Supersecret 7500-Series Satellites for Years Soaked up Soviet Communications, While Most Assumed They Performed Missile Warning Missions

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Supersecret 7500-Series Satellites for Years Soaked up Soviet Communications, While Most Assumed They Performed Missile Warning Missions Supersecret 7500-series satellites for years soaked up Soviet communications, while most assumed they performed missile warning missions. Eavesdroppers in Disguise By Jeffrey T. Richelson he Aug. 7, 1968, issue of identify those satellites as Program 949 Program A—was “more obscure, but the New York Times carried early warning spacecraft—an identifica- just as fierce,” according to Thomas R. an article with the intriguing tion that would stick for several decades. Johnson’s official history of the NSA. title, “A Secret Payload Is While they were correct that there was a In 1963, Wheelon proposed the CIA Orbited by the US.” John Program 949 involving the development develop and operate a geosynchronous TNoble Wilford reported that the previous of early warning spacecraft, the satellites satellite whose primary function would day, an Atlas-Agena D rocket “shot into orbited in August 1968 and April 1969 be to intercept Soviet missile telemetry, Earth orbit ... a supersecret payload that were not products of that program—or although communications intelligence may include new military surveillance missile warning satellites of any kind. would eventually become a significant sensors.” He noted the Air Force would They had a very different mission. part of its mission. The proposal would acknowledge an “experimental payload” The August 1968 and April 1969 become the basis for the Rhyolite proj- had been launched from Cape Kennedy, launches were one product of the secret ect, whose first spacecraft would arrive Fla., but nothing more. In addition, conflict between the Air Force’s Office in geosynchronous orbit in June 1970. Noble wrote that some reporters had of Special Projects (Program A of the Wheelon’s proposal helped spur NRO been discouraged from asking questions National Reconnaissance Office) and headquarters and the Air Force element by officials involved in the launch. the CIA over high-altitude space-based of the NRO to push for a different kind An Air Force index of missile launch- eavesdropping. This conflict also was of of geosynchronous eavesdropper. Com- ings noted “it was the first closed launch great interest to the National Security munications intelligence (Comint) would from the Cape since 1963” and that Agency. be its main mission. As early as 1962, a “newsmen assigned various unofficial In the early years of the NRO the national intelligence estimate noted the designations of their own to the payload.” battle was particularly intense. Between continued Soviet expansion of both land- What the newsmen and other observ- August 1963 and September 1965 the line and microwave links for air defense ers had in common was the belief the two major protagonists were Albert communications. secret payload was an infrared warning Wheelon—who headed the CIA’s Di- Unlike Soviet high-frequency commu- satellite designed to detect Soviet and rectorate of Science and Technology nications that bounced off the atmosphere other nations’ missile launches. and supervised the CIA component of and into waiting antennas at a variety of Philip J. Klass, in his 1971 book, the NRO (Program B)—and Under- US and allied ground stations around the Secret Sentries in Space, identified the secretary of the Air Force and NRO world, microwave communications leaked satellite orbited that day as an “Advanced Director Brockway McMillan. One out into space. What was needed was a Midas” early warning satellite in geo- aspect of the conflict concerned future space-based system that could gather up synchronous orbit. He also disclosed imagery programs, but the battle over the signals when they passed through the that another was launched on April 12, space signals intelligence—involving atmosphere. According to a former CIA 1969. Subsequently, other writers would the CIA, NSA, NRO headquarters, and official, NSA was “very much in favor 58 AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2012 Canyon satellites sent intercepted Soviet communications to Bad Aibling, West Germany, seen here. The base had a detachment of Canyon personnel. Photo via wikipedia of getting Soviet traffic” and had “very to be effective eavesdropping platforms. Canyon was lofted into space by an Atlas-Agena such as this one, launch- little interest in telemetry.” Less than a decade earlier, a 1959 issue ing from Pad 14 at Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Air Force had already explored of the NSA’s classified NSA Technical the use of the low Earth orbiting satel- Journal included an article titled “Comint lites for communications intelligence, Satellites—A Space Problem.” The author, with Comint piggybacked onto satellites whose identity remains classified, reported used to intercept Soviet radar signals. But on an NSA study on the feasibility of such satellites were of limited utility as intercepting communications from space. communication intercept platforms be- “There are many