The tentacles of surveillance: Cephalopods and United States satellite intelligence

This article examines the symbol placed on a US spy satellite, National Reconnaissance Office Launch–39 (NROL‐39). In 2013, NROL‐39 was launched into space, the payload vehicle and mission patch emblazoned with a gigantic octopus, its tentacles surrounding the globe, and the words “Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach” written below the globe. Spy satellites are not new, but what is new here is the explicit use of a known symbol of threat and domination by a United States intelligence agency and the stories it crafts around fear and domination. NROL‐39 is an insight into how a US intelligence organization pictures itself, its role, and its targets. NROL‐39 gives us a glimpse behind the mask of the security state and what this tells us about the worldview and political imaginaries of the people behind it. The use of a symbol traditionally associated with political repression and threat gives us insight into how security officials think about satellites, intelligence collection, security, domination, and enemies. It is an opening into the militarized imaginary of satellite intelligence, technological capabilities, propaganda and psychological operations, and the further militarization and politicization of space.