Former Spy Satellites Transferred to NASA

Diagram of the KH-11 Kennan telescope 

(Credits: Global Security.Org)

The National Reconnaissance Office has transferred two photo reconnaissance satellites to NASA.

The satellites, which could be KH-11 KENNON satellites, are similar in design to the Hubble Space telescope, but are designed to photograph features on the surface of the Earth rather than outer space.

The two satellites could be considered as replacements for the Hubble Space Telescope, which was serviced five times in orbit.

There are no further plans to service the Hubble, which means as the telescope ages it will eventually fail.

The two reconnaissance satellites transferred to NASA could provide a viable replacement for the Hubble once they have undergone modifications.  However, it is likely that the final use of the two gifts from the NRO will not be finalized for some time.

Although composed of flight ready parts, neither of the two telescopes have been launched before. Launch arrangements would be left up to NASA, something that isn’t projected to occur before 2020.

The United States has two launch options from United Launch Alliance, including the Atlas V and the Delta IV Heavy; however, with the recent success of the SpaceX COTS demonstration and the plans for a heavy-lift derivative of the Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX could be a contender for launching the two refurbished space telescopes.

More importantly than launch, however, is instrumentation. Neither of the telescopes currently have the proper instrumentation to perform outer space observations, thus requiring modifications before they could be utilized by NASA.

The KH-11 program, like other reconnaissance satellites, is highly classified and its full capabilities will probably never be revealed regardless of the transfer of the hardware to NASA.

The transfer of hardware from sensitive intelligence/military programs from one agency to another is not unheard of.

Two U.S. Air Force SR-71s were transferred to NASA after the fleet was retired from active service.  The SR-71 itself is a descendant of a highly classified program called OXCART, which was run by the Central Intelligence Agency out of Groom Lake, Nevada.