Aerospace Data Facility-East (ADF-E), also known as Area 58 and formerly known as Defense Communications Electronics Evaluation and Testing Activity (DCEETA), is one of three

satellite ground station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...

s operated by the

National Reconnaissance Office The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. f ...

(NRO) in the

continental United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

. Located within

Fort Belvoir, Virginia A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, the facility is responsible for the command and control of reconnaissance satellites involved in the collection of intelligence information and for the dissemination of that intelligence to other U.S. government agencies.National Reconnaissance Office, Mission Ground Station Declassification, Questions and Answers
/ref>

Function

ADF East is co-located with elements of the

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

, the agency responsible for the operation of the U.S. space-based imagery constellation. Authors

James Bamford James Bamford (born September 15, 1946) is an American author, journalist and documentary producer noted for his writing about United States intelligence agency, intelligence agencies, especially the National Security Agency (NSA). ''The New Y ...

and Jeffrey Richelson report that the site manages the

KH-11 The KH-11 KENNEN (later renamed CRYSTAL,p.199-200 then Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL System, and codenamed 1010 and Key Hole) is a type of reconnaissance satellite first launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in December 19 ...

imagery spacecraft and the

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

radar imaging spacecraft.

History

First use

The first documented use of material downloaded at ADF East was on January 21, 1977, when the acting director of Central Intelligence

E. Henry Knoche Enno Henry Knoche (January 14, 1925 – July 9, 2010) was an American intelligence officer who served as deputy director of the CIA and acting Director of Central Intelligence. Life and career Knoche attended Mt. Lebanon School District, where ...

delivered reconnaissance satellite photographs that had been downloaded at ADF East to U.S. President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

Y2K

On the morning of January 1, 2000, ADF East experienced a technical glitch caused by the

Y2K bug The year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, Y2K scare, millennium bug, Y2K bug, Y2K glitch, Y2K error, or simply Y2K refers to potential computer errors related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after ...

, which resulted in the facility being temporarily unable to capture any more than 70 percent of its planned imagery satellite coverage. At a press conference on January 4, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

John Hamre John Julian Hamre (born July 3, 1950) is a specialist in international studies, a former Washington government official and President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a position he has held with that think tank since ...

stated, "The problem wasn't with the satellite system – they were under positive control at all times. The problem was on the ground in the processing station."

Declassification

On October 15, 2008, the NRO declassified its three Mission Ground Stations: ADF-East, ADF-Colorado, and ADF-Southwest. The term "Area 58" is still classified, however, with the exception of very general associations with the NRO, intelligence activities, imagery intelligence, or satellite reconnaissance.

List of commanders

* Col Robert J. Bonner

Function

History

First use

Y2K

Declassification

List of commanders

See also

References

Further reading