Enhanced Imaging System (EIS), officially referred to as "Enhanced Imagery System", previously known as 8X, and sometimes unofficially known as Misty 2 and KH-13, is an American
reconnaissance satellite
A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications.
The ...
program. A derivative of the
Improved Crystal
The KH-11 KENNEN (later renamed CRYSTAL,p.199-200 then Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL System, and codenamed 1010 and Key Hole) is a type of reconnaissance satellite first launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in December 19 ...
satellites, EIS replaced
Misty
Misty may refer to:
Music
* ''Misty'' (Ray Stevens album), an album by Ray Stevens featuring the above song
* ''Misty'' (Richard "Groove" Holmes album), an album by Richard "Groove" Holmes featuring the above song
* ''Misty'' (Eddie "Lockjaw" ...
, and was intended to provide more coverage and dwell time than previous reconnaissance satellites;
like Misty, it has
stealth
Stealth may refer to:
Military
*Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles
**Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology
**Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology
** Stea ...
capabilities.
Only one EIS satellite has been launched;
USA-144, which was placed into orbit by a
Titan IVB
Titan IV was a family of heavy-lift space launch vehicles developed by Martin Marietta and operated by the United States Air Force from 1989 to 2005. Launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Vandenberg Air Forc ...
rocket on 22 May 1999.
History
In 1995, a ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' article reported that the 8X program was intended as "a major upgrade to the KH-12", with a mass of as much as 20
tons
Tons can refer to:
* Tons River, a major river in India
* Tamsa River, locally called Tons in its lower parts (Allahabad district, Uttar pradesh, India).
* the plural of ton, a unit of mass, force, volume, energy or power
:* short ton, 2,000 poun ...
, which would be used for detailed imaging with a wide field of view. The cost of the program was a subject of disagreement from some within the military at the time.
By 1998, the program had been renamed Enhanced Imaging System.
The
Future Imagery Architecture
Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) was a program awarded to Boeing to design a new generation of optical and radar imaging US reconnaissance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). In 2005 NRO director Donald Kerr recommended th ...
program, which was intended to replace the
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensi ...
and Improved Crystal satellites, was developed alongside EIS.
See also
*
Corona series:
KH-1,
KH-2,
KH-3,
KH-4
*
KH-5
KH-5 ARGON was a series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States from February 1961 to August 1964. The KH-5 operated similarly to the CORONA series of satellites, as it ejected a canister of photographic film. At least ...
ARGON,
KH-6
BYEMAN codenamed LANYARD, the KH-6 was the unsuccessful first attempt to develop and deploy a very high-resolution optical reconnaissance satellite by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. Launches and launch attempts spanned the per ...
LANYARD
*
KH-7
BYEMAN codenamed GAMBIT, the KH-7 (Air Force Program 206) was a reconnaissance satellite used by the United States from July 1963 to June 1967. Like the older CORONA system, it acquired imagery intelligence by taking photographs and returning ...
and
KH-8
The KH-8 (BYEMAN codename Gambit-3) 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, and also known as Low Altitude Surveillance Platform. The satellite e ...
GAMBIT
*
KH-9 HEXAGON
KH-9 (BYEMAN codename HEXAGON), commonly known as Big Bird or KeyHole-9, p.32 Big Bird was a series of photographic reconnaissance satellites launched by the United States between 1971 and 1986. Of twenty launch attempts by the National Reco ...
"Big Bird"
*
Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) or
KH-10
*
KH-11
The KH-11 KENNEN (later renamed CRYSTAL,p.199-200 then Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL System, and codenamed 1010 and Key Hole) is a type of reconnaissance satellite first launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in December 19 ...
References
Further reading
*John Pike (July 24, 1998)
8X Enhanced Imaging System ''Federation of American Scientists''. Accessed May 3, 2004 (October 17, 2001).
US space-based reconnaissance reinforced ''
Jane's Defence Weekly
''Jane's Defence Weekly'' (abbreviated as ''JDW'') is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman w ...
''. Accessed May 3, 2004.
{{Use American English, date=January 2014
Reconnaissance satellites of the United States
Military equipment introduced in the 1990s