Editing Enhanced Imaging System

{{Short description|American reconnaissance satellite program}}
'''Enhanced Imaging System''' ('''EIS'''), officially referred to as "Enhanced Imagery System",<ref>{{cite web | title=INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2000: National Imagery and Mapping Agency (House Report 106-130)|date=7 May 1999 |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office| url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-106hrpt130/html/CRPT-106hrpt130-pt1.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=National Intelligence Program FY 2010 Congressional Budget Justification: Volume IV |date=May 2009 |publisher= National Reconnaissance Program|page = 21| url=http://www.fas.org/irp/nro/fy2010cbjb.pdf }}</ref> previously known as '''8X''', and sometimes unofficially known as '''Misty 2''' and '''KH-13''',<ref>{{cite book |author=[[David Darling (astronomer)|David Darling]] and [[David J. Darling]] |title=The complete book of spaceflight |year=2003 |publisher=[[John Wiley and Sons]] |quote=Several launches with Key Hole designations, including KH-11, KH-12, and KH-13, have taken place since 1992. ... The ninth and final KH-11 satellite was launched in 1998, after which the KH-12 program, involving satellites about the ... | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dt7ow1Af86YC&q=%22KH-13%22%20satellite&pg=PA221 |isbn=0-471-05649-9 }}</ref> is an American [[reconnaissance satellite]] program. A derivative of the [[KH-12|Improved Crystal]] satellites,<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Tae-Woo Lee]] |title=Military Technologies of the World |year=2008 |publisher=Abc-Clio |quote=The advancement in the KH-series resulted in the KH-13, for which little information is yet available. ... | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-nrZqzQs3jMC&q=%22KH-13%22%20satellite&pg=PA146 |isbn=978-0-275-99537-9 }}</ref> EIS replaced [[Misty (classified project)|Misty]], and was intended to provide more coverage and dwell time than previous reconnaissance satellites;<ref name="EIS">{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/eist-iv.htm|title=8X lives on as the Enhanced Imaging System|first=Allen|last=Thomson|publisher=Federation of American Scientists|date=8 May 1998|access-date=18 December 2010}}</ref> like Misty, it has [[stealth technology|stealth]] capabilities.<ref name="SSS">{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Allen|title=A Stealth Satellite Sourcebook|url=http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/track/stealth.pdf|publisher=Federation of American Scientists|access-date=18 December 2010}}</ref> Only one EIS satellite has been launched; [[USA-144]], which was placed into orbit by a [[Titan IV|Titan IVB]] rocket on 22 May 1999.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Wade|first=Mark|title=Improved Crystal|url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/impystal.htm|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=18 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118031853/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/impystal.htm|archive-date=18 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Wade|first=Mark|title=Misty|url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/misty.htm|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=18 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129035529/http://astronautix.com/craft/misty.htm|archive-date=29 November 2010}}</ref>

==History==
In 1995, a ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' article reported that the '''8X''' program was intended as "a major upgrade to the KH-12", with a mass of as much as 20 [[short ton|tons]], which would be used for detailed imaging with a wide field of view. The cost of the program was a subject of disagreement from some within the military at the time.<ref name="LA_Times_Risen_Vartabedian">{{Cite news|last1=Risen|first1=James|last2=Vartabedian|first2=Ralph|title=U.S. Launches Costly Overhaul of Spy Satellites|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=1995-09-28|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/21380120.html?dids=21380120:21380120&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+28%2C+1995&author=JAMES+RISEN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=1&desc=U.S.+Launches+Costly+Overhaul+of+Spy+Satellites|access-date=2017-07-06|archive-date=2012-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925025543/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/21380120.html?dids=21380120:21380120&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+28,+1995&author=JAMES+RISEN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=1&desc=U.S.+Launches+Costly+Overhaul+of+Spy+Satellites|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="web_post_8x">{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/at_951007.htm|title=8X: The monster that ate the budget|author=Allen Thomson|date=1995-10-07}}</ref> By 1998, the program had been renamed Enhanced Imaging System.<ref name="EIS"/> The [[Future Imagery Architecture]] program, which was intended to replace the [[Lacrosse (satellite)|Lacrosse]] and Improved Crystal satellites, was developed alongside EIS.<ref name="EIS"/>

==See also==
*[[Corona (satellite)|Corona]] series: [[KH-1]], [[KH-2]], [[CORONA (satellite)|KH-3]], [[KH-4]]
*[[KH-5]] ARGON, [[KH-6]] LANYARD
*[[KH-7]] and [[KH-8]] GAMBIT
*[[KH-9 HEXAGON]] "Big Bird"
*[[Manned Orbital Laboratory]] (MOL) or [[KH-10]]
*[[KH-11]]

==References==
{{reflist|35em}}

==Further reading==
*John Pike (July 24, 1998). [http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/8x.htm 8X Enhanced Imaging System].  ''Federation of American Scientists''. Accessed May 3, 2004 (October 17, 2001).
*[http://www.janes.com/aerospace/military/news/jsd/jsd011017_1_n.shtml US space-based reconnaissance reinforced].  ''[[Jane's Defence Weekly]]''.  Accessed May 3, 2004.

{{NRO satellites}}
{{US Reconnaissance Satellites}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}

[[Category:Reconnaissance satellites of the United States]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1990s]]