The Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) is a series of
signals-intelligence satellites
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotop ...
that have conducted
electronic 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 ...
for the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
since the early 1970s.
[ ] The first series of satellites were codenamed "White Cloud" or "PARCAE", while second- and third-generation satellites have used the codenames "Ranger" and "Intruder".
The system is operated by the United States Navy, and its main purpose was
tactical geolocation
Geopositioning, also known as geotracking, geolocalization, geolocating, geolocation, or geoposition fixing, is the process of determining or estimating the geographic position of an object.
Geopositioning yields a set of geographic coordinates ...
of
Soviet Navy assets during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
. NOSS involves
satellite clusters operating in
low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...
to detect radar and other electronic transmissions from ships at sea and locate them using the
time difference of arrival Time of arrival (TOA or ToA) is the absolute time instant when a radio signal emanating from a transmitter reaches a remote receiver.
The time span elapsed since the time of transmission (TOT or ToT) is the ''time of flight'' (TOF or ToF).
Time diff ...
technique.
Satellites
:''* One satellite from each third generation pair is officially catalogued as debris''.
:data fro
Cost
The costs of the NOSS satellites (excluding costs for the launch vehicle), which were destroyed in a Titan IV launch failure in 1993, were US$800 million (inflation adjusted US$ billion in ).
See also
* Poppy (satellite)
POPPY is the code name given to a series of U.S. intelligence satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office. The POPPY satellites recorded electronic signals intelligence (ELINT) data, targeting radar installations in the Soviet U ...
* Yaogan
Yaogan () is the cover name used by the People's Republic of China to refer to its military reconnaissance satellites. Yaogan satellites are largely known to primarily support the People's Liberation Army's Strategic Support Force (PLASSF), fo ...
* CERES (satellite)
CERES (CapacitÉ de Renseignement Électromagnétique Spatiale) is a French space-based electronic surveillance constellation designed to collect intelligence of electromagnetic origins anywhere in the world. Consisting of three formation-fl ...
References
External links
NOSS @ astronautix.com
BBC - h2g2 - Naval Ocean Surveillance Satellites - a 'UFO'
{{US Reconnaissance Satellites
Reconnaissance satellites of the United States
Signals intelligence satellites
Military space program of the United States
Satellite series
Military equipment introduced in the 1970s