-.. r'i I 11 ::r 

,,. COPY 

'S DC ; Dtr•cttd Covu1v111 fOl!I ■ £11, 1 ron.l i: Ord•r ar B•t• I• COl>Y :o Loi;:"k-cm Cap~ Conll'ril l'I 

~ 0 S • Gt-l'leral &ewe 1111 Al-lie • AnlibaUlwl1c ll1 s.ll1! U1 Tl • f KIW·aic: iill lr,l tli 11•nc• VH•F • V•I)' High f'r1q1an,q, 
r 

Flight sumn1ary: Project 989 P-11 suhsatellites tconti11uedJ 

PIIOJECT I I OPERATIONAL LIFETIME IUF!TIMI! 

end MISSION 

PAYLOAD 1970 197l 1'73 197.a 1971· Monlh• 

)> 

"O 

"O 

..., 

0 

< 

CD 

C. 

-

0 

..., 

;:a 

CD 

co 

~H Q) 

CJ) 

CD 

I\) 

0 

I\) 

...... 

--

0 

co 

--

0 

...... 

A8M 314, )> 

7331 I TIVOl.13 I 20 "O 

ocm "O 

..., 

0 

1332 TRIPOS I\ < 

CD 

7333 80USiA3 32 C. 

l -

0 

~ 1121 ..., 

7334 TOPHAT 1 ·~ ;:a 

CD 

,co 

7337 ARROYO MICIIIOWAV• 1 'el : CD 

I\) 

7339 MASELi l'lllll'i'I lllPJL.'¥ 87 ,0 

. l DCfTI ! I\J ....... 

--

0 

7338 URSALA 1 lllNT co 

0911!0!1 61 --

0 

...... ··--· 

() 

0 

0, 

...... 7342 I URSALA 2 I ELll\lT () 

01/EOB 82 0 

0, 

=""-''··---- ...... (,.) 

.I>,. 

(,.) 

...... 

COMINT (,.) 

7340 I TOPHAT 2 'TAOPOICATffA 71 .I>,. 

(,.) 

...... 0, 

I 0, I I I ............ 1 .... _, __ . I 

7341 RAQUEL 1 

DC • E>lrected Co,,,11r•ci• Gtr at B 11me COf''I' = L0(:11-on Copy Conl•n1 

CS ,,_ G,1n1:ral St1tn AIIM " •nt!l:)111 ,lic .. !UI!• LOC = Loc; 1• <. Hi mil1tll 

11 = T•~ l'U'lk:~l lnl.el• 11·1\t• ew • CCi'nUflugulf w • .,,, 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

made.~----~ of ::-.JSA worked very 

closeJy with Vince Henry, the LlvlSC payload designer, to ensure that the payload 

design would provide sufficient signal 

measurements to resolve phase ambiguity 

in the processing. ~-~developed the 

algorithms for processing the VA.MP~W 

-collected data. The data from this GS n1ission ,vere processed manually with com~ 

puter assistance both at ~SA and for KSA 

I f pcm much time at 

LMSC before and after the latmch, evaluating the payload and data.45 VAJ\.'lPAK 

rovided information on 

Selected 1\.iABELI data were analyzed 

by .=-.ISA at Fort 1\-leade after tapes containmg signals of interest were .selected and 

forwarded by LMSC. Analysis of .:\.IABELI 

data provided detailed technical infonnatwn 

~------~ VA.....\1PAN also proThe mission of the TRIPOS 3/ 

SOUSEA 2 and TRIPOS 4/SOVSEA 3 missions Wt~s GS and technical intelligence lTil 

against the Soviet ABIVf/SAM problem_ 

The dual payload, TRIPOS/ SOUSEA P-11, 

was launched on 20 June 1968, operatP.d 

for 18 months, and successfully merged 

analog and digital readout. The data •Nere 

proce;se~ I as the first major P-11 

processing effort for NSA under the .-:\ir 

Force l'vlADS contract. ~SA transferred 

the soft.wan~ developed and used at NSA. 

