Samos (satellite)
Encyclopedia
The Samos E or SAMOS program was a relatively short-lived series of reconnaissance satellites for the United States
in the early 1960s, also used as a cover for the intitial development of the KH-7 Gambit system. Reconnaissance
was performed with film cameras and television surveillance from polar low Earth orbit
s orbits with film canister returns and transmittals over the U.S. Samos was first launched in 1960, but not operational until 1963 and all were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base
.
SAMOS was also known by the unclassified terms Program 101 and Program 201.
. Significant parts of the Samos development program were Samos-E (visual reconnaissance), Samos-F (ELINT Ferret reconnaissance), and Samos-H (communications).
In FY1958 WS-117L was funded by the AF at a level of US $ 108.2 million (inflation adjusted US$ billion in ). For Samos, AF and ARPA spent a combined sum of US $ 82.9 million in FY1959 (inflation adjusted US$ billion in ) and US $ 163.9 million in FY1960 (inflation adjusted US$ billion in ).
From October 1960 to November 1962, at least 11 launch attempts were made. Portions of the program are still considered classified information
. It is believed that the program was cancelled because the imagery produced was poor. The program was operated by the United States Air Force
, but was overshadowed by the Central Intelligence Agency
's Corona
program.
At least two different generations of the satellite
were made, and at least four different types of camera
s were used. Early on, the idea was to use frame readout cameras that would take a picture and send the scanned image via radio
to ground stations on Earth
. This system was apparently troublesome, so the program also developed a photographic film
return system where the camera and used film would be ejected and be retrieved as it floated down through the atmosphere by parachute
. Film-return satellites would remain the standard until the KH-11
satellite with digital imaging
capability emerged in the 1970s.
The E-1 and E-2 cameras used the readout method. Little is known about the E-3 type of camera, which was eventually cancelled. It likely had higher resolution, and may have been superseded by the later E-6. An E-4 camera was initially planned for relatively low-resolution mapmaking
purposes, but it was cancelled with the functionality being taken up by the KH-5
(Argon) satellite. The E-5 and E-6 were panoramic format film cameras that appeared in later launches, but only a few were used. The E-5 would later be called upon in the short-lived KH-6
(Lanyard) program.
Some satellites were equipped with so-called Ferret devices, for "ferreting" information by spying on electronic communication. A more modern term for that activity would be Signals Intelligence
. Toward the end of the program, satellites were only being launched with Ferrets, without any cameras. Two Ferret systems were created, designated F-1 and F-2.
Some additional payloads were sometimes onboard, mostly scientific devices for learning more about the space environment so that future satellites could be better-designed for spaceflight. The satellites as launched varied in mass
from 1845 to 1900 kilograms.
Sergei Khrushchev
wrote in his memoirs about the partial recovery of what he believed was a Samos satellite, except the date was the winter before the program started. A second capsule was apparently recovered in early 1961, although the device had been disassembled by local farmers, exposing film and preventing the Soviet
s from determining the satellite's capabilities. It may or may not have been a Samos.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early 1960s, also used as a cover for the intitial development of the KH-7 Gambit system. Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
was performed with film cameras and television surveillance from polar low Earth orbit
Low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...
s orbits with film canister returns and transmittals over the U.S. Samos was first launched in 1960, but not operational until 1963 and all were launched 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 ....
.
SAMOS was also known by the unclassified terms Program 101 and Program 201.
History and Costs
Samos started as part of the WS-117L satellite reconnaissance and protection program of the US Air Force in 1956. In May 1958 the Department of Defense directed the transfer of the WS-117L program to ARPADefense Advanced Research Projects Agency
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military...
. Significant parts of the Samos development program were Samos-E (visual reconnaissance), Samos-F (ELINT Ferret reconnaissance), and Samos-H (communications).
In FY1958 WS-117L was funded by the AF at a level of US $ 108.2 million (inflation adjusted US$ billion in ). For Samos, AF and ARPA spent a combined sum of US $ 82.9 million in FY1959 (inflation adjusted US$ billion in ) and US $ 163.9 million in FY1960 (inflation adjusted US$ billion in ).
Specifications
- Section data from Yenne.
- Launch vehicles: Atlas Agena A, Agena B (early), Titan3B (later)
- Vehicle weights: 4,100 pounds (early), 6,600 pounds (later)
- Diameter: 58.5 inches
- Classification: Dept. of DefenseUnited States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
classified, IMINTIMINTImagery Intelligence , is an intelligence gathering discipline which collects information via satellite and aerial photography. As a means of collecting intelligence, IMINT is a subset of intelligence collection management, which, in turn, is a subset of intelligence cycle management... - Launch site: Vandenberg AFB
Vehicle missions
- Mission chart from Zianet and Astronautix.
