INTERIM REPORT OF ARPA AD HOC GROUP ON PROJECT SENTRY AND FOLLOW-ON PROGRAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP63-00313A000600110061-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2002
• Sequence Number: 61
• Content Type: MEMO

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ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
MEMORANDUM REPORT
The Director, ARPA
The Deputy Director, ARPA
The Chief Scientist, ARPA
SUBJECT: Interim Report of ARPA Ad Hoc Group on Project SENTRY
and F ollow- on Program
eferences: (1) USAF-BMD-ARDC Development Plan, dtd IS Sep 58.
(2) Memo to DepSeeclhf dtd 30 July 58.
(3) Memo to Commander, BMD, ARDC dtd 25 Sep S8.
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The BMD presentations of its development plan for Project
SENTRY (reference (1)) to the Advanced Research Pro ects Agency an
23 September 1958 re red :& FY 1959 fund of exceeding 25X1
the ARPA ceeiliu reviously esta s re erence (2).
The FY 19 0 fund of s presented in the development plan NRO
for Project SENTRY s in excess of what is currently considered a
realistic R&D funding level; aboutF __1 Further, it appears 25X1
from the plan presented by BMD that achievement of major objectives
in the program has been delayed substantially in spite of the fact the NRO
proposed funding level for FY 19" has been increased. In order to
obtain more intimate knowledge of the technical and budget aspects of
the program, and in the light of special security considerations, Mr.
Roy W. Johnson, Director of ARPA, established an ARPA Ad Hoc Group
on Project SENTRY and the Follow-on Program (reference (3)). The
group is charged with the responsibility of investigating, evaluating,
and recommending what the ARPA SENTRY program should be and
what approach the follow-on program should take. The material to
follow represents the group's findings to date and should be considered
as an interim progress report. There are, however, several specific
actions recommended, some of which have already been initiated and
OSD and NRO review(s) completed.
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the remainder of which should be undertaken immediately. This report
is divided into four basic sections: Section I contains a detailed tech-
nical discussion and budget breakdown of the BMD 15 September Develop-
ment Plan for FY 1959 and 1960. Including the project; Section 11 contains
a suggested program reorientation of Project SENTRY and discusses the
estimated budget costs; Section IIt contains a technical discussion and
breakdown of items that are considered by the Ad Hoc Group to be pro-
perly chargeable as operational items rather than R&D items; section nr
contains: (a) Summary, (b) Interim Conclusions, and (c) Recommendations.
. Detailed Technical Discussion and Budget Anal sis
The SENTRY Development Plan dated I5 September 1958 and
associated cost data presented to ARPA an 25 September have been reviewed
in detail with the USAF-BMD SENTRY project office. After study and
analysis of the supporting data presented, the following comments are
submitted.
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mate Development Plan based an a ceiling
on expenditures proposed to delay the first AT LA aunch to
January 1961. This represents a delay of i 1 months over the basic pleas`.
and 19 months over the Development Plan submitted July 1, 1958.
The proposed schedules as well as those presenteed an 16 March
and 1 July are shown an Figure Z.
To better understand the factors in the program that influenceed
these proposals, n alysis was made of FY 1959
and the FY 19601 budgated costs.
The basic Development Plan all on a total FT 1959 i'1r-,v
eager e%f ether then at& re natmel.
A BMD gross breakdown of the funds, involved is as follows:
Table I
Total for THOR Program
Total for ATLAS Program
FY 459
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The ground rules used by BMD in preparing Table I were as
(1) Costs represented by LAC Contract-161 are cose
the THOR program for FY 1959, and on.
The ratio of this contract to the total LAC budget for FY 1959
.d to pro-rate costs for program management, systems engineer big,
(3) In subsystems A, B, C. and D. best judgment was used in
developing costs. Most of the effort in A, B, C, and I) for FY 1959 ha s
to associated with producing vehicles to be launched in the THOR pro-
(4) THOR booster costs, Subsystem "L"# support and certain
associate contractor costs are all strictly identifiable with the THOR
program in FY 1959.
