National Reconnaissance Office

Short description: United States intelligence agency in charge of satellite intelligence

National Reconnaissance Office

NRO headquarters at night
Agency overview
Formed| Established: September 6, 1961 (1961-09-06)
Declassified: September 18, 1992 (1992-09-18)
Jurisdiction| United States
Headquarters| Chantilly, Virginia, U.S.
Motto| Supra Et Ultra
(Above And Beyond)
Annual budget| Classified
Agency executive|

* Christopher Scolese[1], Director
* Troy Meink[2], Principal Deputy Director
* Major General Donna D. Shipton[3], Deputy Director

Parent agency| Department of Defense
Website| www.nro.gov
Part of Space program of the United States

Space policy of the United States

* NASA
* NOAA
* NRO
* USSF

Human spaceflight programs

* Mercury
* Gemini
* Apollo
* Skylab
* Space Shuttle
* Shuttle–Mir
* ISS
* Commercial Crew
* Constellation
* Artemis

Robotic spaceflight programs

* CRS
* Explorers
* GLS
* Large Strategic
* Lunar Orbiter
* Lunar Precursor
* Mariner
* Mars Scout
* New Millennium
* Pioneer
* Planetary Missions
* Discovery
* New Frontiers
* Solar System Exploration
* Planetary Observer
* Ranger
* Surveyor
* Vanguard
* Viking
* Voyager

Launch vehicles

* Antares
* Atlas
* Agena
* Centaur
* LV-3B
* V
* Delta
* II
* IV
* Heavy
* Falcon
* 9
* Heavy
* Redstone
* Juno I
* Mercury
* Saturn
* I
* IB
* V
* Shuttle-Derived
* SLS
* Space Shuttle
* Titan
* II GLV
* IIIE
* IV
* Vanguard

Astronaut corps

* Mercury
* Gemini
* Apollo
* Space Shuttle

* v
* t
* e

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. federal government, and provides satellite intelligence to several government agencies, particularly signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the NSA, imagery intelligence (IMINT) to the NGA, and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) to the DIA.[4]

NRO is considered, along with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), to be one of the "big five" U.S. intelligence agencies.[5] The NRO is headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia,[6] 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the Washington Dulles International Airport.

The Director of the NRO reports to both the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense.[7] The NRO's federal workforce is a hybrid organization consisting of some 3000 personnel including NRO cadre, Air Force, Army, CIA, NGA, NSA, Navy and US Space Force[8] personnel.[9] A 1996 bipartisan commission report described the NRO as having by far the largest budget of any intelligence agency, and "virtually no federal workforce", accomplishing most of its work through "tens of thousands" of defense contractor personnel.[10]

## Contents

* 1 Mission
* 2 History
* 2.1 Existence
* 2.2 Funding controversy
* 2.3 Future Imagery Architecture
* 2.4 Mid-2000s to present
* 3 Organization
* 3.1 Personnel
* 3.2 Budget
* 3.3 NRO directives and instructions
* 3.4 Coordination with USSPACECOM and USSF
* 4 Technology
* 4.1 Spacecraft
* 4.1.1 GEOINT imaging
* 4.1.2 GEOINT radar
* 4.1.3 SIGINT
* 4.1.4 Space communications
* 4.2 NMIS network
* 4.3 Sentient
* 5 Locations
* 6 In popular culture
* 7 Image gallery
* 8 See also
* 9 References
* 10 External links

## Mission

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) develops, builds, launches, and operates space reconnaissance systems and conducts intelligence-related activities for U.S. national security.[11][12]

The NRO also coordinates collection and analysis of information from airplane and satellite reconnaissance by the military services and the Central Intelligence Agency.[13] It is funded through the National Reconnaissance Program, which is part of the National Intelligence Program (formerly known as the National Foreign Intelligence Program).[14] The agency is part of the Department of Defense. 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, the United States Space Command, Naval Research Laboratory, and other agencies and organizations.

## History

Close-up of Atlas 501 payload fairing with NROL-41 satellite (poster commemorating 50 years of NRO). Serum and Vaccine Institute in Al-A'amiriya, Iraq, as imaged by a US reconnaissance satellite in November 2002. US Satellite imagery of Syrian tanks departing Da'el in Daraa province after several days of assaults against the town in April 2012.

