Naval Ocean Surveillance System

"NOSS" redirects here. For other uses, see Noss (disambiguation).

"Intruder (satellite)" redirects here. For the program originally rumored to be called Intruder, see Integrated Overhead SIGINT Architecture.

The Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) is a series of signals-intelligence satellites that have conducted electronic signals intelligence for the U.S. Navy since the early 1970s.^[1] The first series of satellites were codenamed "White Cloud" or "PARCAE", while second- and third-generation satellites have used the codenames "Ranger" and "Intruder". According to the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2023, the system may be called the Space-Based Wide Area Surveillance System (SB-WASS).^[2]

The NOSS 3-4 duo (2007-027A and C) crossing through the Pleiades. Movement in this 10-second exposure is from top to bottom, the A object is leading.

A NOSS satellite trio passes the Moon.

NOSS 3-3 duo passing by Polaris (bright star at the bottom). Movement in this 12.3-seconds exposure is from upper-left to bottom-right; the A object is leading. 6 February 2016, 18:52 (UTC+2), Kyiv.

The system is operated by the United States Navy, and its main purpose was tactical geolocation of Soviet Navy assets during the Cold War. NOSS involves satellite clusters operating in low Earth orbit to detect radar and other electronic transmissions from ships at sea and locate them using the time difference of arrival technique.^[3]