target communications cause they were over particular emitters signals that might be considered for col- for only brief periods of time, resulting lection from a satellite at an altitude of in only snatches of conversations be- a few hundred miles,” the author wrote. ing intercepted. It was like being on an However, when it came to satellites at escalator and trying to eavesdrop on a several thousand miles or “the popular- conversation on the escalator going in ized 24-hour satellite hovering at 22,240 the opposite direction. What was needed miles,” they operated at distances that was a satellite in geosynchronous or- were “just too great for present intercept bit, whose antennas could continuously techniques.” The author went on to explain scoop up the communications from a that only “one part out of 10 trillion ... particular source—everything from hello of the power transmitted is available for to goodbye. collection. The rest is gone forever.” Program A and its main contractor, In addition, Air Force work on develop- Lockheed, managed to develop a system ment of a missile launch detection satellite, that did just that. The program producing an officially classified but publicly known the Aug. 6, 1968, payload and its suc- effort, diverted attention from the use of cessors bore the classified code name geosynchronous orbit for the even more Canyon and the unclassified designation highly classified Canyon effort. Thus, Project 827. in October 1973, by which time four Defense Support Program (DSP) mis- Serendipitous Deception sile warning satellites had been orbited, Helping to keep Canyon’s mission the Air Force, CIA, and NRO produced secret was the presumption that geosyn- a short study focused on “NRP Security chronous satellites were too far from Earth Via ‘White’ Programs”—NRP being an NASA photo AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2012 59 abbreviation for the National Reconnais- Over those years, the composition of sance Program. The study observed that personnel at the base would also change. “there have evolved several planned or An official history of the station noted that fortuitous relationships” between NRO during the 1950s and first half of the 1960s and “white” Air Force programs, and Department of Defense civilians—NSA “all Cape Kennedy launches of DSP and personnel—“were rarely seen, except as NRO satellites have been reported by the visitors.” That “began to change in the late media as ‘warning satellite’ launches.” 1960s, [for] DOD civilians were required This meant that all the Canyon satel- to provide technical expertise and leader- lites, launched from Cape Kennedy had, ship in support of the station’s mission.” since the first DSP launch in November The late 1960s was the beginning of the 1970, been reported as early warning Canyon launch effort, and along with DSP launches. DOD civilians, the station became home Though the initial DSP launch occurred for the Lockheed employees who were after the first three Canyon launches, in responsible for manning the consoles 1966 the Air Force had established Pro- used to operate the satellites. gram 949 as the follow-on to the Midas The Canyon contingent at Bad Aibling early warning effort—which led to the had an unclassified designation—Project assumption that Canyon launches in 1968, Wildbore—although as was the case with 1969, and 1970 were products of that ef- Project 827, what Wildbore referred to was fort. But while the 949 program led to an highly classified. But first they would have early warning satellite, it did not do so to wait for a working satellite before their until the first DSP satellite was launched. highly classified activities could begin. None of the envisioned 949 test satellites Fortunately for the Wildbore contin- were ever built, much less orbited. gent not only did the next two launches It would only be decades later that the place their satellites in orbit, there were true mission of those launches would no fatal mistakes on the ground. So- become clear. viet communications traffic started to The first Canyon satellite, designated arrive in large quantities at their Bavarian 7501—7500 for the program, 01 for the ground station—courtesy of the satellite’s mission number—was poised to deliver 30-foot-diameter mesh antenna. Tapes of the communications intelligence NSA the intercepts would be taken to Munich wanted when something went very wrong. and then flown to Fort Meade. The spacecraft arrived in its proper Not that everything went smoothly. orbit, with a 20,256-mile perigee and Communication between the satellite and 24,335-mile apogee and 10.2-degree ground station would cut out on occasion, inclination. Thus, the satellite traced a or a satellite would simply stop working. figure eight while rising above the equa- The fourth launch, on Dec. 4, 1971, failed tor and then falling below it as it moved to place satellite 7504 in orbit. According between its highest and lowest altitudes. to Matthew M. Aid, author of The Secret But in maneuvering the satellite, a ground Sentry, a book on the National Security controller made a critical error that sent Agency, Canyon had “every teething the bird into an uncontrollable spin, turn- problem” a new system could experience.
