Aquacade

Aquacade, previously designated Rhyolite, was a class of SIGINT spy satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office for the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The National Security Agency (NSA) was also reportedly involved ^[1]. The program, also known as AFP-720 and AFP-472^[2], remains classified.

The name of the program, originally "Rhyolite", was changed to "Aquacade" in 1975 following the disclosure of the codeword "Rhyolite" in the trial of Christopher Boyce and Andrew Lee.

The Rhyolite/Aquacade satellites, made by TRW, are rumored to have an umbrella-like reflecting dish 20 meters in diameter. They were succeeded by the Magnum/Orion and Mentor series of satellites.

Microwave relay interception. A Rhyolite satellite located at the right position in space can pick up stray signals from a ground microwave link.

A major purpose of the Rhyolite satellites was reportedly the interception of Soviet microwave relay signals traffic. During the mid 20th century much of the long distance telephone and data traffic in both the US and Eastern Europe was carried by terrestrial microwave relay links, each consisting of a dish antenna on a microwave tower that transmitted a narrow beam of microwaves to a receiving dish in a nearby city. A good deal of the microwave beam would miss the receiving dish and, because of the curvature of the Earth, radiate out into space. By placing a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit at a position in the sky where it could intercept the beam, the US government was able to intercept Soviet microwave transmission during the Cold War. ^[1]

Satellites

It is believed that at least four Rhyolite/Aquacade satellites were launched from Cape Canaveral between June 1970 and April 1978 on Atlas-Agena D launch vehicles. The satellites had a mass of approximately 700 kg and operated in near-geosynchronous orbits over the Middle East.

See also

• Canyon (satellite) a contemporary, near-geosynchronous program with closer ties to the United States Air Force

References

• Richelson, Jeffrey T. ed. U.S. Military Uses of Space, 1945-1991 Vol 1, Guide. National Security Archive. 1991.
• SIGINT overview from Federation of American Scientists

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