Satellites

Name	ID	Launch date	Launch vehicle	Launch site	NROL designation	Perigee	Apogee	Inclination	Remarks
First generation
OPS 6431 SSU-1	1976-038C	30 April 1976	Atlas E/F-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3W	N/A	1,092 km	1,128 km	63.5°	Dispenser designated OPS 6431 and catalogued as 1976-038A.
OPS 6431 SSU-2	1976-038D
OPS 6431 SSU-3	1976-038J
OPS 8781 SSU-1	1977-112D	8 December 1977	Atlas E/F-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3W		1,054 km	1,169 km	63.4°	Dispenser designated OPS 8781 and catalogued as 1977-112A.
OPS 8781 SSU-2	1977-112E
OPS 8781 SSU-3	1977-112F
OPS 7245 SSU-1	1980-019C	3 March 1980	Atlas E/F-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3W		1,035 km	1,150 km	63.0°	Dispenser designated OPS 7245 and catalogued as 1980-019A.
OPS 7245 SSU-2	1980-019D
OPS 7245 SSU-3	1980-019G
OPS 3255 SSU-1	N/A	9 December 1980	Atlas E/F-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3W		Failed to orbit			Dispenser designated OPS 3255, loss of control after engine failure, followed by explosion.
OPS 3255 SSU-2	N/A
OPS 3255 SSU-3	N/A
OPS 0252 SSU-1	1983-008E	9 February 1983	Atlas H-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3E		1,063 km	1,186 km	63.40°	Dispenser designated OPS 0252 and catalogued as 1983-008A.
OPS 0252 SSU-2	1983-008F
OPS 0252 SSU-3	1983-008H
OPS 6432 SSU-1	1983-056C	9 June 1983	Atlas H-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3E		851 km	1,363 km	63.4°	Dispenser designated OPS 6432 and catalogued as 1983-056A.
OPS 6432 SSU-2	1983-056D
OPS 6432 SSU-3	1983-056G
OPS 8737 SSU-1	1984-012C	5 February 1984	Atlas H-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3E		1,052 km	1,172 km	63.4°	Dispenser designated OPS 8737 and catalogued as 1984-012A.
OPS 8737 SSU-2	1984-012D
OPS 8737 SSU-3	1984-012F
USA-16	1986-014E	9 February 1986	Atlas H-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3E		1,049 km	1,166 km	63.0°	Dispenser designated USA-15 and catalogued as 1986-014A.
USA-17	1986-014F
USA-18	1986-014H
USA-23	1987-043E	15 May 1987	Atlas H-MSD	VAFB, SLC-3E		1,045 km	1,179 km	62.9°	Dispenser designated USA-22 and catalogued as 1987-043A.
USA-24	1987-043F
USA-26	1987-043H
Second generation
USA-60	1990-050E	8 June 1990	Titan IV(405)A	CCAFS, LC-41	N/A	1,071 km	1,146 km	63.4°	Dispenser designated USA-59 and catalogued as 1990-050A.
USA-61	1990-050F
USA-62	1990-050H
USA-74	1991-076C	8 November 1991	Titan IV(403)A	VAFB, SLC-4E		1,052 km	1,164 km	63.4°	Dispenser designated USA-72 and catalogued as 1991-076A.
USA-76	1991-076D
USA-77	1991-076E
Unnamed	N/A	2 August 1993	Titan IV(403)A	VAFB, SLC-4E		Failed to orbit			Exploded due to crack in solid rocket motor caused by poor repair.
Unnamed	N/A
Unnamed	N/A
USA-119	1996-029A	12 May 1996	Titan IV(403)A	VAFB, SLC-4E		1,050 km	1,166 km	63.4°	Dispenser designated USA-122 and catalogued as 1996-029D.
USA-120	1996-029B
USA-121	1996-029C
Third generation
USA-160	2001-040A	8 September 2001	Atlas IIAS	VAFB, SLC-3E	NROL-13	1,100 km	1,100 km	63.0°
Unnamed*	2001-040C
USA-173	2003-054A	2 December 2003	Atlas IIAS	VAFB, SLC-3E	NROL-18	1,013 km	1,200 km	63.4°
Unnamed*	2003-054C
USA-181	2005-004A	3 February 2005	Atlas IIIB	CCAFS, SLC-36B	NROL-23	1,011 km	1,209 km	63.4°
Unnamed*	2005-004C
USA-194	2007-027A	15 June 2007	Atlas V 401	CCAFS, SLC-41	NROL-30	1,053 km	1,163 km	63.4°	Launched into lower orbit than planned, spacecraft corrected under own power, at expense of operational life.
Unnamed*	2007-027C
USA-229	2011-014A	15 April 2011	Atlas V 411	VAFB, SLC-3E	NROL-34	1,015 km	1,207 km	63.46°
Unnamed*	2011-014B
USA-238	2012-048A	13 September 2012	Atlas V 401	VAFB, SLC-3E	NROL-36	1,056 km	1,158 km	63.4°
Unnamed*	2012-048P
USA-264	2015-058A	8 October 2015	Atlas V 401	VAFB, SLC-3E	NROL-55	1,013 km	1,201 km	63.4°
Unnamed*	2015-058R
USA-274	2017-011A	1 March 2017	Atlas V 401	VAFB, SLC-3E	NROL-79	1,010 km	1,204 km	63.4°
Unnamed*	2017-011B
USA-327	2022-040A	17 April 2022	Falcon 9 Block 5	CCAFS, SLC-40	NROL-85	1,100 km	1,100 km	63.4°	Launched.
Unnamed*	Not catalogued

* One satellite from each third generation pair is officially catalogued as debris.

data from ,

Cost

The costs of the NOSS satellites (excluding costs for the launch vehicle), which were destroyed in a Titan IV launch failure in 1993, were US$800 million (inflation adjusted US$ 1.7 billion in 2024).^[4]

See also

• Poppy (satellite)
• Yaogan
• CERES (satellite)

References

1. "Display: SSU 1/2 1976-038C". NASA. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. "Satellite Database | Union of Concerned Scientists".
3. "NOSS Double and Triple Satellite Formations". satobs.org.
4. Weiner, Tim (4 August 1993). "Titan Lost Payload: Spy-Satellite System Worth $800 Million". The New York Times.

External links

• NOSS @ astronautix.com
• BBC - h2g2 - Naval Ocean Surveillance Satellites - a 'UFO'