Reproduced lrom the Unclassified Declassified Holdings of lhc National Archives l l CLASS IFIE D ' t thori1yJ APPEm IX D ' AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE DEPARTMEN·T OF DEFENSE l ND · THE NATIONAJ AERO AUTICS AND SPACE ApMINISTRATION ON · FUNCTION$ INVOLVED IN SPACE SURVEILLANCE OF U S AND FOREIGN· SATELLITES AND SPACE VEHICLES 2 3S - INTRODUCTION This document oi tlines the agreement between the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics anq $pace Ad mtnist r alion-for p_e rformance of the -func ions associated with the achieve men ·of ·a ni liQnal -space surveillance capabil ty_on ail man- l lad objects' i ce - Ir i this qonn tion-tn e -term space surveillance is taken in its broadest context It includes the monitoring and tracking of U s launched military space vehi es and of U S clvilian •scientific space vehicles the detection and tracklng of new foreign launched objects and the intelligence function of monitoring non u S vehicles The term man - made objects in _space is considered to include the f91lowing · a Space vehl les of the_ tJ S anq its- alli s · b Operational special p_u rpose spa e vehicles of th U S and lts allies c Booster stage cap s ules dead satellites and othe r debris assoc lated with the injection lnto orbit oi _operation in orbi't of s·ateilltes falling into catagorles a b ct·and-e • · For eign spac ehic le r eported to be of- a scientifi natl ire whlch may or may not inc lup e · m Ultary - D payloads as ·well as various payloads of explorato or o_ther scientific purposes· · e Space vehicles_ yhich might p9 a ·thre11t to he s ecurity of the United Stc tes d POLICY BACKGROUND · ' ' The pertinent pollcies a re set forth in the Operations Coordinating Board actions embodied in the Operations Plan for Outer Space dated -15 J une 1960 ·a · · follows · · ·· · ITI OPERA TJONAL GUIDANCE - · ' •' ·· ' Responsibilitiys • •1 i • • J 3 The- National Aeronaut_ics and Spac·e Adm inistration is · - ·vespqn sibl e fol' he dir c ticm nd control _of U S - · sponso ed space actlvltie s except those pec uliar to or p rima i -iJy associated w11 l-Uie development of weapons ystems • mui ry operc1 tlops or the defense of the ·united States · 4 The Department 9 f Defense is -r sponsible for the direction and control of U S -- s ponsored space a c tivities pec-ullar to 0r px -marily associated with -the development · 109 - _ _ __ NW# 47674 Docid 31236323 _ _ _ _ _ _ __ · SJ C llt - ET _ _ _ ____j Heproduccd from lhc Unclassified Dcdass ficd Holdings of the National Archives l l C LASSI FlED 1 1 horiiy_ b N 'Ze i_ ' j S - - -- - - - -- - - - - - -··--····· of weapons systems military operations or the de fense of the United States IV CURRENT AND PROJECTED PROGRAMS AND COURSES OF ACTION A Technical 33 Actively consider a sat elllte defense progr·a m which wm include capabilities to detect and couhter unfriendly satellite and missile operations Assigned to Target Date 45 Defens e Continuing Provide world-wide tracking data acquisition and communication facilities designed to support the U S s pace programs ' Assigned ·to Support Target Date Defense NASA State Contlnuing I • 46 · ' Develop·a capability to provide ground-based surveUla nce of all U s and foreign s'a telli tes and space vehicles and to provide intelligence on space activities including a system to detect · and catalog non-radiating satellites · Assigned to Target Date Defense Limited operational capabillty ·- 1960 ARE A OF INTEREST The policy backgrowid permits the following broad definition of the areas of military and civillan interest in the space s ur ve illance field a r Military requirements for space surveiU nce ·a rising from r esponsibil ities in the defense of the United States can be briefly summarized as the ground environment required in support of manned and unmanned military space systems and the detection identffication·and tracking of all space vehicles launched· by foreign governments which might have missions inimical to the