vided information on other non-ABMI 

.as1,ociated radars such a~ I 

Manual analysis of the FACADE data 

from the 2 November 1967 launch by the 

Srn:,,,; .,,1 S,<:tn••l~ i\nnJvsi~ Team (SSAT) at 

~----~ 

l::,.JSD di~ection found the first 

Fort Mende, Maryiand,~--~~or pro1 

ce.ssing of the data_ NSA also sf':n 

intercept, on 4 November 1967, of the 

Sovie~ _____ __J--,L-,0~~~~~~,..-ing 

radar, ~-----------~ 

resenting a significant new Sovrnt radar 

de~ign. 46 FACADE also intercepted a possibl~ I ABM radar associated with th I I 

The data from all the TIVOLI mis~ 

sions were m~ed by NSA and 

by the team al____J NSD direction_ 

TIVOLI. with its 1-1\IHz bandwidth prudetectirm recording capability, produced 

detailed signal modulation data on numerous Soviet A.B1'.f radars such a 

from K-1SP, the 

software. t ~---------~ i"lnd 

~---~ 

Tflw in modifying and improving 

the software and establishing the operatiom; on the new compatible processing 

svstem located in building ~-----~ 

he data ,vere processed by 

~----~ NSD technical and operational control, with the result£:; oft.he processmg sent by ~ecure data link to NSA/ 

K4SP for release to the Intelligence Community and military consumers, TRIPOS ;3 

provided exceHent EOB and discovered 

new de lo ents, such as the 

lop Seel lf:!t 

AJhd)P lr}.t iY FbCfA,~*L UL✓ ! .i::;f fH[)tf--

CO 11J,411f,tc.,1Lo- Ci!J1hJfLi3 ?..lrJl/it· 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Chapter 5 157 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 1up..:J111t:Lfl::L 

11@1 o,r-.~: :Rcu,,e 

Many new, unusuaL and unidentified 

emitters were found and reported by 

TRIPOS 3. indudimr technica1 information 

TRIPOS 4 was launched with 

SOUSEA 3 on 20 May 1970 and operated 

for 32 months_ The data were pro,cesssd at 

NSA under the Afr Force l\.1ADS ~---~ 

contract as a follow-on to the previous 

TRIPOS 3/SOUSEA 2 missions-D 

I 

I from NSNK4SP, had replaceQ 

~--~~s chief of the NSA detachment 

in the summer of 1969. The CDC 6400 

computer! ~·as replaced by a CDC 

6600 computer to raise the processing 

capacity by a factor of three to handle the 

great volume of data produced by the 

increasing number of P-11 missions and 

the large volume of digital da.ta being pro~ 

duced by the STRA\V).iAN missions 

(described in Chapter 4:l. By 1970, NSA 

had upgraded the processing system at 

Fort Meade to three CDC 6600 computers, 

providing nine times the capacity that 

existed in 1966 to process the increased 

volume of data from POPPY. STRA.W~tAN. 

and the P-11 missions, 

TRIPOS 4 proc:essingj I 

I I reported in hardcopy by 20 December 197Q_J. • Techn le-al 

analysis of TRIPOS 4 data provided a 

number of new and unusua.! signals. Tbe 

analysis showed that the Sovu~ts \i,.,cre 

apparently expanding the use of th<! RF 

spectrum into the 4- to 8-GHz band.-H! 

TRIPOS 4 made a number of interceots of 

1,vas one of the ~~--~~~~~=' 

highest-priority ELI NT requirementsAfle~ 

1'' ~------~ 

51 All the ABl\·l•related 

rndar signals 1,vere found and tonsider.able 

technical information about their capabilities and operations ,vas developed from 

data collected by the P-lls. POPPY, and 

the r,.U)LTIGROUP/STRA\\>'1·lAN .satellite 

systems, ~ith one possible exc~ption. The 

signals from th~ 

lop Mu et 

158 i ,a .. a\\ ; ill 8 ' (Ai. ti 4. r. iJ j ' ' f J[t ' ' ,t .tE 

( i1Pli1¥f Lrnn~Jo LiL?iLJ?if. idihi)!oApproved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for Rrelease: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