Recommended publications
  • Identify GEO Objects #5
    Identification of UI Objects in Classification of Geosynchronous Objects Issue 11 Ted Molczan 2010 Jan 31 Revision 2, 2010 Feb 02 Abstract Sixty-seven (67) objects reported as unidentified in Classification of Geosynchronous Objects, Issue 11, have been newly correlated with launches, and identified as a specific piece from their launch. Corrections of 5 previous independent identifications are proposed. This increases the total number of identified objects to 140, out of 152 originally reported as unidentified. 1. Introduction The European Space Agency’s European Space Operations Centre reports annually on the status of objects in geosynchronous orbit, via the Classification of Geosynchronous Objects (COGO) series, produced by the Space Debris Office of the Ground Systems Engineering Department. COGO Issue 11, Section 4.7, reports 152 objects tracked by the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), classified as unidentified, because they could not initially be correlated with a specific launch. They receive permanent IDs of the form UI.nnn, in which UI denotes unidentified, and nnn is a serial number. Objects that are eventually correlated to launches retain their UI designation, but are also listed in Section 4.7 with their COSPAR designation. The launches expected to account for most of the 152 UI objects are the 77 which placed a total of 153 officially catalogued objects into geosynchronous orbit, for which orbital elements are not available from official sources. COGO Issue 11, identifies 40 objects that had been correlated with their launches, and independent researchers have correlated an additional 33 objects. All belong to the 77 known launches. The present study originates within the small community of hobbyists who observe objects in orbits for which official orbital elements are not available, and analyze their orbits, optical characteristics and radio transmissions.
    [Show full text]
  • British Domestic Security Policy and Communist Subversion: 1945-1964
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Apollo British Domestic Security Policy and Communist Subversion: 1945-1964 William Styles Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge September 2016 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy William Styles British Domestic Security Policy and Communist Subversion: 1945-1964 This thesis is concerned with an analysis of British governmental attitudes and responses to communism in the United Kingdom during the early years of the Cold War, from the election of the Attlee government in July 1945 up until the election of the Wilson government in October 1964. Until recently the topic has been difficult to assess accurately, due to the scarcity of available original source material. However, as a result of multiple declassifications of both Cabinet Office and Security Service files over the past five years it is now possible to analyse the subject in greater depth and detail than had been previously feasible. The work is predominantly concerned with four key areas: firstly, why domestic communism continued to be viewed as a significant threat by successive governments – even despite both the ideology’s relatively limited popular support amongst the general public and Whitehall’s realisation that the Communist Party of Great Britain presented little by way of a direct challenge to British political stability. Secondly, how Whitehall’s understanding of the nature and severity of the threat posed by British communism developed between the late 1940s and early ‘60s, from a problem considered mainly of importance only to civil service security practices to one which directly impacted upon the conduct of educational policy and labour relations.
    [Show full text]
  • UK Eyes Alpha by the Same Author UK Eyes Alpha Big Boys' Rules: the SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA Lnside British Lntelligence
    UK Eyes Alpha By the same author UK Eyes Alpha Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the secret struggle against the IRA lnside British lntelligence Mark Urban tr firhrr anr/ fulrr' ft For Ruth and Edwin Contents lntroduction Part One The First published in I996 1 Coming Earthquake 3 and Faber Limited by Faber 2 A Dark and Curious Shadow 13 3 Queen Square London vcrN JAU 3 The Charm Offensive 26 Typeset by Faber and Faber Ltd Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc 4 Most Ridiculed Service 42 All rights reserved 5 ZIRCON 56 O Mark Urban, 1996 6 Springtime for Sceptics 70 Mark Urbar-r is hereby identified as author of 7 A Brilliant Intelligence Operation 84 this work in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 8 The \7all Comes Tumbling Down 101 A CIP rccord for this book is available from the Part Two British Library 9 Supergun LL7 tsnN o-57r-r7689-5 10 Black Death on the Nevsky Prospekt L29 ll Assault on Kuwait L43 12 Desert Shield 153 13 Desert Storm 165 14 Moscow Endgame LA2 Part Three l5 An Accidcnt of History L97 l(r Irrlo thc ll:rllirrn 2LO tt),)B / (,1,1 l, I Qulgrnirc 17 Time for Revenge 22L lntroduction 18 Intelligence, Power and Economic Hegemony 232 19 Very Huge Bills 245 How good is British intelligence? What kind of a return do ministers and officials get 20 The Axe Falls 2il for the hundreds of millions of pounds spent on espionage each year? How does this secret establishment find direction and purpose 2l Irish Intrigues 269 in an age when old certainties have evaporated? Very few people, even in Conclusion 286 Whitehall, would feel confident enough to answer these questions.
