According to former CIA general counsel Jeffrey Smith, who led the investigation: "Our inquiry revealed that the NRO had for years accumulated very substantial amounts as a 'rainy day fund.'" The reports of an NRO slush fund were true. After 9/11 those blueprints were apparently classified. The presence of the classified new headquarters was revealed by the Federation of American Scientists who obtained unclassified copies of the blueprints filed with the building permit application. The CIA was in the midst of an inquiry into the NRO's funding because of complaints that the agency had spent $300 million of hoarded funds from its classified budget to build a new headquarters building in Chantilly, Virginia a year earlier. Ī Washington Post article in September 1995 reported that the NRO had quietly hoarded between $1 billion and $1.7 billion in unspent funds without informing the Central Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon, or Congress. The existence of the NRO was declassified by the Deputy Secretary of Defense, as recommended by the Director of Central Intelligence on September 18, 1992. In 1985, a New York Times article exposed the existence and operations of the NRO. NRO missions since 1972 are classified, and portions of many earlier programs remain unavailable to the public. The Lanyard program flew one successful mission. In 1963, the NRO conducted a mapping mission using higher resolution imagery, as part of the " Lanyard" program. The last Corona mission (the 145th), was launched May 25, 1972, and this mission's last images were taken May 31, 1972.įrom May 1962 to August 1964, the NRO conducted 12 mapping missions as part of the " Argon" system. Individual images covered, on average, an area of about Template:Convert. The first imaging resolution was 8 meters, which was improved to 2 meters. The first successful recovery from space (Discoverer XIII) occurred on August 12, 1960, and the first image from space was seen six days later. The Corona system used (sometimes multiple) film capsules dropped by satellites, which were recovered mid-air by military craft. The NRO's first photo reconnaissance satellite program Template:Citation needed was the Corona program, the existence of which was declassified February 24, 1995, existed from August 1960 to May 1972, although the first test flight occurred on February 28, 1959. Eisenhower during a special National Security Council meeting, and the agency was to coordinate the USAF and CIA's (and later the Navy and NSA's) reconnaissance activities. Template:Rp The formation was based on a 25 August 1960 recommendation to President Dwight D. The NRO was established on August 25, 1960, after management problems and insufficient progress with the USAF satellite reconnaissance program (see SAMOS and MIDAS). The NRO operates ground stations around the world that collect and distribute intelligence gathered from reconnaissance satellites.Īccording to Asia Times Online, one important mission of NRO satellites is the tracking of non-US submarines on patrol or on training missions in the world's oceans and seas. It has been proposed that the NRO share imagery of the United States itself with the National Applications Office for domestic law enforcement. The NRO works closely with its intelligence and space partners, which include the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the United States Strategic Command, Naval Research Laboratory and other agencies and organizations. The agency is part of the Department of Defense. It is funded through the National Reconnaissance Program, which is part of the National Foreign Intelligence Program. It also coordinates collection and analysis of information from airplane and satellite reconnaissance by the military services and the Central Intelligence Agency. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) develops and operates unique and innovative space reconnaissance systems and conducts intelligence-related activities essential for U.S.
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