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A swarm of satellites jostle in space

A new inventory shows that U.S. satellites, 413 of them, outnumber those from the rest of the world

WASHINGTON: The U.S. has 413 satellites in space. They are snooping for the Government, checking on the weather and relaying the latest pop music. That number is more than the 382 the rest of the world has spinning above the earth.

The inventory, developed by the Union of Concerned Scientists and released on Wednesday, provides details on some of the Pentagon's most secret satellites, which may gather images in the dark or take high-resolution pictures from 19,300 km away.

"Until now, the general public didn't have easy access to information about all active satellites," said Dr. Laura Grego, a Cambridge astrophysicist who was on a team that spent several years compiling information on the nearly 800 active satellites. "No one owns space, so everyone has a right to know what's up there."

Different details

The material was gleaned from corporations, academics, governments and satellite-watchers who as a hobby spend their nights watching the skies for flickers of light. The inventory lists 21 different details on satellites with different missions ranging from weather forecasting to transmitting music and news for companies like Sirius Satellite Radio. Perhaps most controversially, the repository includes what is known about top-secret spy satellites run by the U.S. and other governments. With 413, the U.S. far exceeds other nations in numbers of satellites, often used for communications. The Russians, who follow the U.S. in total number, have 87. The Chinese have 34. The numbers are approximations that may vary depending on how joint ventures are counted.

Facts and figures on unclassified satellites were publicly available from the U.S. Government until recently. For national security reasons, individuals now must request an account from the U.S. Air Force to access the information, and may redistribute any of the information only with permission from the Defence Department.

The Union of Concerned Scientists opposes space-based weapons and destructive weapons that target satellites, even from the ground. It made the data public in order to start a dialogue about the best use of space. The group is reasonably sure it knows about most, if not all, satellites because their launches are major events and must be registered with the U.N. While it did not provide precise orbits that would enable someone to find a satellite at any moment, the union's database gives other closely held information.

For instance, the database lists 40 classified military and surveillance satellites with names such as Mercury, Trumpet and Orion run by the National Reconnaissance Office, which builds and manages U.S. spy satellites. The classified names are listed only when known; often aliases are found. The agency's spokesman, Rick Oborn, said he had not seen the database yet. The inventory has details about a classified $1 billion satellite, known as Misty-2, including its expected life span of more than five years and May 22, 1999, launch date. Ms. Grego said satellite watchers had spotted Misty-2 even though it was disguised as space debris. "These guys are in the backyards every night and know the sky like the back of their hand," she said. Facts about the secretive Lacrosse satellites are in the database.

The programme became public by accident in 2000 when the National Reconnaissance Office distributed patches to agency employees to celebrate the launch of Titan IV. The patches revealed the rocket's secret passenger: the Lacrosse-4, which uses radar to gather images in the dark. Satellite watchers used clues on the patch, including the embroidered path of four satellites, to figure out where the new Lacrosse orbited. "We own the night," the patch said.

AP

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