.q(!F(l(_a ( ·Re.·) I 

lop Seu ct 

59 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
Approved for ReL~a~se: _2021 /09/01 C05134315 

10.SOR , -~l!RCO'w 

in TRIPOS 4 data.Jl2 Much of the 

In early 1971 TRIPOS 4/SOUSEA 3 

was used in several crisis-mo ni tori ng situations and was extremely effective in supportin~ a Navv ocean-surveillan~e exerci!ie 

The final series of P-11 s were the 

all-digit.al. pencil-beam EOB payloads, 

C"RSALA and RAQUEL, launched between 

1972 and 1979. URSALA introduced tht! 

Jl.fotorola payload team from Scottsdale, 

Arizona, to the P-11 team. URSALA covered 2 to 12 GHz and returned the data m 

digital fom1at at 254 kbps. RAQUEL marked 

the return to the project of E&Sys.tcms in 

Dall as. It tove red the range of 4 t.o 18 GHz 

and had both an electronic ordBr of battle 

( EOB) and technical intelligence (TI) capability: it foa tured digital 2 56 ,kbps data 

output for the EOE m1ssmn and 750-kHz 

analog data for the Tl mission. There 

wern h•.o URSAIA. launches, on 7 ,July 1972 

and 10 November 1973, (The last two 

URSALA.s were launched on 8 July 1976 

and 16 March 1979.J All of the missions 

had an orbital life of over five years, with 

URSALA 1 operating for almost six, 

RAQUEL 1 was launched on 29 October 1974 

and opcrat.ed oo orbit for over five years 

{-62 months). A slightly modified RAQCEL 

lA was launched on 16 Man:h 1978. 

The URSALA missions featured al!-

digital output data designed to perform 

general search {GSJ and provide EOB on 

I I 

I ~f NSA ~,ote the signal-processing 

algorithms for the VRSALA monopuLse 

system and developed the procl"ssmg soft-

,~·are for the first launch on 7 July 1972. 

operation. Thel !software was 

checked out at :-JSA and lat.er sent ~~~~ 

in 1973 to process the URSAL.~ data at 

I I under 

NSA detachment { NSD) supenision. 

Smith was assigned to NSD at the bme 

the URSALi\ processing was transferred to 

guid~ !processing. The ori6rimd 

URSALA procsssin~ required considerable 

computer time. Smith ledl ~ffort 

to significantly improve the timeliness of 

the processing. At this time NSA was 

pushing for near-realtime processing and 

reporting. 54 

URSALA produced large quarititie1, 

of radar locations with accuracies better 

lop StiJtt , ,-,ai,; ; w :f.i I ~ HL t 4. , , ,; J . 4 , iliJ~f , , ft3J::f 

Cin h ·; £1.1,;,o/ tC/..t11,, ... ft ;;.J; 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
I 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

area.Mi URSALA 1 analysis also fowid sig• 

n s from the Sovie~~-------1 

In addition to producing Jocations and technical information on radars, CR.SALA I 

also provided valuable information on 

communications transmitters such as the 

Sovie~ 

Launched on IO November 1973, 

l.~SALA 2 added to the accomplishments 

of URSALA 1, making the first interceE-)ts 

of th RAQUEL l produced ELI)JT TI and 

EOB. Ths processing and analvsis of 

I I URSALA. 2 identified a 

si!'TI ~ l f,...,...rn th,:, ~m.1,=.tl 

RAQUEL data were done b I I 

NSA at th~ I 

I I 

URSALA 2 also identified and located a 

Sovie~ 

I I In 

1974 l:RSAI...As land 2 participated in 

Se'ireraJ time critical reporting (TCR) operations around the VSS Kitty Hawk during 

it.s transit to a station off the coast of Iran.58 

~-----~ 

the Chief of NSD from 

1969 to 1977, characteri:z.ed the "C'RSALA 

payloads with their monopulse directionA 

finding (OF} capability as the ba~kbone of 

the EOB prog am. 59 1 lwho 

replaced! fas Chief of NSD in 

1977, characterized URSALA as the culmination of the evolution of spinning-pencilbeam all-digital co 11 ecto rs. so 