    [Show full text]
  • School of Slavonic and East European Studies Alumni Stories
    1 School of Slavonic and East European Studies Alumni Stories Training Russian Military Interpreters during the Cold War (1951-58): A Neglected Page in the History of SSEES Faith Wigzell From 1951-58 probably around five hundred young men studied Russian intensively for a year at SSEES as part of their National Service. They were part of a much larger programme to train Russian translators and interpreters known as the Joint Services School for Linguists (JSSL). While the JSSL experience has been well-documented [Elliott and Shukman; Cash and Gerrard], the history of the SSEES wing of JSSL is inevitably restricted to at best a chapter. In this centenary year it is time to rescue for SSEES history what is known about these courses – not before time, as the participants are at least in their mid-seventies. Even if their recollections are inevitably fragmented, they make splendid informants; they were after all the most talented linguists of the huge number of young men who did National Service in the 1950s, and they went on to excel in many walks of life.i Services Language Courses at SSEES This was not the first time that SSEES found itself teaching Russian to members of the armed forces (as well as to external, evening and diploma students). It had a long tradition of teaching the languages that are part of its remit to those not registered for a degree; even before SSEES became independent from King’s College in 1932, classes were being offered inter alia to regular Army officers, who completed their studies abroad living with émigré families and then taking the Civil Service Interpreters’ exam [Roberts and Bartlett:32].
    [Show full text]
  • Uk-Menwith-Hill-Lifting-The-Lid.Pdf
    Lifting the lid on Menwith Hill... The Strategic Roles & Economic Impact of the US Spy Base in Yorkshire A Yorkshire CND Report 2012 About this report... Anyone travelling along the A59 to Skipton demonstrations, court actions and parliamentary cannot fail to notice the collection of large white work. Similar issues have been taken up by spheres spread over many acres of otherwise various members of the UK and European green fields just outside Harrogate. Some may Parliaments but calls for further action have know that these ‘golfballs’, as they are often been smothered by statements about concerns called, contain satellite receiving dishes, but few for security and the importance of counter will know much more than that. In fact, it’s terrorism. extremely difficult to find out very much more because this place – RAF Menwith Hill – is the However, it is not the purpose of this report to largest secret intelligence gathering system write a history of the protest movement around outside of the US and it is run, not by the RAF the base. The object was originally to investigate (as its name would suggest) but by the National the claims made by the US and UK govern- Security Agency of America. ments of the huge financial benefits (rising to over £160 million in 2010) that the base brings Such places always attract theories about what to the local and wider communities. In doing so, they are involved in and Menwith Hill is no it was necessary to develop a clearer under- exception – but over the years it has also been standing of what the base does, how it operates the subject of careful investigation and analysis and how much national and local individuals, by a number of individuals and groups.