(5) Boot judgment based on above is used in estimating the THOR
program for FY 1960.
a evident from Table I that the THOR program is absorbing a
ajor portion of the effort available for FT 1959. A. the CORONA pro-
esponsible for the major part of the program an attempt was made
keonab1e estimate an these costs.
The ground rules used by the Ad Hoc Group in this analysis are
we:
(1) The cost of the first four development flights will be split
equally between CORONA and SENTRY.
(2) No 14o-med costs will be charged to CORONA.
(3) The cost of boosters charged. off in each fiscal year
distributed in proportion to total number of shots in each program or
14/19 :. 74 for CORONA.
(4) No CRC (Cambridge Research Center Geo.Physicasl) costs
will be charged to CORONA.
(5) All other costs, with the exception of Systems Engineering
and Ground Space Communications, will be charged in proportion to the
number of shots on each program for the year.
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F`Y 1959
FY 1960
CORONA SENTRY
7 3
7 2
As many items under the Systems Engineering heading, such as
specifications, make-up, qualification tests, reliability, systems inte-
gration, training, reports, etc. , would have been necessary for either
project, no charge is made to CORONA for these. As the above its
represent 25 percent of the total Systems Engineering cost, only 75 Pe
cent of the total cost is used in determining CCORONA allocactions.
As most of the ground-space roam nu ations acquisition, tracking
and data handling installation for one THOR program would have been
required for SENTRY and Bio Mod tests anyway, an arbitrary 25 percent
of these costs are allocated to CORONA.
CORONA costs on the above basis work out to be:
Table II
THOR Boosters
Associate Contractors
AF "CRC" 1. 2 - 1.02
Others 1.4 - 0
Support Costs
ckheed Costs
),sect Management
Systems Engineering
SubsysteemA (Airfrar
B (Propulsion)
C (Auxiliary Power)
D (Guidance & Control)
H (Communications)
L (Bio-Mee & Capsule)
GSE
Total THOR Program +
Cost per shot *
Total CORONA Program
Cost per shoat*
FY 59 (millions) FY 60 (million )
THOR CORONA THOR CORONA
These costs include all the R&D and other six
ntrt iaclu f cili eas..,Tlae
s
L.d FY
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e >g cesT o a i kaav
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A breakdown of the ATLAS program coats included in the
FY 1959 budget is as follows.
Table III
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ATLAS Boosters & Engrg Costs
ATLAS GSE
Associate Contractors
Guidance, MIT
Subsystem I (data processing)
Support Coats
Lockheed Costs
Fee
Systems Engrg k Project Mgt.
Sybsystern E lVisuaf
ATLAS launch & support at Cooke
NE, NW, Central Tracking & Acquisition
Intelligence & Development Control Casters
Facilities Planning
Grand Total.
Other Loc a oas
Facilities
Individual facilities
Item
Cost
To reduce the program from I I BMD
assumed that the THOR program as presented, Including VORONA and
Bio-Mod, could not be reduced and that facilities could not be reduced.
This led to reducing the remainder of the program as follows to obtain
a. ared~x+ tIon. A breakdown of the ATLAS program cost
included in the ~udget is as follows:
Table IV
ATLAS Boosters & Engrg Coasts
ATLAS GSE
Associate Contractors
Guidantce, MIT
Subsystem I (Data Processing, R?
kheed Costs
Fee
Systems Engrg & Mgt
Subsystem E (Visual)
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Total
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SECTION II
As neither of the programs presented by USA'..BMD would meet
the broad program objectives and the cost limitations, the Ad Hoc
p directed its attention toward developing as alternate plan that would
more nearly most the requirements and still stay within the
ARPA funding limitations. Items considered in developing We pi were
as follows:
It was agreed by the Ad Hoc Group that the Bio-Mead portion ed
program could not be justified as a part of the SENTRY program and
d be eliminated or be separately justified and financed.
