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NROAPPRPVED EOR RELEASE 

~ DECLASSIFIED BY: CIIART Tap SEGRET. 'MAIIOUVIA 

. DECLASS1FIED ON: 1 OCTOBER 2012 aYEMAN . COIffllOL sows, •• 

+&f NATI~N.AL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

THE NRO STAFF 13 November 1968 

MEMORANPUM .FOR DR. FLAX 

SUBJECT: Future NRP Satellite Imagery Systems 

Purpose. 

To provide an evaluation of the Bureau of the ~udg~t (BOB) draft, 

see TAB At . regarding the choice· of'satellite imagery system mixes 

which Will be operational during the period of FY 71 through FY 74. 

Backgro~d. 

·USIB HEXAGON colle·ction requirements ~re contained inUSIBD-41.14/294, dated 21 June 1966, see TAB Bi tiSIB D .. 46.4/3, dated 

5 January 1968, see .TAB C. and USIB-D-46. 4/13, dated 4 April. 1968, 

,see TAB .D. These requirements statements are validated by the " 

National Intelligence Resour·ces Board asse~s~eDt of the intelligence 

.gain·provided by the KH-9 over the KH-4 and KH-8, dated·ZZJuly 

1968, see TJUB E. 

The majority of da..ta contained in the paper was. obtained from 

the se requirements documents and from ·statements of actual and 

estimated performance provided by CIA/OSP, SAFSP, and the DNRO 

Staff.' ,. . . 

Alternatives. 

The alternatives presented by the paper are: 

ALTERNATIVE I 

Cancel HEXAGON 

Buy 7 CORONA· 

Buy 6 'GAMBIT 

ALTERNATJVE II 

BuyS HEXAGON 

Buy 5 GAMBIT 

COR.ONAI GAMBIT IHEXAGON 

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Discussion. 

. . 

This discu.ss.ion is limited to a . detailed inspection of the. 

sub'ject pape.rls interpretation of· USIB :requirements statements, an. 

as~e8 •. ment' of th~ validity of its interpretation of the.USI.B require-. 

'ments, 'aD~ a verificatiOn of NRP collection potential·by the HEXAGON. 

GAMBIT. an.d CORONA systems as pre8ented in the BOB position 

paper. 

The BOB draft presents. an' accur.te asses8ment of the late8t 

U.SIB -approved surveilla.rice. and technical intelligenc~ collection . 

requirements and the sa~isfaction.of·these two r'equirements by.a 

GAMBIT/CORONA and by. a GAMBIT/HEXAGON system mix~ 

The BOB paper. does 'not cUrectly asse.8 the GAMBIT / CORONA 

&atisfa'etion, or lack ol satisfaction, of the 2. 5 to 3. 5 foot groUnd' 

resolution area search requirement. Nor' does it addres8 ·the inter.· . 

pretability trade -offs whieh o~cur between 3 and 5 foot ground 

. re8olution. Neither does it consider'the operatlonal-trade-offa which 

occur in the GAMBIT /HEXAGON combination in ·th.o 5 foot . 

resolution range. Furthermore, the paper· questiona. th., validity of 

theUSm hilh-:r~.olution search requirement and attempts to.evaluate· 

the ability. of the eXploitation ~ommunity to interpret ··thi. quality of 

imagery and then to produce usable intelligence from it~·. . 

.An optimistic double ~bucket GAMBIT operatloaal capability i. 

projected by. the paper--it assumea all .ystem ,de'sip ,oa1., includini 

reaolution improvement and life I~owth to 20 daya, will.be re.J.iSed. 

Conver.ely, it 'queatiOns HEXAGON'a ability to meet the current ayatem 

de.ilD .pec1ficationa, e.I_,. the ran,. of ground r.·aolutlon ia ,iven 

a. Z. 7fe.t at DAtiI' to 8 feet at 60 delre •• obUquityln th •. BOB paper, . 

when CIA/OSP; quote •. 2. 3 to 4.'6 fe.t for the aame camei.-a poaltlOlla with 

HEXAGoN operatlD. at ita nominal mia ~ionperi •••. of 82 .D&utlcal dl ••• . . 

. The la.t major diacrepancy i. that the paper appli •• the 

·de'radin,· .ft.ct~ 01. cloud cover, ha •• at obilquity. 'aDd cleclbi.·lD· . 

r •• olutioa with obUqulty to HEXAGON ,.rfornluace eitlmat •• , but It . 

do •• not apply th ••• Iialura1 ph_om .. to Oth~ar phGtoiZ'aph1c .atenit. 

co11ectloa .yet.ma. AcWt.tional1y, the pape!" critici ••• the ~ct that . '.. 

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adjacent HEXAGON revolu~ioi1s over a specified area of interest aredisplaced approximately 22. 5 degrees in longitude. while all nearearth p~otographic satellites must observe this sam.e physi~allaw. 