The NRO was established on August 25, 1960, after management problems and insufficient progress with the USAF satellite reconnaissance program (see SAMOS and MIDAS).[15]: 23 [16] The formation was based on a 25 August 1960 recommendation to President Dwight D. 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.[15]: 46

The NRO's first photo reconnaissance satellite program was the Corona program,[17]: 25–28 the existence of which was declassified February 24, 1995, and which existed from August 1960 to May 1972 (although the first test flight occurred on February 28, 1959). The Corona system used (sometimes multiple) film capsules dropped by satellites, which were recovered mid-air by military craft. 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 first imaging resolution was 8 meters, which was improved to 2 meters. Individual images covered, on average, an area of about 10 by 120 miles (16 by 193 km). The last Corona mission (the 145th), was launched May 25, 1972, and this mission's last images were taken May 31, 1972. From May 1962 to August 1964, the NRO conducted 12 mapping missions as part of the "Argon" system. Only seven were successful.[17]: 25–28 NRO missions since 1972 are classified, and portions of many earlier programs remain unavailable to the public.

On August 18, 2000, the National Reconnaissance Office recognized its ten original Founders. They were: William O. Baker, Merton E. Davies, Sidney Drell, Richard L. Garwin, Amrom Harry Katz, James R. Killian, Edwin H. Land, Frank W. Lehan, William J. Perry, Edward M. Purcell.[18] Although their early work was highly classified, this group of men went on to extraordinary public accomplishments, including a Secretary of Defense, a Nobel Laureate, a president of MIT, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Science, a renowned planetary scientist, and more.

### Existence

The NRO was first mentioned by the press in a 1971 New York Times article.[19][20] The first official acknowledgement of NRO was a Senate committee report in October 1973, which inadvertently exposed the existence of the NRO.Cite error: Closing `</ref>` missing for `<ref>` tag

### Funding controversy

A 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.[21]

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.

In total, NRO had accumulated US$3.8 billion (inflation adjusted US$ 7.8 billion in 2026) in forward funding. As a consequence, NRO's three distinct accounting systems were merged.[22]

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. After 9/11 those blueprints were apparently classified. The reports of an NRO slush fund were true. 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.'"[23]

### Future Imagery Architecture

In 1999 the NRO embarked on a $25 billion[24] project with Boeing entitled Future Imagery Architecture to create a new generation of imaging satellites. In 2002 the project was far behind schedule and would most likely cost $2 billion to $3 billion more than planned, according to NRO records. The government pressed forward with efforts to complete the project, but after two more years, several more review panels and billions more in expenditures, the project was killed in what the Times report calls "perhaps the most spectacular and expensive failure in the 50-year history of American spy satellite projects."[25]

### Mid-2000s to present

On August 23, 2001, Brian Patrick Regan, a civilian employee of TRW at NRO, was arrested at Dulles International Airport outside Washington while boarding a flight for Zurich. He was carrying coded information about Iraqi and Chinese missile sites. He also had the addresses of the Chinese and Iraqi Embassies in Switzerland and Austria. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for offering to sell intelligence secrets to Iraq and China.[26] In January 2008, the government announced that a reconnaissance satellite operated by the NRO would make an unplanned and uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere in the next several months. Satellite watching hobbyists said that it was likely the USA-193, built by Lockheed Martin Corporation, which failed shortly after achieving orbit in December 2006.[27] On February 14, 2008, the Pentagon announced that rather than allowing the satellite to make an uncontrolled re-entry while still in one piece, it would instead be shot down by a missile fired from a Navy cruiser.[28] The intercept took place on February 21, 2008 resulting in the satellite breaking up into multiple pieces.[29]

In July 2008, the NRO declassified the existence of its Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites, citing difficulty in discussing the creation of the Space-Based Radar with the United States Air Force and other entities.[30] In August 2009, FOIA archives were queried for a copy of the NRO video, "Satellite Reconnaissance: Secret Eyes in Space."[31] The 7-minute video chronicles the early days of the NRO and many of its early programs. It was proposed that the NRO share the imagery of the United States itself with the National Applications Office for domestic law enforcement purposes.[32] The NAO was disestablished in 2009. The NRO is a non-voting associate member of the Civil Applications Committee (CAC). The CAC is an inter-agency committee that coordinates and oversees the Federal- Civil use of classified collections. The CAC was officially chartered in 1975 by the Office of the President to provide Federal- Civil agencies access to National Systems data in support of mission responsibilities.[33] According 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.[34] At the National Space Symposium in April 2010, NRO director General Bruce Carlson, United States Air Force (Retired) announced that until the end of 2011, NRO is embarking on "the most aggressive launch schedule that this organization has undertaken in the last twenty-five years. There are a number of very large and very critical reconnaissance satellites that will go into orbit in the next year to a year and a half."[35]

