This blows me away. I worked on systems that processed the signals from these satellites at the ground sites. At the time, these were highly classified, requiring background investigations and a polygraph to be granted access to know about these things. All our work had to be performed in a SCIF and we were forbidden to discuss our work with anyone not cleared to know. The form that we had to sign when being briefed stated that this was a lifetime commitment. I never would have believed that the NRO would declassify this system.
I'm sure I don't need to say it, but what got declassified and the work you did are very, very different things. Pretty much everything in the notice is included in this article, so anything you're not reading.... Best to keep to yourself.
If you are curious what this is about. The US effectively wanted a geostationary satellite parked right over the high-latitude regions of the Soviet Union to intercept their signals.
The problem is, that geostationary satellites must orbit directly above the equator. If you try to look at northern Russia from the equator, the curvature of the Earth gets in the way.
So, the NRO used a Molniya (HEO) orbit as a clever cheat.
They launched JUMPSEAT into a stretched-out ellipse. Because of orbital mechanics, a satellite moves incredibly fast when it's close to Earth (perigee) but slows down dramatically when it's far away (apogee). It spends about 10 hours of its 12-hour orbit just loitering high above the USSR, slowly drifting across the sky, essentially emulating a geostationary satellite.
Thanks for filling in the missing link on why this program was special. Otherwise, it just seems like an announcement that NRO does indeed use satellites.
I’m surprised that the classification markings, all of which include “TK, were merely struck through instead of blacked out. But I guess the cat’s been out of the bag on the meaning of TALENT KEYHOLE for quite a while.
“The historical significance of JUMPSEAT cannot be understated,” said Dr. James Outzen, NRO director of the Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance.
I'm no native speaker but that is backwards, right? Shouldn't it be overstated if it was a success?
Native here: you’re correct it’s a weird sentence and turn of phrase in English.
That said, can/cannot is a flexible word in English and we could take it to mean “Anyone discussing the significance of JUMPSEAT [accurately] [should never] understate it.”
But I think he meant overstate in this case. Or maybe he hated JUMPSEAT, thought it sucked and put that right out there in the press release.
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The problem is, that geostationary satellites must orbit directly above the equator. If you try to look at northern Russia from the equator, the curvature of the Earth gets in the way.
So, the NRO used a Molniya (HEO) orbit as a clever cheat.
They launched JUMPSEAT into a stretched-out ellipse. Because of orbital mechanics, a satellite moves incredibly fast when it's close to Earth (perigee) but slows down dramatically when it's far away (apogee). It spends about 10 hours of its 12-hour orbit just loitering high above the USSR, slowly drifting across the sky, essentially emulating a geostationary satellite.
Feels like all the crazy satellite capabilities in spy movies are not that crazy after all.
I'm no native speaker but that is backwards, right? Shouldn't it be overstated if it was a success?
That said, can/cannot is a flexible word in English and we could take it to mean “Anyone discussing the significance of JUMPSEAT [accurately] [should never] understate it.”
But I think he meant overstate in this case. Or maybe he hated JUMPSEAT, thought it sucked and put that right out there in the press release.