JUMPSEAT

JUMPSEAT was the code name for a series of SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) satellites built by Hughes for the NRO, and launched between 1971 and 1983. The numerical designation of JUMPSEAT was Air Force Program (AFP-) 711. The satellites operated in highly elliptic Molniya orbits with 63° inclination, and monitored suspected Soviet ABM radar sites.

Almost no solid information is available on JUMPSEAT. Even the dates of the launches are not 100 percent certain, because JUMPSEAT used the same types of launch vehicle and Molniya orbit as the early SDS communication satellites. This made it very hard for observers and analysts to tell an SDS from a JUMPSEAT. The launch table below shows the dates, which reputable sources seem to agree on, but it cannot be excluded than one or more of JUMPSEAT 5/6/7 was actually SDS 3/4/5 (and vice versa).

JUMPSEAT was succeeded in the 1990s by the TRUMPET series.

JUMPSEAT Launch List

• No.: Sequential flight number for the JUMPSEAT program
• Name: Unclassified name of the satellite. The OPS number ("OPS" standing for "Operations") is a random number given to all military-related satellite launches between 1963 and May 1984 (when "OPS" was replaced by a sequential "USA" number).
• COSPAR ID: International designation of the satellite

JUMPSEAT launches

Main Sources

[1] Dwayne A. Day: From TACSAT to JUMPSEAT: Hughes and the top secret Gyrostat satellite gamble, The Space Review, December 2020
[2] Jonathan McDowell: Jonathan's Space Home Page
[3] Gunter Krebs: Gunter's Space Page (for launch lists)

Back to Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 3

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Last Updated: 29 July 2025