Military space experts are uncertain as to the specifics of the Titans secret mission -- which was scheduled long before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- but all agree it will carry some type of imaging spacecraft.

A prime candidate for the Titans clandestine cargo would be one in a series of new 30,000-pound reconnaissance spacecraft, known officially as the Enhanced Imaging System (EIS), designed to take both radar and photo images over a broader area.

Costing a reported $1.5 billion, the EIS has the ability to dwell, or "hang," for a longer period over an area of interest, along with with the capacity to transmit its collected data more rapidly. Published accounts state the first EIS spacecraft, known as USA-144, was launched from Vandenberg in May 1999 into a very unusual orbit -- much higher in altitude than a conventional imaging spacecraft.

Launch of an EIS satellite also would validate public statements made by NRO Director Keith Hall. Testifying before Congress in March 1998, Hall said, "In the area of imagery intelligence, we are completing the development of the Enhanced Imaging System in response to growing customer demands and large area imagery collection shortfalls."

Such a spacecraft would also remedy the shortcomings of space-based imagery identified during the Persian Gulf War by Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf, who complained he was not receiving the broad view of the battlefield.

Imagery transmitted by traditional reconnaissance satellites has been portrayed as peering down through a soda straw; imagery produced by the EIS is described as looking through eight straws put together.

Canadian space analyst Ted Molczan, an international expert in tracking classified U.S. space assets, speculates this Titan 4B will carry yet another in the traditional family of huge photo-electronic reconnaissance satellites, basing his estimation upon the Titans projected flight path as defined in Fridays release of the Notice to Airmen warnings, which are issued prior to any space launch.

Commonly referred to as the Advanced KH-11, or Keyhole, the satellites operate in an elliptical polar orbit ranging from about 200 to 600 miles (325 to 965 kilometers) high. Such an orbit enables the constellation of these satellites to photograph almost every point on Earth several times daily, beaming down imagery so detailed that objects reportedly as small as a newspaper headline can be detected.

Intelligence analyst Jeffrey Richelson -- author of the new book The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology -- agrees with Molczans conclusion, basing his opinion on the advanced age of several of the spacecraft already in orbit and the need to periodically replace these older satellites.

A third, though less likely, candidate for the Titans secret cargo may be an improved version of the Onyx radar imaging satellite, also commonly referred to as Lacrosse.

Richelson believes that these satellites will continue to play a vital role in space-based reconnaissance

"A radar-imagery satellite, rather than a visible light or infrared sensing satellite, can obtain imagery both at night and in the presence of cloud cover. In that sense, Onyx gives you additional opportunities to cover a target because you have satellites that can obtain imagery under both day and night conditions," Richelson says.

Military and intelligence space operations, traditionally discussed behind the closed doors of congressional committees, have been brought into the open during the first months of the Bush administration, championed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

In May, Rumsfeld announced the Air Force was being charged with the responsibility of overseeing all U.S. military space forces and creating a new four-star general post to direct and safeguard the nation's space-based assets.

Further cementing the Bush administrations emphasis on military space is the elevation of the former U.S. Space Command head, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, to the nations highest military post, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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