interest of the Unitecrstates The system developed against these requirements must have the potential capability of supporting counter-attack or neutralizing action against enemy space vehicles There is a continuing military requirement to augment our intelligence capability to provide -information pre- and post-launch on on the physical and electronic characteristics and nature and purpose of foreign space shots The data ·collection analysis and distribution ' 'I I 110 l - --· NW# 47674 Docid 31236323 l cproduccd from tho Uncl ss1licd Declassified Holdi119s of the National Arctuves DEC LASSIFIED J _2 °I 5 l11 iori1 y - - --- - -- - - - - - - -- - - - 7 l • systems in supp ort of these requirements must be secure normally must operate in real time and must be responsive to the demands imposed upon them by interested military operational ·commands These requirements of Def lnse programs will be met by the Departme_nt b The-clviliarrand-sclentmc tn't erest within the field of space surveillance ·requires tr'acking information assoc'iated with space vehicles in order to perfot-m scientific mlssions both manned· and unmanned as well' as missions directed··towards civilian applications The systems developed to meet those· tracking requirements· will provide information of basic interest to ci i Uan and scientific programs and will be of ·a ssistance in some cases to the military surveillance program The extent that the trajectory data on the civllie n vehicles are disseminated and whether not they are r equired in real tlme depends upon the mission invol v ed or It is contemplated that these systems would be responsive to all the needs of the scientlfic community and lvilian interests · domestic and foreign they would be the major source of unclassified scientific and technical information regarding space vehicles and their behavior These responsibilities will be assumed by NASA and this information will be disseminated by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Washington D C · PLAN OF ACTION - DOD The -Department of Defehse through the JCS has ass lgned to CINCNORAD the operational control of military space detection and t racki ng The central data collection and cataloging center to meet DOD requirements will be established within the NORAD COC 1t wlll· take over the military functtons and responsibilities presently handled experimentally by the SPACETRACK Center in Cambridge NORAD will assume operational control of military space detection and tracking sensors primarily serving its new mission · All Information from B_MEWS SPASUR MIDAS and o ther military surve il lance equipment with initial detection and tracking capability will be fed directly lnto the NORAD COC for processing and analysis Trajectory and ephemeris information on U S mllit ary and scientific space· vehicles and satellites and to the extent the •information is available on foreign launched space· craft will bEfprovided by the general and special purpose tracking networks of the Department of Defens e and by NASA to the NORAD COC This will provide the background ca talog of exlstlng spaee vehicles from whlch· any new· space objects can be detect d and _ lderitifled I It wlll be the objective of the NOR AD space detection and tracking system to detect and to establish track on the first -orbit of all satellites and space vehicles launched by foreign countries Tracking aids will be operated by the system only to the extent that clll'rently up- dated infcrmatlon on ·existing satellites cannot be provided by the normal operation of the general·- and special purpose networks of · the ·Department of Defense and by NASA The NORAD Coe will' pr ovide to· NASA on request lnformatfon concerning satellltes and space vehicles within its catalog The present practice of providing thls type of information from SPACETRACK direct to scientific and civilian inter ests other than NASA will be disconti nued The NORAD system will accept from l J NW# 47674 Docid 31236323 111 Heproduccd