RecommeJldation. 

CO_fIIOI. '''''1." 

In view of the requirement for 2..5 to 3. 5 foot ground resolution 

for area search. it is recommended that ~e :PN~O continue to pursue 

the projected GAMBIT and HEXAGON schedules. 

Attachment 

"Detailed Analysis of 

BO~ Position Paper 

auz'- BERG· 

Brigadier General. USAF 

Directo~ 

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DETAILED ANALYSIS OF BOB POSITION PAPER 

'First Section: The Need for the HEXAGON Photographic, S~teliite. 

Note 1, Page 1. 

Note 2, Page 1. 

Note 3, Page 1. 

No~e 4, Page 3,. 

Note 5, Page 4.' 

Note .6. Page 5. 

Note 7, Page 5. 

Note 8,' Page 6. 

Note 9. Page 7., 

Note 10, Pale 7. 

MOL, ground s~ath width is 1.?',nautical miles. 

~ORONA swath width,averages 120 nautical , 

miles in the ~loc and mission life is 18 days.' . ,',: 

HEXAGON resolution is expected to range 

be~ween Z. 3 and 4. 6 feet. ' 

CORON~/~AMBIT' does n~t meet high~resolution 

'search requireme;nt~. 

Does not address additional surveillance require-

,ments le~ied by USIB for HEXAGON." Tab B et ' 

ale 

Misstatement 'of HEXAGON resolution~ See 

Note 3., 

But not at the specified high-resolution. 

Limitations of HEXAGON are ,equally degrading 

to CORONA and GAMBIT because 'all are subject 

to the .ame physical law 8 as the, paper states in 

, t~e next sentence. As presented in the paper,. it· 

i., a ,ratuitoul statement. 

'Adjacent revolu,~on. of 22.5 de,ree. longitude 

diaplacement i8 ,common to all near-earth orbit. 

fo,r photo.raphic: satellites. ' 

There i. no atated, requirement for thia type of 

covera •• but, ,if there were, ,HEXAGON would 

l?e the mOlt effective 'collectlon.yet.m.. 

COR.ONAI GAMBIT IHEXAGON I DOmN ...... 1& 

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Note 11, Page 7,. 

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HEXAGON's variable sector scan should provide 

a signif-icant incre~8e in cloud-free photography. 

Second Section: Issue: Termination of HEXAGON. 

N~te 12, Page 1, 

Note 13,. Page 3 

Note 14, ~age 5, 

Note 15, Page 6. 

Note 16,' Page 7~ 

Note 17, Page? 

Note 18,. Page 7 • 

Incorrect resolution figures again.. Slightly 

optimistic for GAMBIT and slightly pessimistic 

for HEXAGON. 

Present and any proposed improved' CORONA 

does not satisfy the 2.5 to 3.5 foot resolution' 

searchrequire~ents. 

This i:, an optimisti~ :vi~wpoint .Of double -bucket 

. GAMBIT. and assumes that all proposed specification values are achieved or exceeded. . . . 

For the same IS-day period, HEXAGON would 

access the whole Moscow area eight or nine 

times~ about a 50 percent increase. 

Thoroughly concur. 

This' completely iFor~s that this HEXAGON 

re solution iii a twofold improvem.ent in ground 

.resolution and hence a 8ubstantia~ i~proVemeDt· ~ 

'in imagery interpretability. It 18 notedPth&t~" .. ,. 

DORIAN a180 provides approXimately a twofold 

increase ·in resolution. 

HEXAGON resolution mi •• tated again. 

. . Note 19, Pages This entire section of the BOB pap'er refutes the 

9 thru 16.' validated requirements of' the intelligence community, especially in the areas of Soviet and 

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Chinese ·force levels, violations of disarmam~nt ag:reements, mobileiCBM target problems, 

and a genera~ e~ncement of our ·intelligence 

on a numbe·r of significant ot~er probl~ms. 

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OPTIONS I n m -IV 

GAMBrr 4 4 3 3 

HEXAGON ,4 3 3' 

Percent Satisfaction 

HEXAG'ON Surveillance 98 95 95 98 

. (64 Percent CCRP) 

Percent Satisfaction 

GAMBIT Surveillance 83 83 72 72 

(36 Percent CCRP) 

Percent Satisfaction 

Overall Surveillance 92.5 90 .. 7 86.8 '88.6 

Percent SatisfactiOn 

'~earch, 6-MOnth 89 84 89 

Pereent Satisfaction 

Search. 12-M~ 98 9~ 96 9S 

,Assumes IS-day GAMBrr Ute aDd SO-day HBXA~ON life. 

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83 

86 

75 ' 

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Minimum 

Requirement 

~P~rcent· 

None'Stated ' 

None Stated 

80 Percent 

80 Percent, 

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