USA-223
USA-223, known before launch as NRO Launch 32 (NRO L-32), is an American reconnaissance satellite which was launched in 2010. It is operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. It presently holds the record for being the largest spy satellite ever launched.''Guinness World Records 2013'', Page 029 (Hardcover edition). Whilst details of its mission are officially classified, amateur observers have identified USA-223 as an Orion satellite; the seventh in the Magnum/Orion series. Orion spacecraft are used for electronic signals intelligence, and carry large antennas to enable them to intercept radio transmissions. These antennas are believed to have a diameter of around . Bruce A. Carlson, the director of the NRO, described the spacecraft as being the largest satellite ever launched. USA-223 was launched by United Launch Alliance, aboard a Delta IV Heavy carrier rocket flying from Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch occur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Orion (satellite)
Orion, also known as Mentor or Advanced Orion, is a class of United States spy satellites that collect signals intelligence (SIGINT) from space. Operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and developed with input from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), eight have been launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Cape Canaveral on Titan IV and Delta IV Launch vehicle, launch vehicles since 1995. These satellites at geostationary orbits collect radio emissions (Signals intelligence, SIGINT) and act as replacements for the older constellation of Magnum (satellite), Magnum satellites. The satellites have estimated mass close to 5,200 kg and very large (estimated 100 m diameter) radio reflecting dishes. USA-223 (NROL-32), which is seen as the fifth satellite in the series, is according to NRO director Bruce Carlson "the largest satellite in the world." It is believed that this refers to the diameter of the main antenna, which might be well ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United Launch Alliance
United Launch Alliance (ULA), legally United Launch Alliance, LLC, is an American spacecraft launch service provider that manufactures and operates a number of rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth, and to other bodies in the Solar System and beyond. The company, which is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security, was formed in December 2006. Launch customers of the United Launch Alliance include the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and other organizations. ULA provides launch services using expendable launch systems Delta IV Heavy and Atlas V, and until 2018 the medium-lift Delta II. The Atlas, Delta IV Heavy and the recently retired Delta IV launch systems have launched payloads including weather, telecommunications, and national security satellites, scientific probes and orbiters. ULA also launches commercial satellites. , the company is developing the Vulcan Centaur, a successor to the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ELINT
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication (electronic intelligence—abbreviated to ELINT). Signals intelligence is a subset of intelligence collection management. As classified and sensitive information is usually encrypted, signals intelligence in turn involves the use of cryptanalysis to decipher the messages. Traffic analysis—the study of who is signaling whom and in what quantity—is also used to integrate information again. History Origins Electronic interceptions appeared as early as 1900, during the Boer War of 1899–1902. The British Royal Navy had installed wireless sets produced by Marconi on board their ships in the late 1890s, and the British Army used some limited wireless signalling. The Boers captured some wireless sets and used them to make vital transmis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Signals Intelligence
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication (electronic intelligence—abbreviated to ELINT). Signals intelligence is a subset of intelligence collection management. As classified and sensitive information is usually encrypted, signals intelligence in turn involves the use of cryptanalysis to decipher the messages. Traffic analysis—the study of who is signaling whom and in what quantity—is also used to integrate information again. History Origins Electronic interceptions appeared as early as 1900, during the Boer War of 1899–1902. The British Royal Navy had installed wireless sets produced by Marconi on board their ships in the late 1890s, and the British Army used some limited wireless signalling. The Boers captured some wireless sets and used them to make vital transmis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spacecraft Launched In 2010
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans and cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch vehicle (carrier rocket). On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a space vehicle enters space and then returns to the surface without having gained sufficient energy or velocity to make a full Earth orbit. For orbital spaceflights, spacecraft enter closed orbits around the Earth or around other celestial bodies. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers from start or on orbit (space stations) only, whereas those used for robotic space missions operate either autonomously or telerobotically. Robotic spacecraft used to support scientific ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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USA-202
