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THE NRO $:rAFF 

BY EaijlAN 

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-t&t- NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE 

WASHINGTON. O.C. 

MEMORANDUM FOR DR. McLUCAS 

SUBJECT: HEXAGON Budget Issue 

11 April·1969 

Attached is a memorandum from y~u to the Secretary of Defense which summarizes the issues of the HEXAGON 

program. 

d in coordination with III 

No MM' made to that in paper agreemen wit h . However, it 

might be worthwhile ~ a' n wr ing at the 

bottom that you and ........... prepared it together or 

coordinated on it. 

If you approve, please sign. 

RUSSELL A. BERG 

Brigadier General, USAF 

Director 

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BYEMAN NRO APPROVED FOR RELEASE 

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OFFICE .j I.:'" 

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-tSf NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE 

WASHINGTON. D.C. 

. OF FteE Of!. THE OIRECTOR April 11, 1989 

MEMORANDUM roR THE SBCRBTARY OF DEFlHSI 

. SUBJECT: MOL and HEXAGON 

Mr. Kissinger 

April 9, 1989, and 

·HEXAGON programs. 

tentatively agreed an~uction of 

t()-. 

and Mr. Mayo Met with the President on 

reca..ended ter.ination of the IIOL and 

IIr. lIayo has reported ,that tbe President 

to cancellation ot the HEXAGON pr .. the' py 70 ~udlet for the MOL' troM 

The'MOL is a lIanned photo reconnaissance satellite 

developMent program with a first lIanned launch in the nliddle 

of 1973, intended to provide very high resolution photographs 

of targets of high intereS!MI!Mreas. It will produce 

a best resolution of about , wbereas the unmanned 

GAMBIT-3 SJiiillilttiD ca .. ra sa e e sys em can be iaproved to 

give about at best. This MOL higher resolution 

will proy! e many cr cal tine details which will allow us . to deterMine a number of performance characteristics of 

enlerging weapons syste.s well in advance of test deaonstraany arlls control liMitation. 

. In FY 89 and prio.r.~ has been spent. The 

present FY 70 budget is • ~ development, including four manned laune es, islllllt 

By MonNwill have assessed the impact of a reduction 

in FY 70 to It would ,introduce at least a one year 

delay i.nto e 8c.edul\..aLJJ.rst flight and increase the total 

cost of the progra. bY_lIIIIIIPr more. It would seriously impact .the industrial tiase we have established. 

The issue of HEXAGON termination has been a subject of 

debate for a considerable length of time. BOB states that 

the additional intelligence information provided by HEXAGON 

photography is not sufficient to justify its significant cost. 

DOD and CIA have consistently supported the .program as 

justified by the value of i~proved intelligence collection. 

HEXAGON CORONA GAMBIT DORIAN 

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HBXAGOR, startinl in late 1970, will provide si •• tlleantly better coverare tban available today: 

a. It wl1l provlde a b.et resolution of 1.0 t.et, whereas the present'CORONA search syste. offers a best 

resolution of 7 feet. Tbe HBXAGOR covers 4 to 8 tiMe •• ore 

area than the CORONA. 

b. It will frequently cover specified .aa11 are.s 

(surveillance) at hiab quality. This type of photography i. 

now obtained by our spotting syst •• , GAMBIT, wbich b •• 'higher resolution than BBXAOON but views Much s •• ller areas. • 

If we do not develop HBXAOOM and if we .aintain our 

current level Or coverage, then we will need six COIlOlfA aDd 

five GAMBIT launcbes per year to acbieve a coveraie co.pa- rable to that achieved today. If we replace CORONA witb 

HEXAGON, tben we plan four HEXAGON and four GAMBIT launches 

per year. 

The current inventory of 13 CORONA searchsysteu is 

planned to be launched at a rate of one eacb two Months. 

Since tbe lead tiae ~or delivery of additional CORONA 

vehicles is esti.ated to be 24 to 28 8ODtbs, we would Deed 

to order additional OOROKAs soon it HlXAOOK is to be discontinued. 

account recoonalsn,89. 

FY 68 Py 70 FY 71 FY 72 J'Y 73 

Continue HBXAGOM 

Cance 1 HEXAGON 

Savings 

BOB ascribes cost savin,8 to HlXAGON terMination which 

do not alree with these aaae.a.-nta. BOB atateJillifive 

year savings would be obt.ined in the future of whereas 

the actual saVin!!ii!iD the .. ntext a. dlscu y BOB 

would be between and Our •• se ... ents of .future 

costs are considere rea.ODa , accurate. Coat lncr ••• es due' 

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to uDprogr ... ed chanles May ot course still occur. Although the deyel~nt i8 not yet to the stage where we can define 

coats with cOMPlete accuracy, we do not expect aajor progra. , .liP .... or .aJor increased coats. . 

Within the BRO, the CIA Manales the sensor systea, and 

the Air fOrce directs the overall syate.. The principal 

contractors are Perkin-Blaer tor the optical sensor and 

Lockheed for the basic spacecraft and overall integration. Tbe develo ... at ot the BlXAGOM .ystea has progressed satisfactorily since prograM .start in March 1967. It the prograa 

is tar.inated on Apr~l 15,1989, aboutlllllllwill have been 

obl1,ated. Slnce.e believe that tbe ~veiop.ental 

tasks are proceeding according to plan, there is confidence 

io th. develo~eDt prograa. 

The Director of Central Intelligence and the USIO have 

consisten'tly and strongly supported the need for HBXAGOH. 

Within DOD, we believe tbat HEXAGON will significantly i.,rove our .intelligence in three ways: 

a. It .ill iaprove' our abllity to search MOre 

thoroughly the Soviet UD~on and China for new activity. The RBXAGON resolution, coapared witb CORONA, allows detection'and identification of .any significant objects such as 

truck., radarst and artillery pieces. 

on ground forces, includ faster and better intell1gence on 

force readiness, redeploy.ent ot Soviet and Chinese 

and tor , ... . ~ ., in crisis areas such as the 

and the border. 

c. It should help us to discover and count .obile for~e8 including ICSI's, IRBM's, and tactical offensive and 

defensive 8i88iles. 

In addition, CIA e.ph.sizes the value of HEXAGON in policing 

ar.s control alree.ents. 

808 '.e1. that our current collection capability is 

adequate now. Major i.prove.ents'are progr ... ed in SIGINT 

and COIIRT collection while photographic systeas bave shown 

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BYEMAN 

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steady improvement in efttciency and quality. Therefore, 

BOB feels the in~remental intelligence value added by "' HEXAGON.does not justify the added cost while DOD and CIA 

·strongly support the progra:'m. 

...... 0. ( ,,.. 

BYEMAN' 

COII'"O\·."".M 

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