Space Intelligence Agency
| Intelligence Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 1, 1963 |
| Jurisdiction | Space Intelligence Operations |
| Motto | "Eye's in the Sky" |
| Annual budget | $16 Billion |
The Space Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency for the Spirit of Hope government, it responsible for all space based intelligence gathering activities. In this role it works closely with the Signals Intelligence Agency to intercept and decrypt other nations signals, both ground based and those that transmit through space.
History
In 1963 the Space Intelligence Agency was founded to combine efforts to create and operate space based intelligence assets. The first spy satellite, a wide area photographic reconnaissance satellite, was launched in 1966.
Organization
The SIA is divided into three branches, responsible for separate portions of a satellites
Design and Launch
The Design and Launch branch is responsible for designing, developing, and launching new satellites.
Management
The Management branch is responsible for managing and maintaining satellites once they are in orbit through to the end of their mission lives, either through placing the satellites in grave yard orbits or by deorbiting them.
Reception
The Reception branch is responsible for receiving, interpreting, and distributing intelligence from space based assets. It works with the Independent Intelligence Agency, Signals Intelligence Agency, and the branches of the armed forces for intelligence relevant to each. Such as intercepted communications being transferred to the SIA and naval radar intelligence transferred to the Navy and National Guard.
Capabilities
Photo Reconnaissance
The SIA operates two different types of photo reconnaissance satellites, wide area and narrow area.
Two wide area satellites are used to observe wide swaths of territory for major changes, trading resolution for field of view. Specific emphasis is placed on locating other nations bases, such as airfields or missile field.
Four narrow area satellites are used to observe specific locations, having a high resolution with a narrow field of view. They are generally used to observe specific locations of interest, such as harbors or airfields to track other nations equipment deployments.
Radar Reconnaissance
The SIA operates five radar reconnaissance satellite, all of the same type which use a synthetic aperture radar. This allows it to operate in two modes, scan and imaging. In scan mode the satellite is not able to produce as detailed an image but can cover a larger area, which is often used in conjunction with the wide area photo reconnaissance satellites to produce accurate maps of territory that Spirit of Hope does not have the ability to survey. In scan mode, combined with the orbits of the constellation, the satellite also serve as a naval reconnaissance satellites, providing near continuous observation of the waters near Spirit of Hopes shores. The imaging capability is used to produce detailed images of specific areas and has a immitted ability to penetrate through roofs and the ground.
Early Warning
The SIA operates two types of early warning satellites, one used for spotting missile launches and one to track missiles in flight.
Four satellites make up the missile launch spotting constellation, maintaining world wide observation capability. They are able to spot missile launches by observing infrared signatures worldwide and have demonstrated the ability to observe signatures of artillery fire though they are limited in their ability accurately observe these smaller events.
Ten satellites make up the missile flight tracking constellation, they are focused on observing the areas through which an intercontinental ballistic missile would have to pass to strike Spirit of Hope. They serve a secondary purpose of observing all spacecraft passing through this area.
Signal Interception
The SIA operates a number of signal interception satellites, primarily focused in two directions, general signal interception and specific signal interception.
General signal interception satellites are designed to intercept omni directional broadcasts, such as radar, omni directional radio signals, and other electronic signals that are not uni-directional. One used is in combination with radar reconnaissance satellites to better understand naval deployments of other nations.
Specific signal interception satellites are designed to intercept specific signals from uni-directional sources, such as microwave relays and communications to other satellites.
Communications Architecture
The SIA operates a communications architecture such that all satellites are able to communicate with ground stations at all times. Bandwidth limitations mean that not all satellites can pass their payloads in real time at the same time, however high priority missions are able to pass their data in real time to ground stations.