    [Show full text]
  • American Intelligence Wakes up to the Truth About the Anglo-Soviet Connection
    Click here for Full Issue of EIR Volume 10, Number 1, January 4, 1983 The Spy Scandals American intelligence wakes up to the truth about the Anglo-Soviet connection by Konstantin George in Wiesbaden If the British intelligence service were to coin a phrase that NATO headquarters in Paris from 1956 to 1961. HambledoD, would best summarize the past 30-odd years of Anglo-Soviet in his testimony, admitted to having been in regular contact intelligence coups and policy successes, it would read in the with the Soviet KGB and the East German Staatssicherheits­ spirit of the famed P. T. Barnum saying: "There's an Amer­ dienst (known colloquially as "Staasi," pronounced Shta­ ican sucker born every minute." The year 1982 marked a zee) since 1947. turning point in this ugly and repetitively boring post-war The highlight of Hambledon's spy career-as he stun­ process of Britons hoodwinking Americans. This year, ningly revealed during the trial-was his 1975 meeting in throQgh a series of Anglo-KGB operations which have been Moscow with then KGB chief Yuri Andropov, at a Moscow exposed, American intelligence officials are now aware of apartment. Hambledon received eight years in prison. In how they've been played for suckers. All-out intelligence between the Prime and Hambledon convictions, a co-worker of Prime's at Cheltenham mysteriously "committed suicide." ,warfare is raging. The \ recent exposure and conviction of British citizen Yet another Anglo-Soviet caper recently exposed is that Geoffrey Prime as a key Anglo-Soviet intelligence operative, massive amounts of super-secret U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Development of Surveillance Technology and Risk of Abuse of Economic Information
    ∋(9(/230(172)6859(,//∃1&( 7(&+12/2∗<∃1∋5,6.2)∃%86( 2)(&2120,&,1)250∃7,21 9ΡΟ 7ΚΗςΗΡΙΚΗΥΛΘΦΡΠΠΞΘΛΦΛΡΘς ,ΘΗΟΟΛϑΗΘΦΗ&20,17ΡΙΞΡΠ∆ΗΓΣΥΡΦΗςςΛΘϑΙΡΥΛΘΗΟΟΛϑΗΘΦΗΣΞΥΣΡςΗς ΡΙΛΘΗΥΦΗΣΗΓΕΥΡΓΕΘΓΠΞΟΛΟΘϑΞϑΗΟΗςΗΓΡΥΦΡΠΠΡΘΦΥΥΛΗΥ ς∴ςΗΠςΘΓΛςΣΣΟΛΦΕΛΟΛ∴Ρ&20,17ΥϑΗΛΘϑΘΓςΗΟΗΦΛΡΘ ΛΘΦΟΞΓΛΘϑςΣΗΗΦΚΥΗΦΡϑΘΛΛΡΘ :ΡΥΝΛΘϑΓΡΦΞΠΗΘΙΡΥΚΗ672∃3ΘΗΟ /Ξ[ΗΠΕΡΞΥϑ2ΦΡΕΗΥ 3(9ΡΟ &ΟΡϑΞΛΘϑΓ 7ΛΟΗ 3∆Υ7ΚΗςΗΡΙΚΗΥΛΘΦΡΠΠΞΘΛΦΛΡΘς ,ΘΗΟΟΛϑΗΘΦΗ&20,17ΡΙΞΡΠ∆ΗΓΣΥΡΦΗςςΛΘϑΙΡΥ ΛΘΗΟΟΛϑΗΘΦΗΣΞΥΣΡςΗςΡΙΛΘΗΥΦΗΣΗΓΕΥΡΓΕΘΓΞΟΛ ΟΘϑΞϑΗΟΗςΗΓΡΥΦΡΠΠΡΘΦΥΥΛΗΥς∴ςΗΠςΘΓΛς ΣΣΟΛΦΕΛΟΛ∴Ρ&20,17ΥϑΗΛΘϑΘΓςΗΟΗΦΛΡΘ ΛΘΦΟΞΓΛΘϑςΣΗΗΦΚΥΗΦΡϑΘΛΛΡΘ :ΡΥΝΣΟΘ5ΗΙ (3,9%672∃ 3ΞΕΟΛςΚΗΥ (ΞΥΡΣΗΘ3ΥΟΛΠΗΘ ∋ΛΥΗΦΡΥΗ∗ΗΘΗΥΟΙΡΥ5ΗςΗΥΦΚ ∋ΛΥΗΦΡΥΗ∃ 7ΚΗ672∃3ΥΡϑΥ∆ΠΠΗ ∃ΞΚΡΥ ∋ΞΘΦΘ&ΠΣΕΗΟΟ,379/ΩΓ(ΓΛΘΕΞΥϑΚ (ΓΛΡΥ 0Υ∋ΛΦΝ+2/∋6:257+ +ΗΓΡΙ672∃8ΘΛ ∋Η 2ΦΡΕΗΥ 3(ΘΞΠΕΗΥ 3(9ΡΟ 7ΚΛςΓΡΦΞΠΗΘΛςΖΡΥΝΛΘϑ∋ΡΦΞΠΗΘΙΡΥΚΗ672∃3ΘΗΟ,ΛςΘΡΘΡΙΙΛΦΛΟΣΞΕΟΛΦΛΡΘΡΙ672∃ 7ΚΛςΓΡΦΞΠΗΘΓΡΗςΘΡΘΗΦΗςςΥΛΟ∴ΥΗΣΥΗςΗΘΚΗΨΛΗΖςΡΙΚΗ(ΞΥΡΣΗΘ3ΥΟΛΠΗΘ I nterception Capabilities 2000 Report to the Director General for Research of the European Parliament (Scientific and Technical Options Assessment programme office) on the development of surveillance technology and risk of abuse of economic information. This study considers the state of the art in Communications intelligence (Comint) of automated processing for intelligence purposes of intercepted broadband multi-language leased or common carrier systems, and its applicability to Comint targeting and selection, including speech recognition. I nterception Capabilities 2000 Cont ent s SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • A Constellation Architecture for Monitoring Carbon Dioxide and Methane from Space
