KH-8
Encyclopedia
The KH-8, codenamed Gambit 3 was a long-lived series of reconnaissance satellites of the "Key Hole
" (KH) 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 descended through the atmosphere by parachute
. Ground resolution of the satellite was at least 0.5 meters. There were 54 launch attempts of the 3000 kilogram satellites, all from Vandenberg Air Force Base
, on variants of the Titan III rocket. The KH-8 was manufactured by Lockheed
. The camera system/satellite was manufactured by Eastman Kodak
's A&O Division in Rochester, New York.
The Gambit codename was also used by the satellite's predecessor, the KH-7 Gambit.
The main camera of KH-8B (introduced in 1971) with a focal length of 175.6 inch is a single strip camera, designed to gather high-resolution images of ground targets. In the strip camera the ground image is reflected by a steerable flat mirror to a 1.21 m (47.6 in) diameter stationary concave
primary mirror. The primary mirror reflects the light through an opening in the flat mirror and through a Ross corrector
. At periapsis altitude of 75 nautical miles, the main camera imaged a 6.3 km wide ground swath on a 8.811 in (22.4 cm) wide moving portion of film through a small slit aperture, resulting in an image scale of 28 meter / millimeter.
The Astro-Position Terrain Camera (APTC) contains three cameras: a 75mm focal length terrain frame camera, and two 90mm focal length stellar cameras. The terrain frame camera takes exposures of Earth in direction of the vehicle roll position for attitude determination. The stellar cameras observed in 180 degree opposite directions and took images of star fields.
The films used by GAMBIT were provided by Eastman Kodak
, and evolved through a series of successively higher definition films, starting with Type 3404 with a resolving power of 50 to 100 line pairs per mm. Subsequent films used were Type 1414 high-definition film, SO-217 high-definition fine-grain film, and a series of films with silver-halide crystals of very uniform in size and shape. The size of silver-halide crystals decreased from 1,550 angstrom in film Type SO-315, to 1,200 angstrom in SO-312, and ultimately to 900 angstrom in SO-409.
Under optimal conditions GAMBIT would thus have been able to record ground features as small as 0.28 m to 0.56 m (1 ft to 2 ft) using the Eastman Kodak Type 3404 film. Using a film with a resolving power equivalent to the Kodak's Type 3409 film of 320 to 630 line pairs per mm, GAMBIT would have been able to record ground features as small as 5 cm to 10 cm (2" to 4") . The actual numbers of the ground resolution achieved by GAMBIT remain classified.
(NSSDC ID Numbers: See COSPAR
)
Key Hole
Key Hole is the designation for a series of American optical reconnaissance satellites:* KH-1 Corona* KH-2 Corona* KH-3 Corona* KH-4 Corona* KH-5 Argon* KH-6 Lanyard* KH-7 Gambit* KH-8 Gambit 3* KH-9 Hexagon/Big Bird...
" (KH) series used by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from July 1966 to April 1984, and also known as Low Altitude Surveillance Platform. The satellite ejected canisters of photographic film
Photographic film
Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film...
that were retrieved as they descended through the atmosphere by parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
. Ground resolution of the satellite was at least 0.5 meters. There were 54 launch attempts of the 3000 kilogram satellites, all from Vandenberg Air Force Base
Vandenberg Air Force Base
Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command ....
, on variants of the Titan III rocket. The KH-8 was manufactured by Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
. The camera system/satellite was manufactured by Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
's A&O Division in Rochester, New York.
The Gambit codename was also used by the satellite's predecessor, the KH-7 Gambit.
Camera Optics Module
The Camera Optics Module of KH-8 consists of four cameras.The main camera of KH-8B (introduced in 1971) with a focal length of 175.6 inch is a single strip camera, designed to gather high-resolution images of ground targets. In the strip camera the ground image is reflected by a steerable flat mirror to a 1.21 m (47.6 in) diameter stationary concave
Concave
The word concave means curving in or hollowed inward, as opposed to convex. The former may be used in reference to:* Concave lens, a lens with inward-curving surfaces.* Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex....
primary mirror. The primary mirror reflects the light through an opening in the flat mirror and through a Ross corrector
Ross (optics)
Ross is the name of a succession of London-based lens designers and their company.Andrew Ross founded his company in 1830, from 1840 he began producing camera lenses signed "A. Ross"...
. At periapsis altitude of 75 nautical miles, the main camera imaged a 6.3 km wide ground swath on a 8.811 in (22.4 cm) wide moving portion of film through a small slit aperture, resulting in an image scale of 28 meter / millimeter.
The Astro-Position Terrain Camera (APTC) contains three cameras: a 75mm focal length terrain frame camera, and two 90mm focal length stellar cameras. The terrain frame camera takes exposures of Earth in direction of the vehicle roll position for attitude determination. The stellar cameras observed in 180 degree opposite directions and took images of star fields.