from the Unclassilied Declassified Holdings of lhc National rcl1ivcs DEC LASSIFlED A 1iiori' y_blW 2 il j S - - - -·· · NASA-up- dated eph meris and t x_-ac ing informaJiot1 on vehicles covered within its -sys·te rri · __ - __ · · · · ·· ·· •·· _ • - The· I e ar-t n f 9 f nse p 9gr-am· _ i l provide fo a gm nta tion of its space vehicle· intelligence· effort mtluding •electronic surveillance and exam ination of fweign spac vebicl_e s -and·-h np 'oved_ phqte _g raphlc aqd other method$ for de teru i i 3 o_n of potE qtial_ rIJ 11 i_tary · capa_b ilitie qf the _foreigp -objects· This intelligence · ope _tiql' l wql 1 e-_c _o oi'dtn ate ' Jit l l t he Nf AD ·system d wl ere appropriate ·supply nfo rmatlon -directly i _rea_l' time -Ultimately-the epartment of Defe nse program may _p e e 13 nd d _to-incli9-e coun er·- w P on capability for neutralization o enetny mj itary _space opjec't i • · - _ · OF PLAN ' ' ACTION - NA SA ' ' ' d • • The NASA has assigned the operational control of its data collection systems and da1 a dlscr im ina ion fm_i tjon to the control_center at the -Goddard Spac e Flight · - Ce ter 1 'hi --Contr9 Ceri er wHl maintain up-dated ti jectory a d e ph e meris lnformation _in computer catalog fo n i on - · · lI I I i •· · • • ' • t l •' I • • • a NASA and n u i - NASf launched objects for as long as they a re consider ed by NASA to be o -sc tentific v·alue b OOD and non-NASA launched objects 10r which DOD has r e quested support from NASA · This support w 11 be prearranged arid wlll ge nera 1ly be ·· • ·· ·based _ uP9n•·a rion- -interf erence • agre ement and to the extent that is ___ _ _possible w ithqut c9mpromis ng NASA f relgn stations I ' j I I I j l I I · Data collected by NASA in catagories a b and c may be dlstrlbuted to the sc entliic community on an unclassµie l·b s-1s at ·the _discretlon of NASA ' I ' · · _ 1 jec ts l un_c hed by a foreign go'V rnment providi g that government re_ _ quests suppo r tirom NASA Again e non-interfere n ee'' basis is requh ed - e NASJCGoddard- Cq ol C nter will prov d obser tion and o up-dated data from_ its computer-catalog periodicaJl y -ln _a outine fashion t o the NORAD ·CO C the 1 'eby pr_oviding supple i mtary informatioh Jo the Mllitary Space_Pete ction and Tracking $yslf m -This will ena ble -the NORAD COC catalog to have -all existing data on -the-objec tn e ' S A-js re's ponsiQle fo r tracking -' thµs keep iqg its catalog · complete for -the pur pose Q f _detecting -and -identifying any new space objects NASA will notify NOR AD when surveillance ·by NASA terminates on any c ategory a II item which has ceased to be of pr mary sc ientlfic interest · ' _ T 1 e -Nf RA D COC will -in tqrn provide timely qata f x_ om its c atalog to ·the NA A G odda rd ContrC l-0 en r in-a _ a greed format ' I'he •unclassj fied catatog data wilLbe s_ent -p erioq ically n- -rout ine fas M on NAS A will •_d istr ibute this to its • · agenctes an i tp ¢ e -sc-i ntm c9q11J1uJJ ity anq to other 'civiUan interests as may be required Cl l-ssified catalog data will be sent to NASA -only upon a need-to-khow request from NASA NASA will use this information withi the confines of proper security - A U da _d i bi-ibu eQ py NAS fi · wlll be clearly · labeled as to its so urce to enable eval ati9n-for•- 90-i nti ii_c purpos l 'lS • ·- · · ' ' • • -- - 112· NW# 4 7 674 Oocid 31236323 Heproduccd lrom the Unclassilied I Dcclassilicd Holdings ol the National Arct11ves DE C LASS IFIF D A 1hority NW '2 l 5 NASA will submit appropriate information to 11Spacewarn 11 the International Space Information exchange organization with six main centers located throughout the world FOR T HE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Herbert F York s Herbert F York Director Defense Research and E_ngln erlng Jan '16 1961 FOR THE NATIONAL ERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Hugh L Dryden s Hugh L Dryden Deputy Administrator January 13 1961 I 113 - - - --------- ------------------- - - - NW# 47674 ocid 31236323