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The KH-13 is a name used by observers of U.S. military space programs to refer to a class of imaging spy satellite
Spy satellite

A spy satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or espionage applications. These are essentially Space observatory that are pointed toward the Earth instead of toward the stars....
 operated by the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The KH-13 is the putative successor to the "KH-12
KH-12

"KH-12" is an unofficial designation of the successor to the KH-11 spy satellite. A system with the official designation KH-12 does not exist because the National Reconnaissance Office decided to refer to satellites by a random numbering scheme after repeated public references to KH-8, KH-9, and KH-11 satellites....
" IMINT
IMINT

IMINT, short for IMagery INTelligence, is an list of intelligence gathering disciplines which collects information via satellite and aerial photography....
 satellites, the last of which was launched in 1999.

995, a Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States....
 article reported that the 8X program was intended as "a major upgrade to the KH-12". However, the 8X was reported to depart from the KH-12 in that the 8X was speculated to weigh 20 tons.






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The KH-13 is a name used by observers of U.S. military space programs to refer to a class of imaging spy satellite
Spy satellite

A spy satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or espionage applications. These are essentially Space observatory that are pointed toward the Earth instead of toward the stars....
 operated by the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The KH-13 is the putative successor to the "KH-12
KH-12

"KH-12" is an unofficial designation of the successor to the KH-11 spy satellite. A system with the official designation KH-12 does not exist because the National Reconnaissance Office decided to refer to satellites by a random numbering scheme after repeated public references to KH-8, KH-9, and KH-11 satellites....
" IMINT
IMINT

IMINT, short for IMagery INTelligence, is an list of intelligence gathering disciplines which collects information via satellite and aerial photography....
 satellites, the last of which was launched in 1999.

Interpretations

In 1995, a Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States....
 article reported that the 8X program was intended as "a major upgrade to the KH-12". However, the 8X was reported to depart from the KH-12 in that the 8X was speculated to weigh 20 tons. The 8X was reported as fulfilling a detailed wide-field-of-view imaging role. The cost of the program was a subject of disagreement from some within the military at the time.

The KH-11/12/13 series are planned to be replaced by the planned Future Imagery Architecture
Future Imagery Architecture

Future Imagery Architecture was a program to design a new generation of United States reconnaissance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office ....
 digital imaging spacecraft. The contract for these planned spacecraft was initially awarded to Boeing
Boeing

The Boeing Company is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William Edward Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997....
 in 1999, but in September 2005 the contract was shifted to Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation

The Lockheed Corporation was an United States aerospace company founded in 1912 which merged with Martin Marietta in 1995 in aviation to form Lockheed Martin....
 after cost overruns and delays of the delivery date.

Public observations

Amateur satellite observers have identified several satellites in sun-synchronous orbit
Sun-synchronous orbit

A sun-synchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit passes over any given point of the Earth's surface at the same local solar time....
s which might be new IMINT satellites:
  • USA-144 was launched on 22 May 1999 by a Titan-IV from Vandenberg AFB. . Idenfitied as KH12-4 in NASA's database, it is sometimes identified as part of the Misty program
    Misty (classified project)

    Misty is reportedly the name of a classified project by the United States National Reconnaissance Office to operate stealthy reconnaissance satellites....
    .
  • USA-161 was launched on 5 October 2001 by a Titan-IV from Vandenberg AFB.
  • USA-182 (Lacrosse 5) was launched on 30 April 2005 by a Titan-IVB from Cape Canaveral. Amateurs have noticed an unusual optical behavior, rapidly increasing and decreasing in brightness.
  • USA-186 was launched on 19 October 2005 by a Titan-IV from Vandenberg AFB.
  • USA 193
    USA 193

    USA 193, also known as NRO launch 21 , was an United States military spy satellite launched on December 14, 2006. It was the first launch conducted by the United Launch Alliance....
    , also known as NRO launch 21 (NROL-21) was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base
    Vandenberg Air Force Base

    Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States military installation with a spaceport, in Santa Barbara County, California, California, United States....
     on December 14, 2006 by a Delta II
    Delta II

    Delta II is a space launch system originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II is part of the Delta rocket family and has been in service since 1989....
    -7920 rocket. Less than a month after its launch, it was reported that the U.S. spy satellite, had lost all contact with the ground. On January 29, 2008, an AP story quoted a U.S. Air Force general, who stated that intact pieces of the satellite "might re-enter into the North American area". On February 21, 2008, the United States government destroyed the satellite with a modified SM3 sea-launched missile, purportedly due to the possible danger to the public of hydrazine
    Hydrazine

    Hydrazine is a chemical compound with the chemical formula N2H4. It is a colourless liquid with an ammonia-like odor and is derived from the same industrial chemistry processes that manufacture ammonia....
     leaking from its fuel tank if it struck a populated area and ruptured upon impact.


In popular culture

The KH-13 is also the subject of Bruce Sterling
Bruce Sterling

Michael Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre....
's science fiction
Science fiction

Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media....
 book The Zenith Angle
The Zenith Angle

The Zenith Angle is a science fiction novel by Bruce Sterling, first published in 2004, about a pioneering expert in computer and network security with a traditional Hacker personality named Derek Vandeveer....
, released in April 2004. Since the capabilities of the real satellites are not publicly known, it is impossible to compare the abilities of those described in the book to those of the real surveillance satellites.

KH-13 is used as a plot device in The Canadian TV Series ReGenesis
ReGenesis

ReGenesis is a Canadian television program produced by The Movie Network and Movie Central in conjunction with Shaftesbury Films. The series, which ran for four seasons, revolves around the scientists of NorBAC , a fictional organization with a laboratory based in Toronto....
 in the season 4 episode "The Sounds of Science" Which aired on May 18, 2008

Further reading

  • John Pike (July 24 1998). . Federation of American Scientists. Accessed May 3 2004 (October 17 2001).
  • . Jane's Defence Weekly
    Jane's Defence Weekly

    Jane's Defence Weekly is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporation affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F.T....
    . Accessed May 3 2004.


See also

  • Key Hole
    Key Hole

    Key Hole is the designation for a series of United States optical reconnaissance satellites:*KH-1 Corona *KH-2 Corona *KH-3 Corona *KH-4 Corona ...
    , Corona, "KH"
  • KH-11
    KH-11

    The KH-11, also referenced by the codenames 1010, Crystal and Kennan, also commonly known as "Key Hole", was a type of reconnaissance satellite launched by the United States National Reconnaissance Office between December 1976 and 1990 and used until present....
  • KH-12
    KH-12

    "KH-12" is an unofficial designation of the successor to the KH-11 spy satellite. A system with the official designation KH-12 does not exist because the National Reconnaissance Office decided to refer to satellites by a random numbering scheme after repeated public references to KH-8, KH-9, and KH-11 satellites....