Upgrade of American electronic reconnaissance satellite

Geosynchronous orbit electronic reconnaissance satellites have been developed to five generations. The "Big Wine Bottle" satellite is the latest generation of synchronous electronic reconnaissance satellite and the third generation of geosynchronous orbit electronic reconnaissance satellite. These satellites are highly sensitive enough to monitor the wireless phones of European field forces and locate information transmitters. It covers the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Africa and the whole of Europe. The satellites weigh about 2.7 tons, and each satellite has two large parabolic antennas, which can intercept more and weaker electrical signals. One of them is used to intercept signals in a wide radio frequency range, and the other is used to forward the intercepted signals to the ground station. It is believed that the "big wine bottle" satellite can also receive and forward signals from secret spies and secret sensors everywhere. "Vortex" satellite is mainly used to collect communication information, while "Oktoboggan" satellite focuses on telemetry and data communication. The first "big wine bottle" satellite was launched by the space shuttle Discovery. The satellite took off on June 24th 1985+65438 and was put into orbit one day later. The second "big wine bottle" satellite was launched nearly five years later, and it was also launched with the space shuttle Discovery on1989165438+1October 22nd. The third "big wine bottle" satellite was launched with the space shuttle Atlantis on June1990+065438+1October 15. In the future, all the "big wine bottle" satellites will be launched by the "Hercules IV" carrier rocket from the Oriental proving ground. These satellites are controlled by the Songxia ground station in Australia and transmit their data through the station.

1In September, 988, the new Ferret D low-earth orbit constellation was launched by Hercules normal rocket for the first time. It is a polyhedral reflection satellite, which consists of six satellites with orbital planes 60 degrees apart from each other. These satellites are equipped with electronic reconnaissance receivers and an infrared detector as auxiliary remote sensors. During the Gulf War, two electronic reconnaissance satellites in orbit, namely "Big Bottle", "L" Vortex "and" Ferret "D, flew over the Gulf area many times in one day, and each reconnaissance lasted for several hours, listening to a large number of Iraqi military radio signals and providing communication and electronic information for multinational forces. In the early days, the signals of various electronic reconnaissance satellites were received by other countries and then transferred to the US military. Later, the US military can receive signals directly. At present, the fourth generation electronic reconnaissance satellites are mainly used in the United States, including Mercury, Consultants, Destiny and Horn.

Mercury is a geostationary orbit electronic reconnaissance satellite of the US Air Force, which is mainly used to intercept communication information. It can not only monitor the communication signals of low-power mobile phones, but also collect telemetry and remote control signals, radar signals and other communication electronic signals during missile testing. The satellite is made by Hughes, using a new special antenna, and its length is about 100 meters.

Consultant satellite is a geostationary orbit electronic reconnaissance satellite of CIA, which is used to intercept electronic information. Electronic reconnaissance satellites are now developing from low altitude to high altitude and geostationary orbit, thanks to the improvement of the sensitivity of spaceborne receivers. The satellite uses a large receiving antenna, and the minimum ground signal strength it can receive is 1/5000 of that of a low-orbit satellite. Among the electronic reconnaissance equipment on duty all the year round, the geostationary orbit electronic reconnaissance satellite has many advantages: the higher the satellite orbit, the wider the ground coverage and the better the timeliness. Therefore, the United States attaches great importance to the development of such satellites.

Destiny, which is used to detect the radio signals of radar and other electronic equipment, is a low-orbit electronic reconnaissance satellite. It runs in a circular orbit with a height of 454 kilometers and an inclination of 63.4 degrees. When working, three satellites are a group, and the satellites in the group keep a distance of about 50 kilometers, so optical communication can be carried out between satellites, and four groups of satellites can complete global seamless monitoring. Electronic reconnaissance satellites are increasingly favored by military powers, but there are also many problems. For example, it can not effectively monitor the signals of underground wired communication, and the intelligence processing speed is slow, which is easily affected by electronic countermeasures. To this end, the US military is stepping up the development of the fifth generation of new electronic reconnaissance satellites, and has made breakthrough progress.

The fifth generation electronic reconnaissance satellite "Intruder" is a part of "Integrated Aerial Signal Reconnaissance System" (IOSA) in the United States. It is developed with the development idea and new design concept of space-based network, aiming at improving the quality of electronic reconnaissance and reducing the system cost. It has multi-orbit capability, can replace geostationary orbit and large elliptical orbit satellites, and integrates communication information and electronic reconnaissance.

The United States is still developing the "Wanderer" geostationary orbit electronic reconnaissance satellite and the SB-WASS low-orbit electronic reconnaissance satellite with certain stealth characteristics. The former is used for reconnaissance and positioning strategic targets, while the latter is used for the electronic reconnaissance integration plan of the navy, security bureau and other departments.