The NRO’s smaller satellites were contained within a security compartment termed EARPOP.

STRAWMAN satellites operated in low Earth orbit and spent limited time over Soviet territory.

Additional JUMPSEAT satellites were launched in 1972, 1973, and 1975 following the initial 1971 launch.

The NRO launched the first SDS data relay satellite in June 1976 into an orbit similar to JUMPSEAT’s orbit.

The higher-altitude infrared sensor concept was ultimately incorporated into JUMPSEAT.

By the mid-1960s signals intelligence planners sought higher orbits to enable longer collection times and near-real-time data transfer to more powerful ground computers.

The U.S. Navy orbited the first radar detector under the GRAB program in 1960.

GRAB and POPPY satellites transmitted collected signals directly to ground stations in near-real time.

JUMPSEAT carried a large antenna nearly four meters (13 feet) in diameter for collecting radar, communications, and other ground emissions and a smaller antenna for relaying data to a ground station.

By Operation Desert Storm in 1991 JUMPSEAT antennas were configured side-by-side rather than one atop the other.

The JUMPSEAT program was shut down in 2006, implying at least one JUMPSEAT satellite lasted 19 years or longer in orbit.

CANYON was designed to intercept communications between Soviet microwave tower networks.

Beginning in 1968 STRAWMAN low-altitude satellites carried a payload named CONVOY to detect ABM-related signals.

In March 1967 the Air Force study considered an infrared sensor operating in the 2.68 to 2.97 micron wavelength range for detection of ICBMs and short-burn missiles in medium-altitude or geosynchronous orbit.

The Defense Support Program infrared satellite rotated six times per minute, a scanning rate that was lower than what the 1967 study recommended for ABM detection.

JUMPSEAT operated with a spinning bus covered with solar panels oriented upward and an antenna farm pointed toward Earth.

The National Reconnaissance Office declassified the JUMPSEAT signals intelligence satellite in December 2025 and released information about it on January 28.

The NRO launched POPPY missions and small spacecraft named TIVOLI and MABELI that targeted Soviet ABM radars.

The thicker, tall fairing on the March 21, 1971 Titan launch indicated a larger and elongated payload inside the rocket.

Eight JUMPSEAT satellites were launched between 1971 and 1987.

In the early 1970s the Air Force began development of the Satellite Data System (SDS) communications relay satellite with the CIA responsible for the relay payload.

Many other SIGINT satellites recorded collected signals on tape recorders for later playback to ground stations.

By 1961 multiple satellite intelligence programs were coordinated under the National Reconnaissance Office.

The NRO Air Force component known as Program A was based in Los Angeles and was responsible for developing signals intelligence and photographic reconnaissance satellites.

The NRO released more than half a dozen photos of early JUMPSEAT spacecraft, including models, artwork, and flight hardware.

Two high-altitude SIGINT programs developed from this thinking were CANYON and JUMPSEAT.

The March 21, 1971 Titan-launched payload entered a highly elliptical, highly inclined orbit that passed low over the southern hemisphere and high over the northern hemisphere.

JUMPSEAT used the Hughes HS-318 satellite bus.

A new Titan rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on March 21, 1971 carrying a thicker fairing the same diameter as the Titan core stage.

Aviation Week identified JUMPSEAT’s Air Force code number as 711 and disclosed its launcher, elliptical orbit, contractor, and SIGINT mission level in a report published one year before the first launch.

During the 1960s the Navy developed the GRAB and later POPPY programs while the Air Force pursued Program 770 large SIGINT satellites and Program 11 (later Program 989) small suitcase-sized satellites.

JUMPSEAT originated as a higher-altitude replacement for the STRAWMAN series with a payload aimed at detecting ABM radar signals.

NRO illustrations show JUMPSEAT’s large circular dish stowed partially folded during launch and deployed in orbit.

JUMPSEAT was the first of a new class of signals intelligence (SIGINT) collector satellites.

JUMPSEAT was equipped with two large dish antennas and a small telescope at the base of its antenna farm.

Hughes won the SDS (QUASAR) contract, aided by its experience developing JUMPSEAT.

The NRO Navy component known as Program C was centered at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.

The SDS/QUASAR satellites were initially based on Hughes’ commercial Intelsat IV satellite bus and later versions were based on Hughes’ wider Leasat bus.

Many small NRO satellites were given names such as PUNDIT, MAGNUM, SAVANT, TIVOLI, LAMPAN, TOPHAT, and ARROYO.

The NRO awarded the JUMPSEAT contract to Hughes Aircraft Company in 1967.

The Air Force planned to have a new spacecraft available in 15–18 months for urgent ABM-related sensing tasks.

NRO illustrations show a staring infrared sensor at the base of JUMPSEAT’s de-spun antenna platform and depict a second optical sensor plus an additional unidentified sensor mounted above it.

Marshall Space Flight Center teams conducted more than 100 cold-flow tests on the engineering development unit over several months in 2025.

Nuclear propulsion can shorten travel times and expand mission capabilities for exploration farther into the solar system.

The engineering development unit is a full-scale, non-nuclear, flight-like development test article the size of a 100-gallon drum that simulates propellant flow throughout a reactor across a range of operational conditions.

The cold-flow test series provided validation data for analytical tools used in nuclear propulsion system design.

NASA completed a cold-flow test campaign of the first flight reactor engineering development unit since the 1960s.

The Space Nuclear Propulsion Office is part of NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program within the Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Nuclear propulsion can increase science payload capacity and provide higher power for instrumentation and communication.

The engineering development unit is 44 inches by 72 inches and was built by BWX Technologies of Richmond, Virginia.