KH-8 Gambit 3 - Wikipedia

Series of United States reconnaissance satellites KH-8 GAMBIT

Schematics of GAMBIT-3 and Agena D
Mission type	Imagery intelligence
Operator	National Reconnaissance Office
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Lockheed (satellite vehicle) Eastman Kodak (camera)
Launch mass	4100 kg (on orbit)
Dimensions	14.75 m × 1.52 m (48.4 ft × 5.0 ft)
Start of mission
Rocket	Titan III
Launch site	Vandenberg Air Force Base, SLC-4E
Contractor	Martin Marietta
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Sun-synchronous orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	135 km (84 mi)
Apogee altitude	305 km (190 mi)
Inclination	110.5°
Main telescope
Type	Aspheric reflector with five-element Ross corrector
Diameter	1.1 m (3 ft 7 in)
Focal length	4.46 m (14.6 ft)
Focal ratio	f/4.09
Wavelengths	visible light, Near-infrared
Instruments MC Main Camera APTC Astro-Position Terrain Camera

The KH-8 (BYEMAN codename Gambit-3)[1] 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,[2] and also known as Low Altitude Surveillance Platform.[3] The satellite ejected "film-bucket" canisters of photographic film that were retrieved as they descended through the atmosphere by parachute. Ground resolution of the mature satellite system was better than 4 inches (0.10 m).[4] There were 54 launch attempts of the 3,000 kilogram satellites, all from Vandenberg Air Force Base, on variants of the Titan III rocket. Three launches failed to achieve orbit. The first one was satellite #5 on April 26, 1967, which fell into the Pacific Ocean after the Titan second stage developed low thrust. The second was satellite #35 on May 20, 1972, which suffered an Agena pneumatic regulator failure and reentered the atmosphere. A few months later, pieces of the satellite turned up in England and the US managed to arrange for their hasty return. The third failure was satellite #39 on June 26, 1973, which suffered a stuck Agena fuel valve. The Bell 8096 engine failed to start and the satellite burned up in the atmosphere. 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.

Gambit 3 satellites were the same width as the Gambit 1 models, but also slightly longer – reaching about 29 feet (8.8 m) in length. They carried 12,241 feet (3,731 meters) of film and were designed for longer missions of up to 31 days.[5]

While Gambit was primarily designed and operated as a surveillance satellite, capturing high definition images of specific targets at low orbital altitudes, a single Gambit Block 3 mission was operated in 'dual-mode', orbiting first at a higher altitude to capture wide-area search imagery before lowering its perigee to capture normal surveillance imagery. The first film return capsule failed to separate correctly due to a new pyro mechanism failing to perform correctly. The contingency release mechanism separated the film bucket and parachute from its return capsule, and left the film bucket stranded in orbit. In September 2002, the film bucket re-entered over the South Atlantic into deep water. As the film bucket lacked its protective heatshield or the parachute needed to slow its descent, no attempt was made to recover it.[6]

Camera Optics Module

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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 in (4.46 m) 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 (48 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 (139 km), the main camera imaged a 6.3 km wide ground swath on a 8.811 in (223.8 mm) wide moving portion of film through a small slit aperture, resulting in an image scale of 28 meter / millimeter.[7][8] 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.[7]

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.[9] 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 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.[4] Under optimal conditions GAMBIT would thus have been able to record ground features as small as 0.28 to 0.56 m (0.92 to 1.84 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").[10] The initial September 2011 release of "The Gambit Story" quotes "The mature system produced examples of imagery better than four inches ground-resolution distance". This number was again redacted in a later release.[4] Five to ten centimeters corresponds to the resolution limit imposed by atmospheric turbulence as derived by Fried[11] and, independently, Evvard[12] in the mid-1960s; remarkably, GAMBIT had reached a physical limit on resolution only a few years after the US launched its first reconnaissance satellite. GAMBIT was also able to record objects in orbit. The capability was developed to photograph Soviet spacecraft, but was first used to aid NASA engineers designing repairs for the damaged Skylab space station in 1973.[13][14]

