Misty is reportedly the name of a
classified project by the United States
National Reconnaissance Office (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 image ...
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. 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 was a group of five expendable launch systems in the Delta rocket family. It flew 45 missions from 2002 to 2024. Originally designed by Boeing's Defense, Space and Security division for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) p ...
Heavy launch designated
NROL-15, which was launched in June 2012.
Criticism
Porter Goss, a former
Congressman and former
CIA director, 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 Pr ...
, former CIA director, have both vigorously supported successors to Misty, despite several attempts by
Senators Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Emiel Feinstein (; June 22, 1933 – September 29, 2023) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1992 until her death in 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 38th ...
and
John D. Rockefeller IV 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 not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
reported that
Director of National Intelligence
The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a Cabinet of the United States#Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials, cabinet-level Federal government of the United States, United States government intelligence and security official. The p ...
John Michael McConnell
J. Michael "Mike" McConnell (born July 26, 1943) is a former vice admiral in the United States Navy. He served as Director of the National Security Agency from 1992 to 1996 and as the United States Director of National Intelligence from Februar ...
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)
*
Future Imagery Architecture
*
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)
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