I ftAQUEL 1 was 

the first SIGINT satellite to collect and 

geoposition in the 12- to 18-GHz frequency 

range. The onboard recorder prmTided predetection recording of new and unusual 

signals. The payload provided data from 

both the omni and DF antennas, The 

omni data were very dem.e. so dense that 

only limited use could be made of the data. 

A major problem was relating the DF and 

omni data to the same emitter. Both 

channels of data were machine processed 

and the sip11als of interest were analyzed 

I jmder NSA direction. The volume 

of data was more than could be handled by 

the CDC 6600 computer at Sunnyvale. A 

CDC Cyber 74 computer replaced the 6600 

computer in 1974 providing a 1.2 times 

increase in capacity. The Cyber 74 mass 

storage was expanded to add another 1:3 

increase in capacity in 1975. Processing of 

fop Sett Et 

I Ml .die I a :B\ [ tL %, ; ;s:, ;t{ Qr J.f\ ! ;;:9tf 

CG.c1J;41f t:aJLO, C11a11 tfl!S ;of;,!);, 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

161 
L 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

1.he RAQUEL l data for rndar EOB pr,,. 

ducml l6cat!iH1 ,1ceurne1t,s of better thanD 

Th<, ah.sence d n mon,,puke capn- '=~ hihtv Qt tho payloud hmitud tho locaiion 

ncrunc-·. A.nr1ly"j,; of thf llAQCEL predcJf<'t:wn data pmv--ided technical ;nformn 

tion 011 n?w 3,r,J ,mu.s1tal <,,-r,;,ls, ~m,h 1tH 

B,· 1977 Hw T[ and SParrh llJbPHlHS "j 

1 J "' lo" -,,rb!t ELU'\T rm,g:r:1ms w,on· ,n lull 

,_,p~rnt;,_>n. \luch progn-so hnt be,,n ,m,cic' 

in th~ op\'ratirmai ~;u;,.;r rnn,aion. XSA 

quirk reaet,,m capab,ht.y •QR(''; ;~pnr\illt; 

r,f sdcned threCJ.t ~mitterg had n::i:-tEd in 

lflf;.,;, wnh rFHttlio r<cvnrt,-.tl to th\' m:l,~:sry 

r,:,mn,.-rnds. m :J,,, iidd ,rx (ivp to 12 hnt11·~ 

af\er 1nl<'rucp1, !n lll/7 ruc,1ine n·p<Jrtn,g 

bee;m; prr,,·Jdinr; specified thrnt1t s11;nals 

and thdr lz,~atwns dirertly :o the N«ti<mai 

Sh;J:>JT Op,.ranons c~m,.,, (11,SOC; m Ki-iA 

whcrn ,_hc;1- were rdormmted =a sent w the 

Panik ELI;\T Center il'ACELl);Tl t-md in 

Key accomplishment!<;, Project 989 

• ?"JV<-'d 1n1,,,rPpl of low-pnwe;, low-VHF 

Sovml telcfYletry srgnuls from space , n 19&3. 

P-o,;ded first reJI datJ ot' VHF a,gnai denSlty over the Sov;el Ur1,on. Fir;\;_,n-p~rl 

telcrnetrv inlerc,cpi Hom SpJCi, 1n 1467. 

• Brgar producing EOB, ;n 1965; fast 

reporting. :faed to rldd. ,n 1972. 

