-Caveat Lector-
A spy satellite's rise ... and faked fall
Amateurs
could see what
Russia missed,
historian says
This drawing, included in a patent application, shows how an inflatable
space shield could help a satellite evade detection. Observers believe the
satellite known as Misty may have used such a shield. Click here to see the
patent application.
By Robert Windrem
NBC NEWS PRODUCER
July 12 - For more than a decade, the United States has had at least one
and possibly more stealth spy satellites capable of peering down at targets
without fear of detection, according to a new book by an intelligence
historian. The author, Jeffrey T. Richelson, says that while the Soviet
space tracking network failed to detect the satellite, it did not evade a
small cadre of civilian space trackers.
CODE-NAMED "MISTY," the CIA-designed satellite was first launched in
1990, before the Persian Gulf War, and may have been replenished since.
"The Wizards of Langley," a history of the CIA's top-secret
Directorate of Science and Technology, notes that the United States may have
tried to hide the successful first launch of Misty by making it seem that
the satellite had exploded before reaching its final orbit. Richelson says
the ruse fooled the American media - and, more importantly, the Soviet
Union.
10 YEARS OF RESEARCH
The satellite was developed by the CIA directorate's "tool shop," its
Office of Development and Engineering, and launched in March 1990, after
nearly 10 years of research, says Richelson.
In the early 1980s, the office had determined that Misty could be
successful. "It argued that Soviet radars and cameras were not very capable
and were unlikely to track the satellite," Richelson says.
That part of the equation turned out to be accurate.
The space shuttle Atlantis carries the spy satellite known as Misty into
space in March 1990 at the start of a classified Pentagon mission.
"When it was first launched from the space shuttle Atlantis on March
1, 1990, it was believed to be the first advanced KH-11 spacecraft," he
says, referring to the top-of-the-line American spy satellite. "Within
weeks, both U.S. and Soviet space sources reported it had malfunctioned and
would make a 'fiery re-entry in the next 30 days.' Both assessments were
wrong."
Richelson reports that the only people who successfully kept track of
the flight were civilian space observers in England and Canada who watched a
series of maneuvers performed by the satellite, including the "explosion"
that Richelson believes "may have been a tactic to deceive those monitoring
the satellite."
One of the observers who spoke to Richelson, Ted Molczan of Toronto,
told NBC News that the supposed explosion took place on March 7, 1990, six
days after launch, and was first reported by the Soviet press.
"Russia reported it had detected debris," Molczan recalled, "and
NORAD identified six pieces."
The plan for stealthiness may have involved some clever trickery by
the CIA.
"The satellite was exceedingly bright, brighter than the KH-11, and
kept in a low orbit, only 250 kilometers (150 miles) above the earth, so it
was easily visible," Molczan said. "Then there was nothing after the
'explosion.' They apparently needed the 'explosion' to be long enough so
they could deploy the stealth masking device."
U.S. officials may have also used disinformation to enhance the
deception, often discussing the need to develop stealthy satellites, never
letting on that such satellites not only had been developed but launched as
well.
THE RETURN OF MISTY
The observers, however, spotted the satellite again in November 1990
after it made a series of maneuvers apparently intended to put it in better
position to monitor the Persian Gulf, where U.S. and allied forces were
preparing to drive Saddam Hussein's troops out of Kuwait.
Intelligence historian Jeffrey Richelson's latest book focuses on four
decades of innovation and inside secrets at the CIA's Directorate of Science
and Technology.
Then, last year, a civilian space observer, examining data from
NORAD's unclassified databases, determined that the satellite was still
operating at least as late as 1995 in a 451-by-461-mile orbit, higher than
the KH-11 satellite.
There were other leaks that he and the observers took advantage of,
says Richelson.
Less than two weeks after Misty's launch, "to the anger of many in
the National Reconnaissance Office, a patent application was filed,
apparently by the Strategic Defense Initiative office, for a 'Satellite
Signature Suppression Shield,'" he reports in his book.
The patent for "an inflatable shield for suppressing the
characteristic radiation signature of a satellite" was eventually granted in
1994.
"The shield is conical-shaped and made from a thin synthetic polymer
film material coated with a radiation reflecting material, such as gold or
aluminum," the patent application read.
SMOKE AND MIRRORS
Molczan said the way to think about the shield is to recall an old
line about deception: "They do it with mirrors."
"Their problem is reflected sunlight," he observed. "Because of that,
satellites are visible over large chunks of the earth at any given time. The
problem is how to deflect sunlight. So this shield might incorporate some
kind of movable mirror surface to deflect the sunlight away from the
satellites when the satellite is over known detection sites."
Advertisement
However, Richelson and Molczan say designers underestimated the
brightness of the satellite. Richelson reports that by keeping Misty so
undercover, the CIA didn't have the benefit of expertise from government
shops more knowledgeable about satellite tracking - in particular, the Naval
Research Laboratory, whose offices were a few miles away across the Potomac.
Why the secrecy? Like many of the spy tools described in "The Wizards
of Langley," Misty was the result of an outsized Cold War fear, this one
related to Soviet antisatellite weapons.
"Where the satellite is today is unclear," reports Richelson. "as is
how much additional intelligence Misty has yielded."
Molczan puts the possibility of Misty still being in space at no more
than 50-50, noting that the longest-lived low-Earth-orbit satellite lasted
only 11 years - and that Misty would have passed its 11th birthday last
March.
Robert Windrem is an investigative producer at NBC News based in New
York.
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