Security ... think about it!
Although almost no technical information has been released concerning the early American signals intelligence satellites, some information has been declassified concerning satellites proposed in the early years of WS-117L. In 1956 electronics company RCA produced an outline of a satellite development plan indicating that their proposed ferret satellites would monitor the radio spectrum from 40 megahertz to 40 gigahertz. The proposal also included a notional illustration of a ferret satellite that looked like something out of a later James Bond film. With its nose pointed toward the earth, the satellite payload fairing peeled back like the petals of a flower, each petal sprouting a dish antenna.