USA 202, previously NRO Launch 26 or NROL-26, is a classified spacecraft which is operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office. It is an Advanced Orion ELINT satellite. According to ''Aviation Week,'' it "fundamentally involves America's biggest, most secret and expensive military spacecraft on board the world's largest rocket." The combined cost of the spacecraft and launch vehicle has been estimated to be over US$2 billion. Amateur astronomer observations suspected the satellite was eavesdropping on Thuraya 2 and this was reported to be confirmed by documents released on Sep 9, 2016 by ''The Intercept'' as part of the Snowden Files. Launch USA-202 was launched from Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, on the third flight of a Delta IV Delta IV is a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta (rocket family), Delta rocket family introduced in the early 2000s. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Securit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geosynchronous Orbit
A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital period means that, for an observer on Earth's surface, an object in geosynchronous orbit returns to exactly the same position in the sky after a period of one sidereal day. Over the course of a day, the object's position in the sky may remain still or trace out a path, typically in a figure-8 form, whose precise characteristics depend on the orbit's inclination and eccentricity. A circular geosynchronous orbit has a constant altitude of . A special case of geosynchronous orbit is the geostationary orbit, which is a circular geosynchronous orbit in Earth's equatorial plane with both inclination and eccentricity equal to 0. A satellite in a geostationary orbit remains in the same position in the sky to observers on the surface. Communicat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Leadership Of The National Reconnaissance Office
The Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO) of the United States is responsible to the Secretary of Defense (through the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence) and the Director of National Intelligence for all national space and assigned airborne reconnaissance activities. The DNRO provides top-level management direction to the NRO in response to Secretary of Defense and Director of National Intelligence requirements. Chronological list of National Reconnaissance Office directors This is a list of directors of the NRO, and the terms in office. List of Deputy Directors of National Reconnaissance Office See also * Under Secretary of the Air Force The Under Secretary of the Air Force (USECAF, or SAF/US), sometimes referred to as the Under Secretary of the Department of the Air Force, is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Air Force, Departmen ... References {{DEFAULTSORT:Leadership Of The National Reconna ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bruce A
The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a Scottish surname since medieval times; it is now a common given name. The variant ''Lebrix'' and ''Le Brix'' are French variations of the surname. Actors * Bruce Bennett (1906–2007), American actor and athlete * Bruce Boxleitner (born 1950), American actor * Bruce Campbell (born 1958), American actor, director, writer, producer and author * Bruce Davison (born 1946), American actor and director * Bruce Dern (born 1936), American actor * Bruce Gray (1936–2017), American-Canadian actor * Bruce Greenwood (born 1956), Canadian actor and musician * Bruce Herbelin-Earle (born 1998), English-French actor and model * Bruce Jones (born 1953), English actor * Bruce Kirby (1925–2021), American actor * Bruce Lee (1940–1973), martial ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe. However, disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework. Debates concerning the nature, essence and the mode of existence of space date back to antiquity; namely, to treatises like the ''Timaeus'' of Plato, or Socrates in his reflections on what the Greeks called ''khôra'' (i.e. "space"), or in the ''Physics'' of Aristotle (Book IV, Delta) in the definition of ''topos'' (i.e. place), or in the later "geometrical conception of place" as "spac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Union Of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit science advocacy organization based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of The Coastal Science and Policy Program at the University of California—Santa Cruz, currently chairs the UCS Board of Directors, having replaced James J. McCarthy, Professor of Biological Oceanography at Harvard University and past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2015. History The Union of Concerned Scientists was founded in 1969 by faculty and students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The organization's founding document says it was formed to "initiate a critical and continuing examination of governmental policy in areas where science and technology are of actual or potential significance" and to "devise means for turning research applications away from the p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Magnum (satellite)
Magnum was a class of SIGINT spy satellites reportedly operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The program remains classified, and the information that exists is speculative. Launch It is believed that two Magnum satellites were launched from Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) during the missions STS-51-C in 1985 and STS-33 in 1989. The satellites reportedly have a mass of , operating in near- geosynchronous orbits, using Inertial Upper Stages (IUS) to get from the shuttle's orbit to the higher geosynchronous orbit. According to Jim Slade of ABC News, the second satellite, USA-48, replaced the first, USA-8, which after more than 4 years in orbit was running out of maneuvering fuel required for keeping its station over the Indian Ocean. The mission of the two satellites was to listen in to military and diplomatic communications from the Soviet Union, China, and neighbouring countries. USA-67 satellite U ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |