The US has pulled back the curtain on a Cold War spy tool that listening in for decades from a highly unusual orbit. The National Reconnaissance Office has declassified JUMPSEAT, a now-retired series of eavesdropping satellites that flew from 1971 to 1987 as part of an Air Force effort known as Project EARPOP, Gizmodo reports. Eight JUMPSEAT satellites were launched into space to vacuum up electronic signals—such as radar and other emissions—from the Soviet Union and its allies, then relay the data back for analysis by the Pentagon, the National Security Agency, and other intelligence branches.
Unlike earlier American surveillance craft like GRAB and POPPY, which circled in low Earth orbit, JUMPSEAT operated in what's known as a Molniya orbit—an elongated, 12-hour loop that swings from about 620 miles above Earth at its closest point to roughly 25,000 miles at its farthest. That stretched, egg-shaped path allowed the satellites to linger over high northern latitudes, giving US intelligence a long, repeated look at Soviet territory. "Its orbit provided the US a new vantage point for the collection of unique and critical signals intelligence from space," James Outzen, who heads the office's Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance, said in a statement.
The satellites, which worked in what the NRO describes as "transponder mode," stayed in service until 2006. The agency said that the system met expectations and that revealing its existence now won't compromise current or planned space programs—though portions of JUMPSEAT's mission are still classified. That wasn't the end of US spy satellites, Space.com points out. The agency continues to upgrade its reconnaissance spacecraft. An ongoing effort is expanding a constellation of hundreds of small satellites designed to handle anti-satellite moves such as jamming.
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