The films used by GAMBIT were provided by Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
, and evolved through a series of successively higher definition films, starting with Type 3404 with a resolving power of 50 to 100 line pairs per mm. Subsequent films used were Type 1414 high-definition film, SO-217 high-definition fine-grain film, and a series of films with silver-halide crystals of very uniform in size and shape. The size of silver-halide crystals decreased from 1,550 angstrom in film Type SO-315, to 1,200 angstrom in SO-312, and ultimately to 900 angstrom in SO-409.
Under optimal conditions GAMBIT would thus have been able to record ground features as small as 0.28 m to 0.56 m (1 ft to 2 ft) using the Eastman Kodak Type 3404 film. Using a film with a resolving power equivalent to the Kodak's Type 3409 film of 320 to 630 line pairs per mm, GAMBIT would have been able to record ground features as small as 5 cm to 10 cm (2" to 4") . The actual numbers of the ground resolution achieved by GAMBIT remain classified.
Missions
| Name | Block | Launch Date | Alt. Name | NSSDC ID No. | Launch Vehicle | Orbit | Decay date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KH8-1 | I | 1966-07-29 | OPS-3014 | 1966-069A | Titan IIIB | 158.0 km x 250.0 km, i=94.1° | 1966-08-06 |
| KH8-2 | I | 1966-09-28 | OPS-4096 | 1966-086A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-3 | I | 1966-12-14 | OPS-8968 | 1966-113A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-4 | I | 1967-02-24 | OPS-4204 | 1967-016A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-5 | I | 1967-04-26 | OPS-4243 | 1967-F04, 1967-003X | Titan IIIB | no stable orbit | 1967-04-26 |
| KH8-6 | I | 1967-06-20 | OPS-4282 | 1967-064A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-7 | I | 1967-08-16 | OPS-4886 | 1967-079A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-8 | I | 1967-09-19 | OPS-4941 | 1967-090A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-9 | I | 1967-10-25 | OPS-4995 | 1967-103A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-10 | I | 1967-12-05 | OPS-5000 | 1967-121A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-11 | I | 1968-01-18 | OPS-5028 | 1968-005A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-12 | I | 1968-03-13 | OPS-5057 | 1968-018A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-13 | I | 1968-04-17 | OPS-5105 | 1968-031A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-14 | I | 1968-06-05 | OPS-5138 | 1968-047A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-15 | I | 1968-08-06 | OPS-5187 | 1968-064A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-16 | I | 1968-09-10 | OPS-5247 | 1968-074A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-17 | I | 1968-11-06 | OPS-5296 | 1968-099A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-18 | I | 1968-12-04 | OPS-6518 | 1968-108A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-19 | I | 1969-01-22 | OPS-7585 | 1969-007A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-20 | I | 1969-03-04 | OPS-4248 | 1969-019A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-21 | I | 1969-04-15 | OPS-5310 | 1969-039A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-22 | I | 1969-06-03 | OPS-1077 | 1969-050A | Titan IIIB | ||
| KH8-23 | II | 1969-08-23 | OPS-7807 | 1969-074A | Titan 23B | ||
| KH8-24 | II | 1969-10-24 | OPS-8455 | 1969-095A | Titan 23B | ||
| KH8-25 | II | 1970-01-14 | OPS-6531 | 1970-002A | Titan 23B | ||
| KH8-26 | II | 1970-04-15 | OPS-2863 | 1970-031A | Titan 23B | ||
| KH8-27 | II | 1970-06-25 | OPS-6820 | 1970-048A | Titan 23B | ||
| KH8-28 | II | 1970-08-18 | OPS-7874 | 1970-061A | Titan 23B | ||
| KH8-29 | II | 1970-10-23 | OPS-7568 | 1970-090A | Titan 23B | ||
| KH8-30 | II | 1971-01-21 | OPS-7776 | 1971-005A | Titan 23B | 139.0 km x 418.0 km, i=110.8° | 1971-02-09 |