of the cost of the three Bio-Mod payloads is approximately
The cost of three THOR boosters as explained in. footnote tea
associated SENTRY vehicle costs would be
It was also agreed that the firing schedule proposed for the THOR
program was very optimistic and could not likely be net, Rather than
arbitrarily delay other important elements of the program for an effort:
probability of accomplishment, a more conservative and less
expensive THOR program was considered as follows:
Remove flights one and two from the SENTRY program as such
and request the Air Force to conduct the THOR portion of theme flights
as a facility range-proofing operation. The SENTRY vehicles would be
launched as an incidental payload and data obtained, if any. along with
crew training. w uld be a bonus return.
y the initiation of a two per month launch rate from April
1959 until July 1959. This will permit time to initiate any mandatory
changes in the early part of the program and will delay the date when
dual launching crews and GSE are required. This will reduce the
launching costs in the FY 1959 portion of the program and will also
reduce the hardware costs involvecL
Our best engineering Judgment on a schedule that this approach
could support is as follows:
CY 59
Cy 60
M A M J J A S Q N D J F M A M J J A S G N D
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The changes in hardware costs associated with such a schedule
are as follows:
FY 1959 costs would decrease
Two less CORONA shots
Two leas THORs
FY 1960 costs would increase
Add two CORONA shots
The Development Plan presented on 1 July 1958 provided for the
first Pioneer visual reconnaissance flight with full tactical equipment
aboard to be launched in September 1960. Although the 15 September
Development Plan did not specifically confirm this date it is assumed
that such a flight could not be made at an earlier date since five of the
nine flights originally programmed ahead of this flight were eliminated.
The ground acquisition tracking and visual readout equipment currently
programmed to be available an this date consists of a single prototype
installation located at Camp Cooke. This equipment would only be cap-
able of contacting the vehicle in a maximum of two passes per day and
would thus permit readout of loss than 1 /4 of the stored data if the camera
were operated at all times while over USSR territory.
though a full three ground station readout system is contem.-
d in the 15 September basic Development Plan, detailed analysis
even without budgetary limitations, these stations would
not be fully equipped and operational before April 1961.
The data provided by two Pioneer visual flights in the last quarter
of CY 1960, reading out a small fraction of the total vehicle capacity to
a single prototype ground station, can hardly be considered to fulfill a
tactical operational requirement for this time period.
Possible methods of improving this situation would be to (1) ex-
pedite the presently programmed visual system, and (2) extend CORONA
operation to fill the gap between the present CY 1959 program and the
availability of a tactically useful Pioneer el*ctronie readout system.
To be effective method (1) would require advancing the proposed
schedule for the Pioneer vehicle by 5 months and the ground readout
system by at least one year to an availability date of April 19643. This
would mean a 25 percent reduction in total time from now until the time
that the vehicle becomes available for the vehicle and a similar 40 percent
reduction in time for the ground system.,
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In, considering extending CORONA type of gyration through
CY 1960 consideration must be given to the limited orbital We and
film supply of the existing system and the marginal weight situation
that exists in accomplishing these limited objectives.
The two-day film supply avs4labble, if all is clear, is sufficient
to photograph the whole of the USSR; however, the odds of clezr weather
are such that this is not likely to happen. Additional film supply and
available orbital life would both be very valuable in increasing the amount
of useful data obtained per that and, thus, the cost per unit of data.
payload capability from a THOR launched system is
time period under consideration. In fact, the present
quoted capability is quite marginal. The weight available for true pay-
load (40 lb of film) is to #m an that minor variations in such items as
vehicle burn-out weight, propellent utili ation,,. or specific impulse,
could completely eliminate this payload; or if these variations are
disregarded, they would prevent the vehicle from going into a satisfactory
orbit.
The obvious method of increasing the data acquisition capability and
increasing the chances at success by widening the payload margins for
vehicles launched in the CY 1960 period would be to switch to the ATLAS
booster and modify the CORONA payload to take advantage at the added /
load carrying ability of this vehicle combination. ATLAS boosters can
be made available in June 1959. Lath facilities for ATLAS at Camp
Cooke are, presently programmed to be available In February 1960. which
is marginal to support an April 1960 tactical capability.
