Enhanced Imaging System officially referred to as "Enhanced Imagery System", previously known as 8X, and sometimes unofficially known as Misty 2 and KH-13, is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 reconnaissance satellite programme. A derivative of the Improved Crystal satellites, EIS replaced Misty

Misty (classified project)

Misty is reportedly the name of a classified project by the United States National Reconnaissance Office to operate stealthy reconnaissance satellites. The satellites are conjectured to be photo reconnaissance satellites and the program has been the subject of atypically public debates about its...

, and was intended to provide more coverage and dwell time than previous reconnaissance satellites, like Misty, it has stealth

Stealth

Stealth may refer to:*Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles*Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology*Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology...

 capabilities. Only one EIS satellite has been launched; USA-144, which was placed into orbit by a Titan IVB

Titan IV

The Titan IV family of space boosters were used by the U.S. Air Force. They were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. At the time of its introduction, the Titan IV was the "largest unmanned space booster used by the Air Force."The...

 rocket on 22 May 1999.

History

In 1995, a Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

article reported that the 8X program was intended as "a major upgrade to the KH-12", with a mass of 20 tons, which would be used for detailed imaging with a wide-field-of-view. The cost of the program was a subject of disagreement from some within the military at the time. By 1998, the program had been renamed Enhanced Imaging System. The Future Imagery Architecture

Future Imagery Architecture

Future Imagery Architecture was a program to design a new generation of optical and radar imaging US reconnaissance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office . In 2005 NRO director Donald Kerr recommended the project's termination, and the optical component of the program was finally...

 program, which was intended to replace the Lacrosse

Lacrosse (satellite)

For the 2009 Lunar Impactor Mission designed to crash into the moon, see LCROSS.Lacrosse and Onyx are the code names for the United States' National Reconnaissance Office terrestrial radar imaging reconnaissance satellite. While not officially confirmed by the NRO or anybody in the U.S...

 and Improved Crystal satellites, was developed alongside EIS.

See also

• Corona
  Corona (satellite)
  The Corona program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the U.S. Air Force...
  
   series: KH-1, KH-2, KH-3, KH-4
• KH-5
  KH-5
  KH-5 ARGON was a series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States from February 1961 to August 1964. The KH-5 operated similarly to the Corona series of satellites, as it ejected a canister of photographic film. At least 12 missions were attempted, but at least 7 resulted in...
  
   ARGON, KH-6
  KH-6
  Codenamed Lanyard, the KH-6 was the unsuccessful first attempt to develop and deploy a high-resolution optical reconnaissance satellite by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. Launches and launch attempts spanned the period from March to July 1963. The project was quickly put together...
  
   LANYARD
• KH-7
  KH-7
  Codenamed Gambit, the KH-7 was a reconnaissance satellite used by the United States from July 1963 to June 1967. Like the older CORONA system, it acquired imagery intelligence by taking photographs and returning the undeveloped film to earth. It achieved a typical ground-resolution of to...
  
   and KH-8
  KH-8
  The KH-8, codenamed Gambit 3 was a long-lived series of reconnaissance satellites of the "Key Hole" series used by the United States from July 1966 to April 1984, and also known as Low Altitude Surveillance Platform. The satellite ejected canisters of photographic film that were retrieved as they...
  
   GAMBIT
• KH-9 HEXAGON "Big Bird"
• Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) or KH-10
• KH-11
  KH-11
  The KH-11 KENNAN, renamed CRYSTAL in 1982 and also referenced by the codenames 1010, and "Key Hole", is a type of reconnaissance satellite launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office since December 1976...
  
  

Further reading

• John Pike (July 24, 1998). 8X Enhanced Imaging System. Federation of American Scientists. Accessed May 3, 2004 (October 17, 2001).
• US space-based reconnaissance reinforced. Jane's Defence Weekly
  Jane's Defence Weekly
  Jane's Defence Weekly is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who first published Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships in 1898...
  
  . Accessed May 3, 2004.