    A CONSTELLATION ARCHITECTURE FOR MONITORING CARBON DIOXIDE AND METHANE FROM SPACE Prepared by the CEOS Atmospheric Composition Virtual Constellation Greenhouse Gas Team Version 1.0 – 8 October 2018 © 2018. All rights reserved Contributors: David Crisp1, Yasjka Meijer2, Rosemary Munro3, Kevin Bowman1, Abhishek Chatterjee4,5, David Baker6, Frederic Chevallier7, Ray Nassar8, Paul I. Palmer9, Anna Agusti-Panareda10, Jay Al-Saadi11, Yotam Ariel12. Sourish Basu13,14, Peter Bergamaschi15, Hartmut Boesch16, Philippe Bousquet7, Heinrich Bovensmann17, François-Marie Bréon7, Dominik Brunner18, Michael Buchwitz17, Francois Buisson19, John P. Burrows17, Andre Butz20, Philippe Ciais7, Cathy Clerbaux21, Paul Counet3, Cyril Crevoisier22, Sean Crowell23, Philip L. DeCola24, Carol Deniel25, Mark Dowell26, Richard Eckman11, David Edwards13, Gerhard Ehret27, Annmarie Eldering1, Richard Engelen10, Brendan Fisher1, Stephane Germain28, Janne Hakkarainen29, Ernest Hilsenrath30, Kenneth Holmlund3, Sander Houweling31,32, Haili Hu31, Daniel Jacob33, Greet Janssens-Maenhout15, Dylan Jones34, Denis Jouglet19, Fumie Kataoka35, Matthäus Kiel36, Susan S. Kulawik37, Akihiko Kuze38, Richard L. Lachance12, Ruediger Lang3, Jochen Landgraf 31, Junjie Liu1, Yi Liu39,40, Shamil Maksyutov41, Tsuneo Matsunaga41, Jason McKeever28, Berrien Moore23, Masakatsu Nakajima38, Vijay Natraj1, Robert R. Nelson42, Yosuke Niwa41, Tomohiro Oda4,5, Christopher W. O’Dell6, Leslie Ott5, Prabir Patra43, Steven Pawson5, Vivienne Payne1, Bernard Pinty26, Saroja M. Polavarapu8, Christian Retscher44,
    [Show full text]
  • 'Hello, World' : GCHQ, Twitter and Social Media Engagement
    ‘Hello, world’ : GCHQ, Twitter and social media engagement McLoughlin, LDG, Ward, SJ and Lomas, DWB http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2020.1713434 Title ‘Hello, world’ : GCHQ, Twitter and social media engagement Authors McLoughlin, LDG, Ward, SJ and Lomas, DWB Type Article URL This version is available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/56165/ Published Date 2020 USIR is a digital collection of the research output of the University of Salford. Where copyright permits, full text material held in the repository is made freely available online and can be read, downloaded and copied for non-commercial private study or research purposes. Please check the manuscript for any further copyright restrictions. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. ‘Hello, world’1: GCHQ, Twitter and social media engagement Liam McLoughlin, Stephen Ward and Daniel W. B. Lomas School of Arts and Media, The University of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, M5 4WT Twitter: @SourceMerlin @Leelum @SalfordUni_PCH Liam McLoughlin is a doctoral student at the University of Salford, and has recently submitted his PhD on political representation and social media in the UK. His research interests centre on political social media engagement and participation. He is also communications officer for the Political Studies Association Early Career Network (@psa_ecn). Dr Stephen Ward is a Reader in Politics at the University of Salford. His research interests centre on the use of internet and social media by political organisations notably around political campaigning, participation and mobilisation. He has over 60 publications focused on parties, MPs and public participation online.