Approved for Release 2021/IJ9/IJ1 C05134315 

tum to L:icttcal nm! other .,~rv,rn ,·c:nmand~ 

Vlhm. haci sw.rt>•d years b,,for~ a~ sp~nal 

QRC rP;:,ortmi-( n(rhrN>< 0m,aen :wd now 

benime mutme and wns a par: m· r+•gt>lar 

proto~~ing. By i97B. ELlJ\'.T t'm>ttf'r.s 

,,_-,,r,:, i:wt ,,nl:c idE'1tified to an Ji:Ul{ ;:,m 

mrmber • toc'1lwn, bm al.'-G w~cc- :Jer,tit'icd 

tn >J apunhe umt Lrn~r ofUw r,idar El ,l'-:T 

1md COM;:JT "'"re routrndy <:umbuwd. 

1md by 1980 N'SA reports were 1dent,f}7Ili-( 

thf' mns·ems>m Hft.arμ-e: umt;; by tli<cir .Jl\l( 

,d~ntdlcatron, no1 n_y ju~t :he fatt that a 

;;;w~,fi~ rachr haci ffi{NNL Th,· Ar:Hy WCb 

put-ting ime,--,m :attkal ELJ:-'T prncfs;,mz 

.TT'EP, i:ans in tl,e fo:Jd to prnr7:;-., sald\1ttn,U"1:t+1d El .!:-.T for di rm·1. ''°'' 1,,, '.I dd 

commanders Ir, lBtll l\"SA perwnr,el 

)ps'rntiom,: 

~,c.,1 n. ['.n'•1n.-,c.,c,nd-R~n"y"n"n"n"d'· 'f"••";t Li_ /)!Ciw,f' A.'., 

(lppm>w11r, and Crnrtro> """'""'"''d tllP 

Director of '.'>SA, Adm Bob<ly Ir.man, ;u 

approve narru\1vt re:nrunl:' of radar lxa, 

Lrnns frnm lh 

~in,ct1•',-. 0,o~,ch-c-m-,"h"co-~-.-,-,-o-,m-,-,-d",~. 

~s a rn:\jor p<;/it::, dunge. pmnding 

• High volur'1i"~ o1 lt-chnirdl fl.INT. in, hLng 

refmement5 o~ Suv,ct ,>J>M rad~r parJ.m&ero 

in 19hH 

• Locateti tropo,.:.3.tter commurncJtlom tramrnitters in 1970 cmd Sov,et mkrov,,-J1,e corn-

"" m ,cal ion> in I 97 I 

' 

r 
"Icu S.cc,eL 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

in te lli gence data to the military forces 

sooner and in a more understandable and 

useful form. 62 

The FARRAH payload, developed in 

the late 1970s and still operating today, wa..:; 

the ultimate culmination of the P-11 project. 

It combined the monopulsc D/F of URSALA 

with the TI ca pa.bility of RAQl.7EL. It 

also included an onboard digital processor 

providing I ~eopos i tioning to 

allow intercept uf the most sophisticated 

radars, including those using al 

In 1978, anticipating the launch of 

FARRAH 1, KSA and NRO personnel both 

pushed for near-realtime processing. The 

SIGINT Overhead Requirements Subcommittee {SORSl of the US Intelligence 

Board (CSIB), recognizing the potential of 

the FARR.AH system. established a six-hour 

requirement for combined processing and 

report.mg of FARRAH 1 data. Convinced of 

the feasibility of this requirement.~ 

rewrite of the FARRAH sotlware for the 

Cyber 175 computer at thel ~n lnte 

1978 and early 1979. The continuing 

I The old FARRAH processing ~---~ 

systen1 was replaced and near-realtirne 

prot:e::.;::.;ing was now e.stablished.63 

FARRAH was the only SIGINT .;atellite collector capable of collecting data in 

botb th.e northern and southern hemi8pheres. This capability ,vas used ,..•cry 

effectively to provide the only STGINT 

satellite suppod 

The P-11 program ·•grew'' from s1mpk, 

single-purpose payloads intended to solve 

specific problems to an all-encompassing 

payload supporting ground forces with 

essential "battleground~ information in 

very close to realtime. It also provided the 

technical data to keep up with worldwide 

radar developments. It gave all those 

involved in the de,•elopment a tremendous 

fee1ing of achievement and promises to be 

a maJor contributor of SIG INT support 

to the US military force.s for many years 

.to come. 

