Jumpseat (satellite)

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Diagram of an early JUMPSEAT SIGINT satellite with annotations JUMPSEAT Diagram.png
Diagram of an early JUMPSEAT SIGINT satellite with annotations

JUMPSEAT, also known as AFP-711 [1] is a code name for a class of highly elliptical orbit SIGINT reconnaissance satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office for the United States Air Force in the 1970s and 1980s, and retired from use in 2006 [2] . These satellites were developed under Project EARPOP during the 1960s and early 1970s [3] Some program details were declassified in December 2025. [3]

Contents

Satellites

JUMPSEAT satellite construction JUMPSEAT Factory.png
JUMPSEAT satellite construction

The JUMPSEAT satellites had the purpose of collecting electronic signals to provide information about adversarial countries weapon systems capabilities. [2] [3] This was a continuation of preexisting satellite constellations such as Grab or Poppy. [4] Gathered data was downlinked to ground stations within the United States. [3]

The 700 kilograms (1,500 lb) Jumpseat satellites were manufactured by Hughes Aircraft and were inserted into highly elliptical Molniya orbits with an inclination of 63 degrees and orbital periods of close to 12 hours. [5] These were in similar orbits to the Satellite Data System relay satellites.

The successors to the Jumpseat series are the Trumpet satellites.

List of satellite launches

Eight JUMPSEAT satellites with mission numbers 7701 to 7708 were launched between March 21, 1971, and February 12, 1987, [3] from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4 West (SLC-4W) [2] on Titan IIIB launch vehicles with Agena D boosters.

There was one failure (OPS 1844, on February 16, 1972), when the second satellite's Agena malfunctioned and left the satellite in a useless orbit. [1]

List of JUMPSEAT launches
Name COSPAR ID
SATCAT No. 		Launch date
(UTC)		Launch vehicleResult
OPS 4788 1971-021A
05053		March 21, 1971
03:45		 Titan III(33)B Success
OPS 1844 N/AFebruary 16, 1972
09:59		 Titan III(33)B Failure
OPS 7724 1973-056A
06791		August 21, 1973
16:07		 Titan III(33)B Success
OPS 2439 1975-017A
07687		March 10, 1975
04:41		 Titan III(34)B Success
OPS 6031 1978-021A
10688		February 25, 1978
05:00		 Titan III(34)B Success
OPS 7225 1981-038A
12418		April 24, 1981
21:32		 Titan III(34)B Success
OPS 7304 1983-078A
14237		July 31, 1983
15:41		 Titan III(34)B Success
USA-21 1987-015A
17506		February 12, 1987
06:40		 Titan III(34)B Success

References

  1. 1 2 "Jonathan's Space Report, No. 135 (1992 Dec 1)". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 "Limited Declassification of JUMPSEAT as a Signals Collection Satellites" (PDF). National Reconnaissance Office. December 4, 2025. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space". National Reconnaissance Office. Archived from the original on January 29, 2026. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space". Archived from the original on January 29, 2026. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
  5. ↑ Clark, Stephen (January 29, 2026). "US spy satellite agency declassifies high-flying Cold War listening post". Ars Technica . Retrieved January 30, 2026.

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