Misty is reportedly the name of a
classified project by the United States
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) to operate
stealthy reconnaissance satellite
A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications.
The ...
s. The satellites are conjectured to be
photo reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of imager ...
satellites and the program has been the subject of atypically public debates about its worthiness in the defense budget since December 2004. The estimated project costs in 2004 were, at the time of statement, US$9.5 billion (inflation adjusted US$ billion in ).
Launches
The first satellite (USA-53 or 1990-019B, 19,600 kg) launched for the program was deployed on 1 March 1990 by the
Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' as part of Mission
STS-36
STS-36 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission, during which Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) (believed to have been a Misty reconnaissance satellite) into orbit. STS-36 was the 34th sh ...
. Objects associated with the satellite decayed on 31 March 1990, but the satellite was seen and tracked later that year and in the mid-1990s by amateur observers.
The second satellite (USA-144 or 1999-028A ) was launched on 22 May 1999, and by 2004 the launch of a third satellite was planned for 2009.
Circumstantial evidence suggested that the third satellite might be the payload of the
Delta IV
Delta IV is a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta (rocket family), Delta rocket family introduced in the early 2000s. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the National Security Space Launch, ...
Heavy launch designated
NROL-15, which was launched in June 2012.
Criticism
Porter Goss
Porter Johnston Goss (; born November 26, 1938) is an American politician and government official who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 until 2004, when he became the last Director of Central Intelligen ...
, a former
Congressman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
and former
CIA director
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community.
Beginning February 2017, the D ...
, and
George Tenet
George John Tenet (born January 5, 1953) is an American intelligence official and academic who served as the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, as well as a Distinguished Professor in the P ...
, former CIA director, have both vigorously supported successors to Misty, despite several attempts by
Senators Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
and
John D. Rockefeller IV
John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is a retired American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as ...
to terminate the program. The primary contractor is
Lockheed Martin Space Systems
Lockheed Martin Space is one of the four major business divisions of Lockheed Martin. It has its headquarters in Littleton, Colorado, with additional sites in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Sunnyvale, California; Santa Cruz, California; Huntsville ...
.
On 21 June 2007, the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
reported that
Director of National Intelligence
The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior, cabinet-level United States government official, required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Commu ...
John Michael McConnell
Mike McConnell (born July 26, 1943) is a former vice admiral in the United States Navy. During his naval career he served as Director of the National Security Agency from 1992 to 1996. His civilian career includes serving as the United States Dire ...
had cancelled the Misty program. A spokesperson for McConnell confirmed that McConnell has the authority to cancel projects, but declined to comment further.
See also
*
Blackjack (satellite)
Blackjack is a constellation of small American surveillance satellites to be launched starting in 2022. The Blackjack program was started by DARPA in 2017, with contracts awarded in 2020. The Blackjack constellation will replace or complement l ...
*
Future Imagery Architecture
Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) was a program awarded to Boeing to design a new generation of optical and Synthetic aperture radar, radar imaging United States, US reconnaissance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). In 2005 ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
* Allen Thomson
Stealth Satellite Sourcebook(from
Federation of American Scientists
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is an American nonprofit global policy think tank with the stated intent of using science and scientific analysis to attempt to make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1946 by scientists who wo ...
)
GlobalSecurity.org article*
(Excerpt from ''The Wizards of Langley'' on MISTY)
*
{{US Reconnaissance Satellites
Cold War military equipment of the United States
Lockheed Martin satellites and probes
Military equipment introduced in the 1990s
National Reconnaissance Office satellites
Reconnaissance satellites of the United States