The CORONA type payload has been reviewed and appears to be
capable of appreciable growth with reasonable modifications. Space
presently exists for doubling the film lead in the recovery package. A
increase in altitude (10 -1,5 miles) should adequately increase the
orbital We from a drag standpoint. As the present gas stabilisation
supply to only 45 lb and this primarily for the launch phase, this system
could be extended to longer orbital life with little penalty. The small
change in altitude will not seriously affect the resolution.
The ability to carry added weight will also make it possible to
improve the tetra-rocket installation. This will reduce the dispersion
to a point where the cost of the recovery system can be materially re-
duced.
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decision is made that it is important to obtain visual reecon-
naiseaunce data in CY 1960, this appears to be a logical approach to the
problem.
To improve the chances of succeeon the ATLAS launch capab
at Cooke should be moved forward as far as possible. An improvement:
two months in this date should be possible if appropriate action is
taken promptly. This would permit at least 3 to 4 development firings
with this facility, vehicle, payload combination prior to the April 1960
assigned date.
If such a project is undertaken, a possible program would
59
DJFMAMT JAS0NDIJFMAM i JA60NI>JFMAM.JJASO
THOR
Project
1 1 l 1: l 1 1 1 1; l
1 1 1 s
This program provides a continuous now of visual reconnaissance
data with an accelerated rate of accomplishment in the summer months and
a uniform utilisation of launch crews and ground support equipment. In
addition this more uniform firing schedule will permit economies by smooth-
ing out the workload in vehicle manufacture and test. Development work on
growth systems in accomplished in the winter months when the weather is
least desirable for visual reconnaissance work. The presently planned
Pioneer system capability date is still met when facilities for ground read-
out and data handling first become- available in April 1961.
Such a program is obviously going to require more dollars tip
currently programmed or planned. A method of providing this money and
remaining within the FY 1959 and FY 1960 fund ceiling by removing
operational funds from the R&D budget will be treated in the next section.
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SECTION I1
Analysis of the 15 September 1958 USAF?BMD Development Plan,
made on the basis of budget estimates, is presented to show how funding
programs, from an over-all scheduling viewpoint and for satisfying
ements can be met FY 1959 and FY 1960. A realistic appraisal
both R&D and operational requirements, indicates the need for a fu ding
division into the following categories from the agency sources indicated:
es and Military Construction - by Air Force
*rational Agency.
. Operational ui ment - by Air Force as Operational Agency.
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3. Operational Support - by Air Force as Operational Agency.
4. Research and Development - by ARPA.
A discussion . and evaluation of the items within these categories follows.
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1. Industrial Facilities for FY 1959 refire for Lock- 25X1
heed in-house equipment for laboratory and SENTRY WWI* tests. This
equipment is considered to be part of a production facility and, thus, should
be charged to an operational agency. Lockheed is financing the buildin for ~1
the facility created. Similar facilities for FY 1960 amount to
Construction Facilities for FY 1959 require II
fie- e+- struction of three (3) U. S. Tracking and c s sn
ions and I h far one (1) Development Center at Palo Alto
and two (Z) Data-Processing Centers at Offutt Air Forcer Base and Wright
Air Development Center, totaling These facilities are a
of the permanent operational syster they axe not needed for BMD
until October 1960, unless the development of Pioneer visual
reconnaissance capabilities are accelerated over those dates shown to
the 15 September Development Plan. Construction lead-time of one (1)
year puts beginning of construction in September 1959, which is within
1"Y 1960. Thus, this item can be deferred from FY 1959 to FY 1960 and
should be funded by the operational agency. Similarly, in FY 1960,
facilities also considered to be operational are one (1) additional ATLAS
.unch ccxmpiee, consisting of two (2) pads and one (1) blockhouse for
of additional funding for the two (2) Data-Processing Centers
at Offutt Air Force Base and Wright Aix Development Center, in the
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Operational Equipment in FY 1959, consisting of two (2)
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THOR/S TTRY vehicles appearing at the beginning of the THOR Program,
is needed for range and facility-proofing experience. It is understood
that only one (1) THOR missile will be fired from Cooke Air Force Base
pads prior to the commencement of the THOR Program. It Is not con-
sidered justifiable for an R&D program to provide range-firing experience
operational program. Thus, this equipment, in the amount of
should be funded by the operational agency In FY 1960.
