Public Release of SIGINT Phase II Records

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Since 1946, the United States had earnestly sought reconnaissance capability from space to protect and enhance the nation's security. The collection of signals intelligence (SIGINT) from space has been a critical component of this effort. This release of documents provides new insight into the essential need for SIGINT collection from space.

Following the release of a 1946 report calling for investment into satellites for national defense purposes, the RAND Corporation tenaciously researched and advocated space-based reconnaissance systems. The effort continued until RAND's publication of its seminal 1954 report, Project Feedback, which provided highly evolved concepts for reconnaissance satellites. RAND advocated for the more well-known photoreconnaissance satellites. Since public acknowledgement of Project Feedback, less attention has been given to signals collection capabilities called for in the report, and less has been publically disclosed about those capabilities. This release of documents is a major step forward in both revealing previously classified information on early satellite SIGINT collection and rebalancing understanding about the nature of the United States full national reconnaissance program.

More on link below including the declassified documents themselves.

http://www.nro.gov/foia/declass/SIGINT_PhaseII.html

 

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Related release.

History of Agena

Along with the release of signals collection documents, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is also releasing a lightly redacted multi-volume collection on the Agena control vehicle. The Agena was originally designed by Lockheed Corporation for use in the Weapons System 117L (WS-117L) program. Agena would go on to be used extensively for control and stabilization of national reconnaissance satellites including CORONA, GAMBIT, and the SAMOS related signals collection satellites. The NRO previously released the Agena volumes, but recent declassification decisions have permitted the NRO to reveal their contents almost in their entirety. In doing so, the documents further reveal the essential role that the Agena played in the success of the United States' pioneering national reconnaissance satellites.
James D. Outzen, Ph.D.
NRO Historian
Chief, Historical Documentation & Research
Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance

http://www.nro.gov/foia/declass/agena.html