Jumpseat, also known as AFP-711 is reportedly a code name for a class of

SIGINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

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 ...

s operated by the

National Reconnaissance Office The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. f ...

for the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. The program is classified, and much of the information in the open is speculative.

Satellites

It is believed that six Jumpseat satellites were successfully launched from

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg S ...

Titan IIIB Titan IIIB was the collective name for a number of derivatives of the Titan II ICBM and Titan III launch vehicle, modified by the addition of an Agena upper stage. It consisted of five separate rockets. The Titan-3B Agena-D was a basic Titan III ...

launch vehicles with Agena D boosters between 21 March 1971 and 31 July 1983, the primary purpose of them being to monitor Soviet ABM radars. There was one failure, when the second satellite's Agena malfunctioned and left it in a useless orbit. The 700-kg Jumpseat satellites were manufactured by

Hughes Aircraft The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace company, aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes ...

and were inserted into highly elliptical

Molniya orbit A Molniya orbit ( rus, Молния, p=ˈmolnʲɪjə, a=Ru-молния.ogg, "Lightning") is a type of satellite orbit designed to provide communications and remote sensing coverage over high latitudes. It is a highly elliptical orbit with ...

s with an inclination of 63 degrees and orbital periods of close to 12 hours. These were in similar orbits to the

Satellite Data System The Satellite Data System (SDS) is a system of United States military communications satellites. At least three generations have been used: SDS-1 from 1976 to 1987; SDS-2 from 1989 to 1996; SDS-3 from 1998 to the present. It is believed that ...

relay satellites. The successors to the Jumpseat series are the

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

satellites.

List of satellite launches

References

General

* Richelson, Jeffrey T. ed. ''U.S. Military Uses of Space, 1945-1991 Vol 1, Guide.'' National Security Archive. 1991.

External links

Entry at astronautix.comLog of satellite launches
from

Jonathan's Space Report ''Jonathan's Space Report'' (JSR) is a newsletter about the Space Age hosted at Jonathan's Space Page. It is written by Jonathan McDowell, a Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian astrophysicist. It is updated as McDowell's schedule pe ...

JUMPSEAT
- SIGINT Spacecraft Series (NRO/USAF/ NSA - Program AFP-711) at GlobalSecurity.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Jumpseat (Satellite) 1971 in spaceflight 1973 in spaceflight National Reconnaissance Office satellites Signals intelligence satellites Military equipment introduced in the 1970s