    [Show full text]
  • The Historyof Spaceflight
    CHAPTER15 THEHISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHYOF NATIONALSECURITY SPACE’ Stephen B. Johnson e intent of this essay is to provide space historians with an overview of Th.the issues and sources of national security space so as to identify those areas that have been underserved. Frequently, ballistic missiles are left out of space history, as they only pass through space instead of remaining in space like satellites. I include ballistic missiles for several reasons, not the least of which is that they pass through space en route to their targets. Space programs originated in the national security (NS) arena, and except for a roughly 15-year period from the early 1960s through the mid-l970s, NS space expenditures in the United States (U.S.), let alone the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), have equaled or exceeded those of civilian pro- grams. Despite this reality, the public nature of government-dominated civil- ian programs and issues of security classifications have kept NS space out of the limelight. The recent declassification of the early history of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the demise of the Soviet Union have led to a recent spate of publications that have uncovered much of the “secret history” of the early Cold War. Nonetheless, much of NS space history has received little attention from historians. One feature of military organizations that is of great value for historians is their penchant to document their histories, and space organizations are no exception. Most military organizations have historians assigned to them, with professional historians at many of the positions documenting events as they occur.
    [Show full text]
  • 30 Voices on 2030 – the Future of Space
    30 Voices on 2030 The future of space Communal, commercial, contested May 2020 KPMG.com/au/30voicesonspace © 2020 KPMG, an Australian partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. The KPMG name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. 30 Voices on 2030 The future of space Communal, commercial, contested © 2020 KPMG, an Australian partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. The KPMG name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. 2 | 30 Voices on 2030: The Future of Space 30 Voices on 2030: The Future of Space Our 30 Voices on 2030 cover every facet of the global space industry and beyond – from space agencies and start-ups to VCs and media organisations. Taken together they create a valuable chorus of insight and expertise. Many of the views expressed in this report may be personal and not necessarily represent those of the Voices’ organisations or KPMG. Visit KPMG.com/au/30voicesonspace to view the report online. Share online #KPMG30Voices © 2020 KPMG, an Australian partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. The KPMG name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International.
    [Show full text]
  • How Occupational Psychology Helped Scupper Thatcher and the Polygraph: a Lesson in Exerting Influence at the Right Time
    HOW OCCUPATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY HELPED SCUPPER THATCHER AND THE POLYGRAPH: A LESSON IN EXERTING INFLUENCE AT THE RIGHT TIME Clive Fletcher To tell this story, I have to first take you back to the middle 1980s, when OP within the BPS was represented by two bodies. There was the DOP, which was still relatively new and quite small, and the OP Section, which was much (several times) bigger in membership. The Section was essentially the scientific interest group within OP – one did not need any qualifications to be a member, other than interest! But the Section had the major responsibility for running the annual conference (and other events) and made enough profit from it for membership of the Section to be free. I was Chair of the Section committee in 1984, which is when the events about to be described took place. The background to this relates to the Government Communications Headquarters, invariably referred to as GCHQ. It was probably less well known then than it is now, but GCHQ is the third main arm of the UK’s intelligence services (along with MI5 and MI6), its headquarters being based in a huge complex at Cheltenham. Essentially, it is involved in collecting signals and communication intelligence – which involves code breaking, electronic surveillance of phone messages (e.g. of terrorist suspects), gathering radar signatures of weapons and defence systems of hostile foreign countries and so on. It employs a staff of thousands, many of which are computer scientists, mathematicians and linguists. Over time its size and importance has grown. Not surprisingly, during the cold war it was a primary infiltration target for the KGB, whose greatest success in this respect was a man called Geoffrey Prime.
    [Show full text]