Defense Support Program: Difference between revisions
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< | '''Defense Support Program (DSP)''' satellites and associated ground facilities are an aging system of space-based infrared sensors that detect the intense heat of missile launches and nuclear explosions. They do not form images, but are electro-optical MASINT sensors that measure the intensity and wavelengths of radiation in a grid of locations on earth (i.e., spectroscopic MASINT), based on an idea first proposed in 1948<ref>{{citation | ||
| author = J.A. Curcio and J.A. Sanderson | |||
| id = Naval Research Laboratory, NRL Report No. N-3327 | |||
| contribution = Further Investigations of the Radiation from Rocket Motor Flames | |||
| date = 26 July 1948 | |||
| title = Space-Based Early Warning: From MIDAS to DSP to SBIR: Last DSP satellite to be launched tomorrow | |||
| publisher = National Security Archive, George Washington University | |||
| editor = Jeffrey Richelson | |||
| url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB235/01.pdf | |||
}}</ref> In the program, the first satellite was launched in 1970 and the last in 2007.<ref>{{citation | |||
| title = Space-Based Early Warning: From MIDAS to DSP to SBIR: Last DSP satellite to be launched tomorrow | |||
| publisher = National Security Archive, George Washington University | |||
| id = Electronic Briefing Book No. 235 | |||
| editor = Jeffrey Richelson | |||
| date = 9 November 2007 | |||
| url =http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB235/index.htm | |||
}}</ref> They are due to be replaced by two variants of the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), one in satellite orbits#geosynchronous orbit|geosynchronous orbit as is DSP <ref name=>{{citation | |||
| title = First SBIRS early warning satellite delayed until 2011 | |||
| author = Steven Clark | |||
| journal = Spaceflight Now | |||
| date = 10 December 2009 | |||
| url = http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0912/10sbirs/}}</ref> | |||
Their precessor was the prototype Missile Defense Alarm System (MIDAS).<ref>{{citation | |||
| author = Harold Brown | |||
| contribution = Memorandum for the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Research and Development), Subject: MIDAS System | |||
| date = 25 June 1962s | |||
| title = Space-Based Early Warning: From MIDAS to DSP to SBIR: Last DSP satellite to be launched tomorrow | |||
| publisher = National Security Archive, George Washington University | |||
| editor = Jeffrey Richelson | |||
| url = http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB235/01.pdf | |||
}}</ref> DSP has gone through a variety of names, as has the SBIRS system. Renamed called the Satellite Early Warning System (SEWS) in 1999, DSP remains the best-known name, as the descendant of several generations of spacecraft,<ref name=Richelson1999>{{citation | |||
| title = America's Space Sentinels: DSP Satellites and National Security | |||
| author = Jeffrey Richelson | |||
| publisher = University of Kansas Press | year = 1999}}</ref> which are operated by the Fourteenth Air Force. Originally, DSP was known by the classified name Program 949, and, after that became known, Program 647. | |||
The fUSSR/Russia|Russian Prognoz spacecraft has been described, by US sources, as having similar capabilities to DSP.<ref name=IOSS3>{{citation | |||
| url = http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/ioss/threat96/part03.htm | |||
| title = Operations Security Intelligence Threat Handbook, Section 3, Adversary Foreign Intelligence Operations | |||
| author = Interagency OPSEC Support Staff | |||
| date = May 1996 | |||
}}</ref> | |||
Originally intended to detect the intense heat of an ICBM launch, this system proved useful at a theater level in 1990-1991. It detected the launch of Iraqi SS-1 SCUD missiles in time to give early warning to potential targets. | |||
==References== | |||
{{reflist|2}} |
Latest revision as of 12:18, 22 March 2024
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Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites and associated ground facilities are an aging system of space-based infrared sensors that detect the intense heat of missile launches and nuclear explosions. They do not form images, but are electro-optical MASINT sensors that measure the intensity and wavelengths of radiation in a grid of locations on earth (i.e., spectroscopic MASINT), based on an idea first proposed in 1948[1] In the program, the first satellite was launched in 1970 and the last in 2007.[2] They are due to be replaced by two variants of the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), one in satellite orbits#geosynchronous orbit|geosynchronous orbit as is DSP [3] Their precessor was the prototype Missile Defense Alarm System (MIDAS).[4] DSP has gone through a variety of names, as has the SBIRS system. Renamed called the Satellite Early Warning System (SEWS) in 1999, DSP remains the best-known name, as the descendant of several generations of spacecraft,[5] which are operated by the Fourteenth Air Force. Originally, DSP was known by the classified name Program 949, and, after that became known, Program 647. The fUSSR/Russia|Russian Prognoz spacecraft has been described, by US sources, as having similar capabilities to DSP.[6] Originally intended to detect the intense heat of an ICBM launch, this system proved useful at a theater level in 1990-1991. It detected the launch of Iraqi SS-1 SCUD missiles in time to give early warning to potential targets. References
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