Missions

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Name	Block[15]	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 × 250.0 km, i=94.1°	1966-08-06[16]
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 × 418.0 km, i=110.8°	1971-02-09[17]
KH8-31	II	1971-04-22	OPS-7899	1971-033A	Titan 23B	132.0 km × 401.0 km, i=110.9°	1971-05-13[18]
KH8-32	II	1971-08-12	OPS-8607	1971-070A	Titan 24B	137.0 km × 424.0 km, i=111.0°	1971-09-03[19]
KH8-33	II	1971-10-23	OPS-7616	1971-092A	Titan 24B	134.0 km × 416.0 km, i=110.9°	1971-11-17[20]
KH8-34	II	1972-03-17	OPS-1678	1972-016A	Titan 24B	131.0 km × 409.0 km, i=111.0°	1972-04-11[21]
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 × 380.0 km, i=110.5°	1972-09-30[22]
KH8-37	III	1972-12-21	OPS-3978	1972-103A	Titan 24B	139.0 km × 378.0 km, i=110.5°	1973-01-23[23]
KH8-38	III	1973-05-16	OPS-2093	1973-028A	Titan 24B	139.0 km × 399.0 km, i=110.5°	1973-06-13[24]
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 × 385.0 km, i=110.5°	1973-10-29[25]
KH8-41	III	1974-02-13	OPS-6889	1974-007A	Titan 24B	134.0 km × 393.0 km, i=110.4°	1974-03-17[26]
KH8-42	III	1974-06-06	OPS-1776	1974-042A	Titan 24B	136.0 km × 394.0 km, i=110.5°	1974-07-24[27]
KH8-43	III	1974-08-14	OPS-3004	1974-065A	Titan 24B	135.0 km × 402.0 km, i=110.5°	1974-09-29[28]
KH8-44	III	1975-04-18	OPS-4883	1975-032A	Titan 24B	134.0 km × 401.0 km, i=110.5°	1975-06-05[29]
KH8-45	III	1975-10-09	OPS-5499	1975-098A	Titan 24B	125.0 km × 356.0 km, i=96.4°	1975-11-30[30]
KH8-46	III	1976-03-22	OPS-7600	1976-027A	Titan 24B	125.0 km × 347.0 km, i=96.4°	1976-05-18[31]
KH8-47	III	1976-09-15	OPS-8533	1976-094A	Titan 24B	135.0 km × 330.0 km, i=96.4°	1976-11-05[32]
KH8-48	IV	1977-03-13	OPS-4915	1977-019A	Titan 24B	124.0 km × 348.0 km, i=96.4°	1977-05-26[33]
KH8-49	IV	1977-09-23	OPS-7471	1977-094A	Titan 24B	125.0 km × 352.0 km, i=96.5°	1977-12-08[34]
KH8-50	IV	1979-05-28	OPS-7164	1979-044A	Titan 24B	124.0 km × 305.0 km, i=96.4°	1979-08-26[35]
KH8-51	IV	1981-02-28	OPS-1166	1981-019A	Titan 24B	138.0 km × 336.0 km, i=96.4°	1981-06-20[36]
KH8-52	IV	1982-01-21	OPS-2849	1982-006A	Titan 24B	630.0 km × 641.0 km, i=97.4°	1982-05-23[37]
KH8-53	IV	1983-04-15	OPS-2925	1983-032A	Titan 24B	124.0 km × 254.0 km, i=96.5°	1983-08-21[38]
KH8-54	IV	1984-04-17	OPS-8424	1984-039A	Titan 24B	127.0 km × 235.0 km, i=96.4°	1984-08-13[39]

(NSSDC ID Numbers: See COSPAR)

Notable Missions

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In May 1973 Gambit KH8-38 was used to observe the crippled Skylab space station, as part of the preparation for repairing it by the Skylab 2 mission.[14]

Cost

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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.[15]

Other U.S. imaging spy satellites

[edit]

• Corona series: KH-1, KH-2, KH-3, KH-4
• KH-5 ARGON, KH-6 LANYARD
• KH-7 Gambit and KH-8 GAMBIT
• KH-9 Hexagon "Big Bird"
• MOL – KH-10
• KH-11 Kennen, Misty (classified project), Enhanced Imaging System

References

[edit]

• Mark Wade (August 9, 2003). KH-8. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Accessed April 23, 2004.
• KH-8 Gambit. GlobalSecurity.org

1. ^ "GAMBIT 3 KH-8 Reconnaissance Satellite". National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
2. ^ Richelson, Jeffrey (1987). American espionage and the Soviet target. W. Morrow. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-688-06753-3.
3. ^ Global Security Space Systems IMINT Overview LASP
4. ^ a b c "The GAMBIT Story". National Reconnaissance Office. June 1991. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
5. ^ "Declassified US Spy Satellites from Cold War Land in Ohio". Space.com. January 28, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
6. ^ "GAMBIT_Dual_Mode". www.nro.gov. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
7. ^ a b "KH-8 Camera System". National Reconnaissance Office. 1970. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
8. ^ Day, Dwayne A. (November 29, 2010). "Ike's gambit: The development and operations of the KH-7 and KH-8 spy satellites". www.thespacereview.com. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
9. ^ "KODAK PLUS-X AERECON II Film 3404" (PDF). Kodak. November 28, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 6, 2013.
10. ^ "KODAK AERECON High Altitude Film 3409" (PDF). Kodak. November 28, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 10, 2014.
11. ^ Fried, David (1966). "Limiting Resolution Looking Down Through the Atmosphere". Journal of the Optical Society of America. 56 (10): 1380–1384. Bibcode:1966JOSA...56.1380F. doi:10.1364/josa.56.001380.
12. ^ Evvard, John (December 1, 1968). "Atmospheric Turbulence Limits on the Observational Capabilities of Aerospacecraft". NASA Technical Note. NASA-TN-D-4940. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
13. ^ Day, Dwayne Allen (June 11, 2012). "Out of the black". The Space Review. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
14. ^ a b Day, Dwayne (May 20, 2013). "Those magnificent spooks and their spying machine: The spies help rescue Skylab". The Space Review. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
15. ^ a b "The GAMBIT story". National Reconnaissance Office. June 1991. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
16. ^ "KH 8-01". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
17. ^ "KH 8-30". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
18. ^ "KH 8-31". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
19. ^ "KH 8-32". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
20. ^ "KH 8-33". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
21. ^ "KH 8-34". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
22. ^ "KH 8-36". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
23. ^ "KH 8-37". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
24. ^ "KH 8-38". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
25. ^ "KH 8-40". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
26. ^ "KH 8-41". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
27. ^ "KH 8-42". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
28. ^ "KH 8-43". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
29. ^ "KH 8-44". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
30. ^ "KH 8-45". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
31. ^ "KH 8-46". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
32. ^ "KH 8-47". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
33. ^ "KH 8-48". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
34. ^ "KH 8-49". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
35. ^ "KH 8-50". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
36. ^ "KH 8-51". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
37. ^ "KH 8-52". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
38. ^ "KH 8-53". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.
39. ^ "KH 8-54". NASA National Space Science Data Center. October 8, 2010.

