I'd like to see something on the KH-11, but I don't know how they could do that. Maybe only declassify the block 1 satellites? The imagery from those satellites is all more than 25 years old, which seems like one of their criteria for release. But would they really be able to cut it off at only block 1 and not raise questions about the follow-on satellites? Dunno.
Why do we persist with calling these Satellites KH when most fSoviet and Russian Air to surface missiles are Kh... It gets confusing! I keep wanting to type Kh-8, Kh-11
A couple of articles about required declassification of documents 25 years or older. I doubt that this applies to NRO, but worth thinking about.https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2021/01/drop-dead-date/https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2020/12/declass-deadline-2020/
Quote from: Blackstar on 02/03/2021 01:18 pmI'd like to see something on the KH-11, but I don't know how they could do that. Maybe only declassify the block 1 satellites? The imagery from those satellites is all more than 25 years old, which seems like one of their criteria for release. But would they really be able to cut it off at only block 1 and not raise questions about the follow-on satellites? Dunno.Given the core optics, diameter distance between lenses, lens shape, etc., likely hasn't changed. I hate to say it, but I doubt we will see any information on the KH-11. For the hopefully obvious reason, it is likely too easy for anyone to reverse engineer the whole optics system (and thus know the CCD or whatever sensor tech is in the KH-11s array and core resolution. Since I doubt the KH-11 has seen major changes to its lens and aperture array... On the flip side, I would love to learn more about the KH-11.Why do we persist with calling these Satellites KH when most fSoviet and Russian Air to surface missiles are Kh... It gets confusing! I keep wanting to type Kh-8, Kh-11
No major declassification is foreseen for the anniversary, but could come at a later time when pubic events are again possible. Overall, the podcast is covering quite a number of topics, though it doesn't delve into much detail on any specific topic.
Finally, a history of all "histories", including a listing of all of Perry's unfinished drafts: "CHRONOLOGY OF SELECTED SATELLITE SYSTEMS - LISTING OF NRO HISTORIES - SAFSP HISTORY"NRO placed 3Q22 and 4Q22 FOIA releases online: lots of "closure recommendation memos" and org charts, the 2022 QUILL Trailblazer collection of docs released in 2012, a few docs on POPPY, WS 117L funding history with actual numbers up to 1959, a few RAND studies on various topics, overviews on the status of recent FOIA requests, ...https://www.nro.gov/FOIA/FOIA-For-All-Other-Public-Releases/FOIA-For-All-Releases-FY22/
Quote from: hoku on 02/14/2023 11:18 pmFinally, a history of all "histories", including a listing of all of Perry's unfinished drafts: "CHRONOLOGY OF SELECTED SATELLITE SYSTEMS - LISTING OF NRO HISTORIES - SAFSP HISTORY"<snip>https://www.nro.gov/FOIA/FOIA-For-All-Other-Public-Releases/FOIA-For-All-Releases-FY22/Did they do any public releases during 2022 other than in response to FOIA? I don't think so. Did they even do a "Sunshine Week" release? My impression is that after releasing all the EOI documents, they were exhausted and didn't release anything else. They had been periodically releasing a set of documents from 50 years ago, so in 2018 they release 1967, and in 2019 they released 1968. I don't think they did 1971 last year.
Finally, a history of all "histories", including a listing of all of Perry's unfinished drafts: "CHRONOLOGY OF SELECTED SATELLITE SYSTEMS - LISTING OF NRO HISTORIES - SAFSP HISTORY"<snip>https://www.nro.gov/FOIA/FOIA-For-All-Other-Public-Releases/FOIA-For-All-Releases-FY22/
<snip>It would be nice if they finally acknowledged something about CANYON, RHYOLITE, or JUMPSEAT, but I don't expect that. Personally, I'd like to see more about the LEO SIGINT satellites during the 1970s, including ocean surveillance. I'd also like to see more about SDS. And I wouldn't mind if they released more info on the later part of Program 989, when the satellites grew 10 times.
They had a small "Sunshine Week" release in 2022, which can be found in a collection of releases from 2015, and 2017 through 2020:
In an interview, NRO lead historian Dr. Outzen (director CSNR) indicated that they postponed the major release event as pandemic restrictions prevented them from holding an event similar to their 50th anniversary party. The 60th anniversary "era before KENNEN" and "SIGINT Story" chapters, and the EOI document releases might indicate the topics of the next "major declassifications" (which might also include some actual satellite hardware?).
I do think that the SIGINT people and the SAFSP (Los Angeles) people never really got their event/recognition.
Quote from: Blackstar on 02/16/2023 09:27 pmI do think that the SIGINT people and the SAFSP (Los Angeles) people never really got their event/recognition.Their numbers are dwindling.http://www.safsp.net
During the 1960s there were many proposals for reconnaissance satellites that never got much beyond the concept stage. Dwayne Day examines what is known about some of those ideas for photo-reconnaissance space systems.
On paper at least, 20*KH-9s with five film buckets each (4 for the main camera plus one for the mapping camera) should be close from one hundred buckets. Is there a document somewhere with the exact number of film bucket recoveries ?