TOP SECRET//COMINT/TALENT KEYHOLE//REL TO USA, AUS, GBR

January 2009

(S//SI//REL TO USA, FVEY) Two New Collection Assets to Greatly
Expand MHS Target Coverage
By: (U//FOUO)

, Menwith Hill Station (F77)

(TS//SI/TK//REL) Menwith Hill Station will accept two new satellites in 2009 – an
ORION spacecraft
and a NEMESIS spacecraft
. The arrival of these new
vehicles will give MHS greater flexibility in missions, surveys, and signals development
efforts and provide opportunities for collection, discovery, and sharing.
will also
provide the Intelligence Community with an opportunity to use Overhead in a nontraditional way for a FORNSAT SIGDEV mission.

Graphic is S/TK/REL USA, AUS, GBR

Graphic is S/TK/REL TO USA, AUS, GBR

(S//TK//REL)
(TS//SI/TK//REL)
currently has a launch date of 13 January 2009. After launch,
Alice Springs Mission Ground Station will control
as it deploys and drifts
westward, with MHS gaining control 59 days later.

-

(S//TK//REL) MHS will perform testing
and verification before putting the
spacecraft into full operations. If the
current launch date stands,
will
be fully operational sometime around
mid May 2009. (Click HERE for larger
image.)

(TS//SI/TK//REL)
’s initial mission is a
survey of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
line-of-sight microwave towers and emitters.
will survey the area drifting from
east for approximately 30-45 days. At
east,
will pick up its new primary mission
from
: Thuraya collection and
Afghanistan/Pakistan exfiltration.
(TS//SI/TK//REL) After spacecraft
transfers
the Thuraya mission to
,
will drift 0.1
degree a day west, continuing the PRC survey for
approximately 200 more days. After completion of
the PRC survey,
will take on a new mission
targeting Latin America, Middle East and North
Africa, greatly expanding MHS’s target and
coverage area.

TOP SECRET//COMINT/TALENT KEYHOLE//REL TO USA, AUS, GBR

 TOP SECRET//COMINT/TALENT KEYHOLE//REL TO USA, AUS, GBR

2.7 m Collection
Reflector

(S//TK//REL)
(TS//SI/TK//REL) Currently,
has a launch date of 11 April 2009.
’s
mission will be Foreign Satellite (FORNSAT) collection from space – targeting
commercial satellite uplinks not normally accessible via
conventional means.
will provide the Office of
FORNSAT a “site in the sky” when denied a site on the ground
for collection. Ground processing equipment is being put in
place at MHS that can cover both drift/dwell and sustained
collection.
A2100 Commercial Bus

2.0 m Downlink Antenna

4x40 MHz Intercept Channels

C, Ku, Ka Horns

(S//TK//REL) MHS expects to
have full operations on
85 days after launch. (Click
HERE for larger image.)

(U//FOUO) POC:

(TS//SI/TK//REL) The arrival of
and
at MHS
will open up new opportunities for discovery and will enhance
collection efforts for the intelligence community into areas not
previously explored.
)

(U//FOUO) SIDtoday Editor’s note: This article is reposted from MHS’s Horizon newsletter,
November 2008 edition.

TOP SECRET//COMINT/TALENT KEYHOLE//REL TO USA, AUS, GBR