v t e National Reconnaissance Office
Current programs	Sentient (intelligence analysis system) (2009-unknown) SpaceX Starshield (2022-present) Silentbarker (2023-) Blackjack (2024-) Future Ground Architecture
Facilities & commands	Headquarters, Chantilly, VA National Reconnaissance Operations Center (NROC) RAF Menwith Hill Pine Gap Casa Grande Photogrammetric Test Range 222d Command and Control Squadron Aerospace Data Facilities Colorado, Buckley Space Force Base East, Virginia, Fort Belvoir Southwest, New Mexico, White Sands Missile Range
Technology & Science	Byeman Control System Dijkstra's algorithm Phased array radar Synthetic-aperture radar Tip and cue
Satellite lines & projects	Key Hole (1959-unknown) Discoverer 1 (1959) Corona (1959-1972) Samos (1960-1962) KH-5 Argon (1961-1964) Upward (1961-1972) Poppy (1962-1967) Samos-F (1962-1971) Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (1962-2014) Lanyard (1963) Zirconic (1963-) Gambit (1963-1967) Quill (1964) Gambit 3 (1966-1984) Canyon (1968-1977) Aquacade (1970-1978) Jumpseat (1971-1983) Hexagon (1971-1986) KENNEN (1976-unknown) Satellite Data System (1976-2017) Naval Ocean Surveillance System (1976-2025) Vortex (1978-1989) Magnum (1985-1989) Lacrosse (1988-2005) Prowler (1990) Misty (1990-2012) Trumpet (1994-1997) Mercury (1994-1998) SLDCOM (1994-unknown) Orion (1995-) FORTE (1997) Discoverer II (1998-2000) STEX (1998) Enhanced Imaging System (1999) Future Imagery Architecture (1999-2018) Zuma (2018)
People	Christopher Scolese (Director) Betty J. Sapp Brian Patrick Regan William Kampiles Leadership of the National Reconnaissance Office
History	Chronology of the National Reconnaissance Office List of NRO launches USA-193 USA-225 USA-234 USA-276 2012 National Reconnaissance Office space telescope donation to NASA Multiple Mirror Telescope 6594th Test Group
Past programs	Manned Orbiting Laboratory NEMESIS (High Altitude) RAVEN (High Altitude) SIGINT High Altitude Replenishment Program (SHARP)
Founders	William O. Baker Merton E. Davies Sidney Drell Richard L. Garwin Amrom Harry Katz James R. Killian Edwin H. Land Frank W. Lehan William J. Perry Edward M. Purcell

v t e Satellites of the National Reconnaissance Office
Imaging	Optical Keyhole Corona Argon Lanyard Gambit 1 Gambit 3 Hexagon Kennen/Crystal Misty Misty EIS Other Samos Radar Quill Lacrosse/Onyx FIA-R
SIGINT	Radar location Canyon Chalet/Vortex Mercury Ship location Poppy NOSS ELINT GEO Rhyolite/Aquacade Magnum/Orion Mentor HEO Jumpseat Trumpet LEO Samos-F Poppy
Communication	SDS SLDCOM
Technology	STEX GeoLITE USA-193 Colony RPP

v t e United States reconnaissance satellites
IMINT	Photographic KH-1 Corona KH-2 Corona KH-3 Corona KH-4A Corona KH-4B Corona KH-5 Argon KH-6 Lanyard KH-7 Gambit KH-8 Gambit 3 KH-9 Hexagon KH-10 Dorian Electro-optical Samos KH-11 Kennen Misty Enhanced Imaging System Synthetic-aperture radar Quill Lacrosse FIA
SIGINT	Low Earth orbit GRAB Poppy White Cloud Samos-F Highly elliptical orbit Jumpseat Trumpet Geosynchronous Earth orbit Canyon Magnum Mentor (Orion) Mercury Rhyolite/Aquacade Vortex GSSAP
MASINT	Primary mission FORTE GPS DMSP Vela Secondary mission MIDAS DSP SBIRS STSS
R&D	Primary mission MiTEx
Unknown	USA number USA-193