| KH8-31 | II | 1971-04-22 | OPS-7899 | 1971-033A | Titan 23B | 132.0 km x 401.0 km, i=110.9° | 1971-05-13 |
| KH8-32 | II | 1971-08-12 | OPS-8607 | 1971-070A | Titan 24B | 137.0 km x 424.0 km, i=111.0° | 1971-09-03 |
| KH8-33 | II | 1971-10-23 | OPS-7616 | 1971-092A | Titan 24B | 134.0 km x 416.0 km, i=110.9° | 1971-11-17 |
| KH8-34 | II | 1972-03-17 | OPS-1678 | 1972-016A | Titan 24B | 131.0 km x 409.0 km, i=111.0° | 1972-04-11 |
| KH8-35 | II | 1972-05-20 | OPS-6574 | 1972-F03 | Titan 24B | failed to reach orbit | |
| KH8-36 | II | 1972-09-01 | OPS-8888 | 1972-068A | Titan 24B | 140.0 km x 380.0 km, i=110.5° | 1972-09-30 |
| KH8-37 | III | 1972-12-21 | OPS-3978 | 1972-103A | Titan 24B | 139.0 km x 378.0 km, i=110.5° | 1973-01-23 |
| KH8-38 | III | 1973-05-16 | OPS-2093 | 1973-028A | Titan 24B | 139.0 km x 399.0 km, i=110.5° | 1973-06-13 |
| KH8-39 | III | 1973-06-26 | OPS-4018 | 1973-F04 | Titan 24B | failed to reach orbit | (mix-up with KH8-38 in NSSDC) |
| KH8-40 | III | 1973-09-27 | OPS-6275 | 1973-068A | Titan 24B | 131.0 km x 385.0 km, i=110.5° | 1973-10-29 |
| KH8-41 | III | 1974-02-13 | OPS-6889 | 1974-007A | Titan 24B | 134.0 km x 393.0 km, i=110.4° | 1974-03-17 |
| KH8-42 | III | 1974-06-06 | OPS-1776 | 1974-042A | Titan 24B | 136.0 km x 394.0 km, i=110.5° | 1974-07-24 |
| KH8-43 | III | 1974-08-14 | OPS-3004 | 1974-065A | Titan 24B | 135.0 km x 402.0 km, i=110.5° | 1974-09-29 |
| KH8-44 | III | 1975-04-18 | OPS-4883 | 1975-032A | Titan 24B | 134.0 km x 401.0 km, i=110.5° | 1975-06-05 |
| KH8-45 | III | 1975-10-09 | OPS-5499 | 1975-098A | Titan 24B | 125.0 km x 356.0 km, i=96.4° | 1975-11-30 |
| KH8-46 | III | 1976-03-22 | OPS-7600 | 1976-027A | Titan 24B | 125.0 km x 347.0 km, i=96.4° | 1976-05-18 |
| KH8-47 | III | 1976-09-15 | OPS-8533 | 1976-094A | Titan 24B | 135.0 km x 330.0 km, i=96.4° | 1976-11-05 |
| KH8-48 | IV | 1977-03-13 | OPS-4915 | 1977-019A | Titan 24B | 124.0 km x 348.0 km, i=96.4° | 1977-05-26 |
| KH8-49 | IV | 1977-09-23 | OPS-7471 | 1977-094A | Titan 24B | 125.0 km x 352.0 km, i=96.5° | 1977-12-08 |
| KH8-50 | IV | 1979-05-28 | OPS-7164 | 1979-044A | Titan 24B | 124.0 km x 305.0 km, i=96.4° | 1979-08-26 |
| KH8-51 | IV | 1981-02-28 | OPS-1166 | 1981-019A | Titan 24B | 138.0 km x 336.0 km, i=96.4° | 1981-06-20 |
| KH8-52 | IV | 1982-01-21 | OPS-2849 | 1982-006A | Titan 24B | 630.0 km x 641.0 km, i=97.4° | 1982-05-23 |
| KH8-53 | IV | 1983-04-15 | OPS-2925 | 1983-032A | Titan 24B | 124.0 km x 254.0 km, i=96.5° | 1983-08-21 |
| KH8-54 | IV | 1984-04-17 | OPS-8424 | 1984-039A | Titan 24B | 127.0 km x 235.0 km, i=96.4° | 1984-08-13 |
(NSSDC ID Numbers: See COSPAR
COSPAR
The Committee on Space Research was established by the International Council for Science in 1958.Among COSPAR's objectives are the promotion of scientific research in space on an international level, with emphasis on the free exchange of results, information, and opinions, and providing a forum,...
)
Cost
The total cost of the 54 flight KH-8 program from FY1964 to FY1985, without non-recurring costs, was US$ 2.3 billion in respective year dollars.Other U.S. imaging spy satellites
- CoronaCorona (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-5KH-5KH-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-6KH-6Codenamed 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-7KH-7Codenamed 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...
GAMBIT and KH-8 GAMBIT - KH-9 HEXAGON "Big Bird"
- MOLManned Orbiting LaboratoryThe Manned Orbiting Laboratory , originally referred to as the Manned Orbital Laboratory, was part of the United States Air Force's manned spaceflight program, a successor to the cancelled Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar military reconnaissance space plane project...
-- KH-10 - KH-11KH-11The 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...
, KH-12, KH-13KH-13Enhanced 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 reconnaissance satellite programme...