NUCLEAR PROLIFERATIONHappy 60th Birthday to Vela, Watchman for Nuclear Detonations
Sixty years ago last week, on Oct. 16, 1963, the United States launched a pair of satellites whose primary purpose was to determine the feasibility of using satellites to detect nuclear detonations in outer space. The satellites were part of the Vela program, initiated in 1959 to provide a nuclear detonation detection capability to verify compliance with nuclear treaties. On Sept. 27, 1984, the last of the Vela satellites were turned off.
Sixty years ago this week, on Oct. 16, 1963, the United States launched a pair of satellites whose primary purpose was to determine the feasibility of using satellites to detect nuclear detonations in outer space. The satellites were part of the Vela program, initiated in 1959 to provide a nuclear detonation detection capability to verify compliance with nuclear treaties. The treaties weren’t in place yet in 1959, but negotiations for a nuclear test ban treaty had been underway since the mid-1950s. By 1958, at talks in Geneva, the ability for all sides to verify compliance with any test ban was clearly identified as a major sticking point.
Background
Late in 1958, after the United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union had entered a nuclear test moratorium based only on their word, there was some concern that testing might continue but be hidden. A group called the Panofsky Panel, assigned by the National Academy of Sciences to look into the possibility of using surveillance satellites to detect nuclear detonations, concluded it was feasible. The Atomic Energy Commission asked each of its weapon laboratories to pursue the issue. In August 1959, Sandia formed its group, the Buzzer Committee.
At the same time, the Department of Defense’s new Advanced Research Projects Agency was conducting a similar, but broader study. The agency’s program, called Vela, pursued technology to monitor nuclear detonations in space, at ground level and underground. The space-monitoring satellite portion of the project was called Vela Hotel.
Later that year, the Atomic Energy Commission and Department of Defense efforts merged under the Advanced Research Project Agency’s Vela Satellite Program. Within that program, the Air Force Space Systems Division oversaw satellite design, manufacture and launch, while the Atomic Energy Commission developed and provided the instrumentation for monitoring and detecting nuclear detonations.
