---
category: Intelligence Concept
date: 1976-12-19
summary: KH-11 KENNAN was the first U.S. reconnaissance satellite capable of real-time
  electro-optical imaging, launched December 19, 1976, and compromised when its technical
  manual was leaked to the Soviets via Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.
tags:
- Technology
- Satellite
- Intelligence
---

KH-11 is a type of reconnaissance satellite developed by the [United States](/places/united-states/). The first KH-11 was launched on December 19, 1976. Its images were capable of being digitally relayed to ground stations in real-time for instant analysis by the intelligence community. The KH-11 was considered an astonishing leap in technology, with its superb optical resolution.[^1]

Access to the high-quality imagery from the KH-11 was tightly restricted, even to close allies like Great Britain. However, in March 1979, President [Jimmy Carter](/people/jimmy-carter/) decided to provide [Israel](/places/israel/) with access to KH-11 photographs. This agreement gave [Israel](/places/israel/) access to satellite intelligence dealing with troop movements or other potentially threatening activities up to one hundred miles inside the borders of neighboring [Lebanon](/places/lebanon/), [Syria](/places/syria/), [Egypt](/places/egypt/), and [Jordan](/places/jordan/). This decision disrupted the satellite's careful scheduling and meant less access for some American intelligence agencies.[^1]

Following the Israeli bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at [Osirak](/events/osirak-bombing/) in June 1981, [William J. Casey](/people/william-j-casey/), Director of Central Intelligence, authorized a review of [Israel](/places/israel/)'s use of the KH-11 intelligence-sharing agreement. The review found that [Israel](/places/israel/) had expanded the agreement to extract virtually any photograph desired, including extensive coverage of western [Russia](/places/russia/) and [Moscow](/places/moscow/). Despite this, it was agreed that photographs would continue to flow to [Israel](/places/israel/), but with the initial 1979 restrictions re-enforced.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 1.