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The Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) is a series of signals-intelligence satellites that have conducted electronic signals intelligence for the U.S. Navy since the early 1970s. The first series of satellites were codenamed "White Cloud" or "PARCAE", while second- and third-generation satellites have used the codenames "Ranger" and "Intruder". According to the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2023, the system may be called the Space-Based Wide Area Surveillance System (SB-WASS).

The system is operated by the United States Navy, and its main purpose was tactical geolocation of Soviet Navy assets during the Cold War. NOSS involves satellite clusters operating in low Earth orbit to detect radar and other electronic transmissions from ships at sea and locate them using the time difference of arrival technique.

Satellites

* One satellite from each third generation pair is officially catalogued as debris.

data from ,

Cost

The costs of the NOSS satellites (excluding costs for the launch vehicle), which were destroyed in a Titan IV launch failure in 1993, were US$800 million (inflation adjusted US$ 1.7 billion in 2024).

See also

• Poppy (satellite)
• Yaogan
• CERES (satellite)

References

1. "Display: SSU 1/2 1976-038C". NASA. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. "Satellite Database | Union of Concerned Scientists".
3. "NOSS Double and Triple Satellite Formations". satobs.org.
4. Weiner, Tim (4 August 1993). "Titan Lost Payload: Spy-Satellite System Worth $800 Million". The New York Times.

External links

• NOSS @ astronautix.com
• BBC - h2g2 - Naval Ocean Surveillance Satellites - a 'UFO'

v t e United States reconnaissance satellites
IMINT	Photographic KH-1 Corona KH-2 Corona KH-3 Corona KH-4A Corona KH-4B Corona KH-5 Argon KH-6 Lanyard KH-7 Gambit KH-8 Gambit 3 KH-9 Hexagon KH-10 Dorian Electro-optical Samos KH-11 Kennen Misty Enhanced Imaging System Synthetic-aperture radar Quill Lacrosse FIA
SIGINT	Low Earth orbit GRAB Poppy White Cloud Samos-F Highly elliptical orbit Jumpseat Trumpet Geosynchronous Earth orbit Canyon Magnum Mentor (Orion) Mercury Rhyolite/Aquacade Vortex GSSAP
MASINT	Primary mission FORTE GPS DMSP Vela Secondary mission MIDAS DSP SBIRS STSS
R&D	Primary mission MiTEx
Unknown	USA number USA-193

• Reconnaissance satellites of the United States
• Signals intelligence satellites
• Military space program of the United States
• Satellite series
• Military equipment introduced in the 1970s
• Derelict satellites orbiting Earth