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Class: ELINT. Nation: USA. Agency: U.S. Air Force. Geostationary signals intelligence satellite. Primary mission was telemetry interception. Project became public in espionage trial of the 'Falcon and the Snowman', Boyce and Lee. Also known as Program 720, Program 472, Aquacade.
SpecificationTotal Mass: 700 kg.
Rhyolite Chronology
19 June 1970
Rhyolite 1 Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas / Agena D SLV-3A. Mass: 700 kg. Perigee: 178 km. Apogee: 33,685 km. Inclination: 28.2 deg. First launch of Rhyolite geostationary ELINT satellite. Reportedly left in transfer orbit; other sources indicate a successful mission.
06 March 1973
Rhyolite 2 Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas / Agena D SLV-3A. Mass: 700 kg. Perigee: 35,679 km. Apogee: 35,855 km. Inclination: 0.2 deg. Second launch of Rhyolite geostationary ELINT satellite.
11 December 1977
Rhyolite 3 Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas / Agena D SLV-3A. Mass: 700 kg. Perigee: 35,679 km. Apogee: 35,855 km. Inclination: 0.2 deg. Third launch of Rhyolite geostationary ELINT satellite. Code name changed to Aquacade after Rhyolite name came out in trial of spy Boyce.
07 April 1978
Rhyolite 4 Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas / Agena D SLV-3A. Mass: 700 kg. Perigee: 35,679 km. Apogee: 35,855 km. Inclination: 0.2 deg. Fourth and final launch of Rhyolite geostationary ELINT satellite. Code name changed to Aquacade after Rhyolite name came out in trial of spy Boyce.
Bibliography:- 2 - McDowell, Jonathan, The United Nations Registry of Space Objects, Harvard University, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/un/un.html
- 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
- 172 - McDowell, Jonathon, Quest, "US Reconnaissance Satellite Programs Part 2", 1995, Volume 4, Issue 4, page 49.
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Last update 12 March 2001.
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