additional ATLAS launch complex will be provided for the benefit of the
a established for training Wises. Thus, an amount
for these two (2) vehicles should be funded by the Air Force
an additional training exorcist. In FY 1960, operational equipment for
the permanent U. S. Tracking and Acquisition Stations and Data-Processing
Centers will be required in the amount of I which should be
funded by the ope rational agency. An additional amount of hould
be provided for data-processing equipment to handle a greater number of
satellites in orbit according to the reoriented program schedule and should
be supported by the operational agency. Ground support equipment for the
3. Operational Support . A total of I bas been budgeted
for support of the 15 September program. This estimate is a maximum
figure based on strict Interpretation of the Comptr+r ler's directive of
These costs are being reviewed within the Air Force with a view to reducing
the total. Some recovery in this area is expected. On a similar basis,
NRO some is allocated for FY 1960.
In order to summarize the items not to be funded as part of the
ARPA SENTRY program as discussed in Sections I, T[, and UI of this
report, Table VII for FY 1959 and Table VIII for FY 1960 are presented.
The items in these tables fall into the following three categories.
(1) Items to be funded by the Air Force as operational budget
support items. These items are not to be cancelled but should be supported
by the Air Force outside of the ARPA R&D budget as Project SENTRY.
(2) Items to be dropped by ARPA as having no direct relation to
the SENTRY program. These items should be brought to the attention of
the Air Force so they can support them if desired; however, in any case
their support or non-support has no relation to the ARPA SENTRY program.
(3) Items the exact recoverability of which is Are doubt and the
figures shown are a r urn.
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Table VII
Bt Deletion teary
FY 1939
Item
(a) Industrial Production Facility
(b) Gen-physics
(c) Support funds
Biqa-Medical Payloads
Three THOR/SENTRY vehicles
for Bits-Medical Payloads
(f) Cancel the two THOR boosters
needed for range firing testing
(SENTRY stage to be supplied by ARPA)
(g) Slow down of R-W s visual data handling
program to be consistant with the
program schedule
(h) Systems Engineering reduced by
deletion of three THOR/SENTRY
Vehicle $
SUB-TOTAL
Facilities
(1) Three tracking and data acquisition
(3) Two Intelligence Centers
SUB-TOTAL
GRAND TOTAL
Category
(1)
(2)
(1),(3)
(2). (3)
(2), (3)
(1)
(3)
(3)
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Table VIII
Budget Deletion 5wivnary
FY 1960
Operational Ground
stems (NE, NW, & central,
plus data center))
(h) Goo-physics
{c) Advanced Propulsion
(d) Support
(e) Additional Processing Equipment to
handle greater number of satellites
bit
(f) Additional launcher , : Coctce AFB
for tactic
( ) OSE for item (g)
SUB-TOTAL
Facilities
(b.) Two Intelligence Centers
GRAND TOTAL
Cgary
(1)
3)
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To carry out the reoriented program suggested in Section II of
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Development Plan_ for F Y 1959 would be reduced by obtained
from a redirection of fund support re yonsibilLt as ou a able VU.
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This action. would reduce the original? figure tol
To this must be added the to restore the five ATLAS/SENTRY
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vehicles originally pianane or g ou of Patrick AFB but under the
NRO reoriented program would be fired out of Cooke AFB. This brings the
initial funding required up to Subtracting this amount from
NRO the Y 1959 coiling will leave approximately
for reallocation to carry out the required engineering support, ve c. e
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still live
ram and
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i
h
f
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p
g
en
e
e reor
or t
support, payload support, etc. ,
within the FY 1959 ceiling.
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For FY 1960, starting with the figure of a-a stated in NRO 25X1
the 15 September Development Plan and aubstractinge NRO 25X1
figure obtained from a redirection of fundin
responsibility as outlined
in Table VIII would reduce the NRO25X1
Substracting o>