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KH-11 KENNEN
The KH-11 KENNEN (later renamed CRYSTAL, then Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL System, and codenamed 1010 and Key Hole) is a type of reconnaissance satellite first launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in December 1976. Manufactured by Lockheed in Sunnyvale, California, the KH-11 was the first American spy satellite to use electro-optical digital imaging, and to offer real-time optical observations.
Later KH-11 satellites have been referred to by outside observers as KH-11B or KH-12, and by the names "Advanced KENNEN", "Improved Crystal" and "Ikon". Official budget documents refer to the latest generation of electro-optical satellites as Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL System. The Key Hole series was officially discontinued in favor of a random numbering scheme after repeated public references to KH-7 GAMBIT, KH-8 GAMBIT 3, KH-9 HEXAGON, and KH-11 KENNEN satellites.
The capabilities of the KH-11 are highly classified, as are the images they produce. The satellites are believed to have been the source of some imagery of the Soviet Union and China made public in 1997;[citation needed] images of Sudan and Afghanistan made public in 1998 related to the response to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings; and a 2019 photo, provided by then-President Donald Trump, of a failed Iranian rocket launch.
Before KENNEN, National Reconnaissance Office spy satellites such as KH-9 HEXAGON took photographs on film, which was dropped to Earth in capsules. The satellites' useful life ended when they ran out of film or capsules.
The Film Read-Out KH-7 GAMBIT (FROG) served as NRO Program A's competitor to NRO Program B's initial electro-optical imagery (EOI) satellite. After a precursor EOI study under the codeword Zoster, President Nixon on 23 September 1971 approved the development of an EOI satellite codenamed Zaman. In November 1971, this codeword was changed to Kennen, which is Middle English for "to perceive". Initial director of the ZAMAN/KENNEN Program Group was Charles R. "Charlie" Roth; he was succeeded in October 1975 by Rutledge P. (Hap) Hazzard.
The KENNEN system transmits its imagery as data through the Satellite Data System (SDS), a network of communications satellites. These digital images were initially processed at a secret National Reconnaissance Office facility dubbed Area 58 at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
In 1999, NRO selected Boeing as the prime contractor for the Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) program, which aimed to replace the KH-11 satellites by a more cost-effective constellation of smaller, more capable reconnaissance satellites. After the failure of the FIA in 2005, NRO ordered two more KH-11s from Lockheed. USA-224, the first of these, was launched in early 2011 two years ahead of the initial schedule estimate.
According to Lew Allen, the initial key design elements were specified by Edwin H. Land. They included i) solid state focal plane array, ii) integrated circuits for complex data processing, iii) large, fast optics with a 2.54 m (100 in) diameter f/2 primary mirror, iv) gigabit/s data link, v) long on-orbit operational lifetime for the imaging satellites, and vi) communication satellites to facilitate close-to-realtime downlink of the images.
KH-11 KENNEN
The KH-11 KENNEN (later renamed CRYSTAL, then Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL System, and codenamed 1010 and Key Hole) is a type of reconnaissance satellite first launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in December 1976. Manufactured by Lockheed in Sunnyvale, California, the KH-11 was the first American spy satellite to use electro-optical digital imaging, and to offer real-time optical observations.
Later KH-11 satellites have been referred to by outside observers as KH-11B or KH-12, and by the names "Advanced KENNEN", "Improved Crystal" and "Ikon". Official budget documents refer to the latest generation of electro-optical satellites as Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL System. The Key Hole series was officially discontinued in favor of a random numbering scheme after repeated public references to KH-7 GAMBIT, KH-8 GAMBIT 3, KH-9 HEXAGON, and KH-11 KENNEN satellites.
The capabilities of the KH-11 are highly classified, as are the images they produce. The satellites are believed to have been the source of some imagery of the Soviet Union and China made public in 1997;[citation needed] images of Sudan and Afghanistan made public in 1998 related to the response to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings; and a 2019 photo, provided by then-President Donald Trump, of a failed Iranian rocket launch.
Before KENNEN, National Reconnaissance Office spy satellites such as KH-9 HEXAGON took photographs on film, which was dropped to Earth in capsules. The satellites' useful life ended when they ran out of film or capsules.
The Film Read-Out KH-7 GAMBIT (FROG) served as NRO Program A's competitor to NRO Program B's initial electro-optical imagery (EOI) satellite. After a precursor EOI study under the codeword Zoster, President Nixon on 23 September 1971 approved the development of an EOI satellite codenamed Zaman. In November 1971, this codeword was changed to Kennen, which is Middle English for "to perceive". Initial director of the ZAMAN/KENNEN Program Group was Charles R. "Charlie" Roth; he was succeeded in October 1975 by Rutledge P. (Hap) Hazzard.
The KENNEN system transmits its imagery as data through the Satellite Data System (SDS), a network of communications satellites. These digital images were initially processed at a secret National Reconnaissance Office facility dubbed Area 58 at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
In 1999, NRO selected Boeing as the prime contractor for the Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) program, which aimed to replace the KH-11 satellites by a more cost-effective constellation of smaller, more capable reconnaissance satellites. After the failure of the FIA in 2005, NRO ordered two more KH-11s from Lockheed. USA-224, the first of these, was launched in early 2011 two years ahead of the initial schedule estimate.
According to Lew Allen, the initial key design elements were specified by Edwin H. Land. They included i) solid state focal plane array, ii) integrated circuits for complex data processing, iii) large, fast optics with a 2.54 m (100 in) diameter f/2 primary mirror, iv) gigabit/s data link, v) long on-orbit operational lifetime for the imaging satellites, and vi) communication satellites to facilitate close-to-realtime downlink of the images.
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