| Name | Launch date | Mass Mass Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:... (kg) |
Apogee (km) | Perigee Perigee Perigee is the point at which an object makes its closest approach to the Earth.. Often the term is used in a broader sense to define the point in an orbit where the orbiting body is closest to the body it orbits. The opposite is the apogee, the farthest or highest point.The Greek prefix "peri"... (km) |
Inclination (deg) | NSSDC ID | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samos 1 | Oct. 11, 1960 | 1,845 | |||||
| 1960-F13, SAMOS-1 | Launch Failure; satellite destroyed | ||||||
| Samos 2 | Jan. 31, 1961 | 1,900 | 557 | 474 | 97.4 | 1961-ALPHA-1, 1961-001A | First generation photo surveillance; radio relay of images; micrometeroid impact data. Decayed 10/21/71 |
| Samos 3 | Sept. 9, 1961 | 1,150 | |||||
| 1961-F09, SAMOS-3 | Exploded on launch pad | ||||||
| Samos 4 | Nov. 22, 1961 | 1,860 | |||||
| 1961-F13, NNN6101 | Failed to orbit | ||||||
| Samos 5 | Dec. 22, 1961 | 1,860 | 244 | 702 | 89.6 | 1961-ALPHA-LAMBDA-2, 1961-035A | Decayed 8/14/62 |
| Samos 6 | March 7, 1962 | 1,860 | 251 | 676 | 90.9 | 1962-ETA-3, 1962-007A | Decayed 6/7/63 |
| Samos 7 | April 26, 1962 | 1,588 | 203 | 204 | 92.0 | 1962-PI, 1962-016A | Decayed 4/28/62 |
| Samos 8 | June 17, 1962 | 1,860 | |||||
| 1962-PSI, 1962-023A | Decayed 6/18/62 | ||||||
| Samos 9 | July 18, 1962 | 1,860 | 184 | 236 | 96.1 | 1962-ZETA, 1962-030A | Decayed 7/25/62 |
| Samos 10 | August 5, 1962 | 1,860 | 205 | 205 | 96.3 | 1962-ALPHA-LAMBDA, 1962-035A | Decayed 8/6/62 |
| Samos 11 | November 11, 1962 | 1,860 | 206 | 206 | 96 | 1962-BETA-PI, 1962-064A | Decayed 11/12/1962 |
| Samos 87 | March 1, 1972 | unk | unk | unk | unk | unk | DOD launch classified. |
From October 1960 to November 1962, at least 11 launch attempts were made. Portions of the program are still considered classified information
Classified information in the United States
The United States government classification system is currently established under Executive Order 13526, the latest in a long series of executive orders on the topic. Issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, Executive Order 13526 replaced earlier executive orders on the topic and modified the...
. It is believed that the program was cancelled because the imagery produced was poor. The program was operated by the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, but was overshadowed by the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
's 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...
program.
At least two different generations of the satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
were made, and at least four different types of camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
s were used. Early on, the idea was to use frame readout cameras that would take a picture and send the scanned image via radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
to ground stations on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. This system was apparently troublesome, so the program also developed a 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...
return system where the camera and used film would be ejected and be retrieved as it floated down 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...
. Film-return satellites would remain the standard until the 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...
satellite with digital imaging
Digital imaging
Digital imaging or digital image acquisition is the creation of digital images, typically from a physical scene. The term is often assumed to imply or include the processing, compression, storage, printing, and display of such images...
capability emerged in the 1970s.
Equipment
- Equipment chart from Zianet. and Wade
Name Type Focal Length Resolution Swath E-1 readout 1.83 m (72 in) 30 m (100 ft) 161 × 161 km E-2 readout 0.91 m (36 in) 6 m (20 ft) 27 × 27 km E-5 film 1.67 m (66 in) 1.5 m (5 ft) 98 km length E-6 film 0.7 m (28 in) 2.4 m (8 ft) 280 km width
The E-1 and E-2 cameras used the readout method. Little is known about the E-3 type of camera, which was eventually cancelled. It likely had higher resolution, and may have been superseded by the later E-6. An E-4 camera was initially planned for relatively low-resolution mapmaking
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
purposes, but it was cancelled with the functionality being taken up by the 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) satellite. The E-5 and E-6 were panoramic format film cameras that appeared in later launches, but only a few were used. The E-5 would later be called upon in the short-lived 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) program.
Some satellites were equipped with so-called Ferret devices, for "ferreting" information by spying on electronic communication. A more modern term for that activity would be Signals Intelligence
SIGINT
Signals intelligence is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether between people , whether involving electronic signals not directly used in communication , or combinations of the two...
. Toward the end of the program, satellites were only being launched with Ferrets, without any cameras. Two Ferret systems were created, designated F-1 and F-2.
Some additional payloads were sometimes onboard, mostly scientific devices for learning more about the space environment so that future satellites could be better-designed for spaceflight. The satellites as launched varied in mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
from 1845 to 1900 kilograms.
Recovery by Soviets
- Section data from Wade.
Sergei Khrushchev
Sergei Khrushchev
Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev , son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, now resides in the United States where he is a Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.-Career:...
wrote in his memoirs about the partial recovery of what he believed was a Samos satellite, except the date was the winter before the program started. A second capsule was apparently recovered in early 1961, although the device had been disassembled by local farmers, exposing film and preventing the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
s from determining the satellite's capabilities. It may or may not have been a Samos.
See also
- Dr. James Gilbert BakerJames Gilbert BakerJames Gilbert Baker was an American astronomer and designer of optics systems.-Biography:He was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Jesse B. Baker and Hattie M. Stallard, the fourth child of that couple. He attended Louisville duPont Manual High School then majored in mathematics at the University of...