RECONNAISSANCE GAP FEARED IN WAKE OF TITAN EXPLOSION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605470013-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: April 21, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605470013-9
.., Wr,SHiNGTON TIMES
21 April 1986
Reconnaissance gap feared
in wake of Titan explosion
r' By Walter Andrews
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Space experts warn of a "reconnaissance
gap" in U.S. monitoring of Soviet military ac-
tivity after last Friday's explosion of a Titan
34D space booster.
"It's going to be a close call;' said John Pike,
associate director for space policy for the
Federation of American Scientists. "They're
[the. U.S.. military) in a precarious position,"
n-'Tsaid Jeffrey Richelson, an-American Univer-
sityrspecialist.in_reconnaissance satellites.
The explosion, which occurred only sec-
onds after lift-off, was the second at Vanden-
berg Air Force Base in the last eight months,
the space experts said.
The Pentagon declined comment on the
booster's payload on the grounds of secrecy.
But the two experts said it is generally known
that KH-11 reconnaissance satellites were on
the Titans that crashed last Friday and last
August. "That's why Vandenberg's there," Mr.
Pike said.
Friday's Titan carried the last KH-11,
which was actually a refurbished engineer-
ing test model not originally designed for op-
eration, Mr. Pike said.
A much larger, more capable KH-12 space
satellite was scheduled to be placed in orbit
by the space shuttle in early 1988 to replace
the KH-11. But the shuttle has been grounded
since the Challenger exploded January 28,
and its future launch schedule remains un-
certain.
Whether there is a gap in satellite surveil-
lance depends on how long the remaining
KH-11 continues operating and how soon the
replacement KH-12 can be launched, the two
space experts said. "You may have a gap in
coverage of some number of months," Mr.
Pike said.
"We may have a gap in covering if the [KH-]
11 does not make it until early '88, or if for
some reason the shuttle launch of the KH-12
is delayed until later than early '88,' he said.
Only the shuttle can carry the KH-12, which
weighs about 2 tons more than the KH-11, Mr.
Pike said.
"There is nothing around to put up at the
moment," Mr. Richelson concurred. If it [the
orbiting KH-11] goes out, you have nothing,"
he said.
The KH-1 1 currently operating from space
was launched in December 1984 and has a
reconnaissance life of between two and three
years, the two experts said. So it could be a
close call as to whether America will continue
to have effective satellite monitoring from
mid-1987 into 1988, they said.
Mr. Pike said it is not possible to build a new
satellite in time to close the gap-.Fe
also noted t t muc o the sate te's useful-
ness was compromised when a KH-11 ma-FUR
was sold the Soviets in the late 1970s by.
William Kampiles, a low-level CIA employee.
Mr K mpt es was sentenced to 40 years in
prison in December 1978.
Tb avoid the occurrence of a reconnais-
sance gap, Mr. Pike said it would be possible
to "stack" a KH-12 onto the shuttle's main
liquid rocket engine and two solid boosters
and fire it up.
Failure of the rubber 0-rings, designed to
prevent gases from escaping from between
segments of the solid rockets, is the main
reason being investigated for the January 28
explosion of the shuttle. It is thought that the
freezing temperatures that occurred that day
may have stiffened the rings, reducing their
sealing flexibility.
Mr. Pike said he doubted that the 0-rings
caused the crash last Friday of the Titan 34D,
which has a similar design. The problem of
freezing temperatures did not exist, he said.
The launch of the KH-12, which he said
weighs about 14 tons, faces an additional tech-
nical hurdle, he said. Tb lift the huge satellite,
the shuttle's main liquid rocket must be oper-
ated at "109 percent" of its regular thrust. It
has never been flown at this thrust.
Tb lessen the total amount being lifted, the
heavy steel skin of the two solid rockets would
be replaced with a much lighter "wound fila-
ment" skin, Mr. Pike said.
The technical risk is that the wound fila-
ment solid rocket boosters would be more
flexible than the steel encased rockets and
therefore more difficult to stabilize during
the early moments of lift-off, he said.
Plans called for separate test flights for
each of the technically risky changes before
attempting a flight with them combined, the
space expert said.
If it appears that any surveillance satellite
"gap" is developing, a shuttle launch of the
KH-12 may have to be made on an "emer-
gency basis;' Mr. Pike said.
After last Friday's Titan 34D failure, it ap-
pears that accelerated development and test-
ing of the planned changes will be needed, he
said.
Tb minimize the chances of a surveillance
gap developing, Mr. Pike said, Air Force sci-
entists and engineeers will probably "nurse"
along the KH-11 currently orbiting. The
KH-11 can be positioned over targets, but in
order to conserve fuel, the Air Force will
probably move the satellite around less.
This will increase the "predictability" of i
the satellite's orbit and give the Soviets a
greater opportunity to cover up targets with
camouflage, he said.
In addition to the higher resolution of its
cameras, an advantage of the KH-12 is its
ability to be restocked in space with maneu-
vering fuel, the space expert said.
The KH-12 is also projected to have an
eight-year lifetime in space, compared with
the two to three years of the KH-11, he said.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605470013-9