GLOBAL POSITIONING & NAVIGATION NEWS October 31, 2001
NEW NRO BIRD THOUGHT TO AID U.S. AFGHAN EFFORT
The new super-secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Advanced KH-11 "eye in the sky" launched Oct. 5, 2001, is thought to be aiding U.S. military mission planners in pinpointing targets in Afghanistan for precision strike response in near-real time. Though the NRO, the Defense Department, the Air Force, and Lockheed Martin [LMH] sources are all mum regarding this revolutionary imaging satellite's specific capabilities, GPNN has confirmed that it can resolve objects mere inches across on the ground while in panchromatic mode. Moreover, its infrared sensors can distinguish individual campfires.
The Global Positioning System is crucial to the satellite (and ground controllers) knowing precisely where it is relative to the ground, and precisely what patch of ground its lens is looking at.
According to a member of the Federation of American Scientists, one of the most important factors in collecting imagery is proper and precise positioning. The NRO has been using GPS and its very accurate positioning capability to collect highly precise images from its photographic intelligence satellites, including the KH-11 series, since the late 1980s. This navigation technology has helped to improve imagery collection for various government customers, including the Air Force and the State Department, who use these NRO birds.
These customers have waited for a new KH-11, the Advanced KH-11 that was launched from Vandenberg AFB, California in early October on a Titan IVB, to join two others launched in 1995 and 1996 to augment collection of intelligence from the sky.
The Advanced KH-11 is a long-planned upgrade to the existing constellation, but the new spacecraft probably entered into service as quickly as possible in order to assist Afghanistan mission planning.
This satellite, as other KH-11s, uses and depends on the strength and accuracy of GPS to tell where the satellite is located. Based on the new war on terrorism, knowing precisely where imagery originates from on the ground, in real time or near-real time, on the displays of key warfighters or intelligence operatives, is critical to achieving success.
As this new mission continues, GPS will help tactical-intelligence management within the U.S. government to transfer images associated with precise locations to strike planners for improved targeting success. The goal is real- time pinpointing of threats on the ground, without the need for periodic cross- checking with ground stations to check the accuracy of coordinates, as in common in the commercial imagery collection world.
For the Advanced KH-11, GPS works with inertial navigation and star- tracking capabilities to ensure the accuracy of where the satellite is and where it is pointing. The star trackers give the data on where the satellite is in reference to the rest of the universe, and the inertial navigation system, which includes gyroscopes, tells where the satellite is pointing. To provide more precise navigation, GPS gives data on how far the satellite is from the ground, a critical factor in understanding the scale from the camera on the satellite to the target on the ground and precisely measuring the image. John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, explains, "The GPS processor is one part of the navigation system. It provides data about the location of the satellite and then allows the satellite to point at its target using the given GPS data." As an industry source recently stated, specific spacecraft within the GPS constellation are used to provide the highest precision positioning data for taking imagery from NRO satellites like the KH-11. To achieve this, GPS managers at Air Force Space Command work with strike planners so that strikes can be coordinated to use the best capabilities of GPS.
KH-11 satellites, a type of spacecraft used by the NRO for more than 20 years, resemble the Hubble Space Telescope. KH-11s are about 30,000 pounds, have a large barrel, stiff solar panels providing about 3,000 watts of power, a GPS antenna and the electro-optical sensor for collecting images with resolution down to a few inches. A former member of the U.S. military very familiar with imagery collection confirmed that one of the most impressive and interesting characteristics of these satellites is their "flant range." The imagery satellites can look left and right about 100-feet from ground track and maintain their high accuracy.
The U.S. government's priority is to eliminate the threat of terrorism in the United States and around the world. The Advanced KH-11 is critical in achieving this goal. It is seen as being so important that the total cost of launching this satellite, about $1.3 billion, is equal to the total increase in emergency reconnaissance-related funding for U.S. intelligence upgrades since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Copyright 2001 Phillips Business Information, Inc.