Tap Sec:a t 

f,.,111Jt'1 ;.:;. iltfi.tbL4 Lt!!:{ ;F ;lt;[lliClf 

~lltP'/li"(Lr 1(1: ~.J 1·nrl1 

f:f'rf -9 I -117,'9~ 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

163 
Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

Chapter 5 References 

l. NSA-BYE-20850-65 and 

tiflf('I'). f )flt( f)'4 

~-------~ 

2. NSA in Space, April 1975, BYE~19385-75, pp. 13-14. 

3. SQUARE TlVENTY Final Report, I May 1968, BYE-19347&68. ~----------~ 

4. Intercept I Results of Mission 7231 Targeting A.gains. Complex, 9July 1969, BYE-18741-69. ~----------~ 

5. NSA m Space, pp. 14-15, 

6. 

7, 

8. NSA m Space. 

9 Reports AM41, 17 June 1970, and A!l.·178, 30 October 1970, TK/WC-W205/47-71 

(TS/BfTK/COMINT). 

10. ~VSA in Space, p. 29, 

11. 

13. 

14. 

15 

16, 

17 

18. 

19. 

21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 

25. Report 004, 16 January 1970. 

26. TCS 58527-71, 13 October 1971~ Report A!\-"!63. 28 September 1970; Report AM81, 24 

November 1970; Report .·\M07, 23 February 1971; Report A .. \U6, 15 April 1971, Report 

A •. M29, 5 August 1970; Report AM09, 28 January 1972. 

27 Report 29, 1 and 12 May 1970: Report 32. 15 ~'lay 1970~ Report 25. 29 June 1971; 

Report 27, 2 August 1971~ Report 51. 4 November and 8 Decern r 1 71 · 43, 7 

October 197 L Re rt 28 5 Ma ' 1972; 

28. 

29. 

164 

~--------------~ 

lop Seu,, 1 1;1,olt au fl,·,~ ;;;w:-., rtE, ,rID,4E, 1 ,::1 .. [ 

ltl 1a!J, ~ 1 tOP:1(61 (!i,r1iil@ !4 j(Ji,J!Jr 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 
30. 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 'h iP(JA,4\i,i }!431 L}N 

3L~ ________________________ ___J 

32. Raymond Potts· personal notes (here,after Potts' notes I 

33. TK/\\1C>W205/47-7I fTSIBfrKJ. 

34. Potts· notes. 

35. TK/WC-\\!205/47-71. 

36. TK/WC-\\'206/47-71. 

37.. 

3~L~------~ 

39 Repon # Rl9, 21 March 1969. 

,o. Photo of the K-tSP Status Board. 20 De~mbt•r 1970 

4] ~--------_J 

42. TK/WC-W205/43-71. 

43. K4SP Statu.'::i Board photo. 

44. 

45. interview, 11 August 1992, ---::========"------- 46 .. 

47 K4SP Status Board photo. 

48. Report 72. '.!O October 1970. 

49. ~---------------__J 

50 Report -1.5. 8 October 1971. 

51 Report fil. 29 December 1971. 

52 

53. QR. 31 March 1971. 

-------~ 

5-1 Interviews wittj 124 Jun.l~ 1992, an~----- 2fi· ,June 1992 

~s.1 

:)6,1 ~--------~ 

;j7, ~vsl\ ,•n Space .. p. 30. 

58. qR. at. ~t arch 1974. 

59. interview, 25 ,July 1990 

60 ~----~interview. 27 February 1991. 

6L NSA m Spncf!. 

62. Intervu!ws with 27 February 1991 24 .June 1992: 

d _____ __J ~-----~ 

an , 24 Jllne 1992. 

63, nterview, 24 June 1992 .. __ _ 

HdhlU1i. ~, i Jf( •H,3⁄4,Ll~,r Hf ;f&X,. Ii 1Ut'" 

t:.:n .u * t, n· .1 cr,uro(· "& Nh 

Approved for Release: 2021/09/01 C05134315 

165