In 2012, a McClatchy investigation found that the NRO was possibly breaching ethical and legal boundaries by encouraging its polygraph examiners to extract personal and private information from DoD personnel during polygraph tests that were limited to counterintelligence issues.[36] Allegations of abusive polygraph practices were brought forward by former NRO polygraph examiners.[37] In 2014, an inspector general's report concluded that NRO failed to report felony admissions of child sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities. NRO obtained these criminal admissions during polygraph testing but never forwarded the information to police. NRO's failure to act in the public interest by reporting child sexual predators was first made public in 2012 by former NRO polygraph examiners.[38] On Aug 30, 2019, Donald Trump tweeted an image of “the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran”. The image almost certainly came from a satellite known as USA 224, according to Marco Langbroek, a satellite tracker based in the Netherlands. The satellite was launched by the National Reconnaissance Office in 2011.[39] On January 31, 2020, Rocket Lab successfully launched a NROL-151 payload for the NRO.[40] On December 19, 2020, NROL-108 was successfully launched aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.[41] On July 15, 2020, NROL-149 was successfully launched aboard the first launch of Northrop Grumman's new Minotaur IV rocket. On April 27, 2021, NROL-82 was successfully launched aboard United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV rocket.[42] On June 15, 2021, NROL-111, a set of three classified satellites,[43] was successfully launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Minotaur I rocket.[44]

## Organization

NRO Organizational Chart (Sep. 2010)

The NRO is part of the Department of Defense. The Director of the NRO is appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the consent of the Senate in accordance with Title 50 of U.S. code.[45] Traditionally, the position was given to either the Under Secretary of the Air Force or the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space, but with the appointment of Donald Kerr as Director of the NRO in July 2005 the position is now independent. The Agency is organized as follows:[46]

Principal Deputy Director of the NRO (PDDNRO)

* Reports to and coordinates with the DNRO on all NRO activities and handles the daily management of the NRO with decision responsibility as delegated by the DNRO; and,
* In the absence of the Director, acts on behalf of the DNRO.

Deputy Director of the NRO (DDNRO)

* Senior USAF General Officer. Represents the civilian/uniformed USAF personnel assigned to the NRO;
* Assists both the DNRO and PDDNRO in the daily direction of the NRO; and,
* Coordinates activities between the USAF and the NRO.

The Corporate Staff

* Encompasses all those support functions such as legal, diversity, human resources, security/counterintelligence, procurement, public affairs, etc. necessary for the day-to-day operation of the NRO and in support of the DNRO, PDNRO, and DDNRO.

Office of Space Launch (OSL)

* Responsible for all aspects of a satellite launch including launch vehicle hardware, launch services integration, mission assurance, operations, transportation, and mission safety; and,
* OSL is NRO's launch representative with industry, the USAF, and NASA.

Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate (AS&T)

* Invents and delivers advanced technologies;
* Develops new sources and methods; and,
* Enables multi-intelligence solutions.

Business Plans and Operations (BPO)

* Responsible for all financial and budgetary aspects of NRO programs and operations; and,
* Coordinates all legislative, international, and public affairs communications.

Communications Systems Acquisition Directorate (COMM)

* Supports the NRO by providing communications services through physical and virtual connectivity; and,
* Enables the sharing of mission-critical information with mission partners and customers.

Ground Enterprise Directorate (GED)

* Provides an integrated ground system that sends timely information to users worldwide.

Geospatial Intelligence Systems Acquisition Directorate (GEOINT)

* Responsible for acquiring NRO's technologically advanced imagery collection systems, which provides geospatial intelligence data to the Intelligence Community and the military.

Management Services and Operations (MS&O)

* Provides services such as facilities support, transportation and warehousing, logistics, and other business support, which the NRO needs to operate on a daily basis.

Mission Operations Directorate (MOD)

* Operates, maintains and reports the status of NRO satellites and their associated ground systems;
* Manages the 24-hour NRO Operations Center (NROC) which, working with U.S Strategic Command, provides defensive space control and space protection, monitors satellite flight safety, and provides space situational awareness.

Mission Integration Directorate (MID)

* Engages with users of NRO systems to understand their operational and intelligence problems and provide solutions in collaboration with NRO's mission partners.
* Manages the Tactical Defense Space Reconnaissance (TacDSR) Program to directly answer emerging warfighting intelligence requirements of the Combatant Commands (CCMDs), Services, and other tactical users as funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) Military Intelligence Program (MIP).[47]

Signals Intelligence Systems Acquisition Directorate (SIGINT)

* This directorate builds and deploys NRO's signals intelligence satellite systems that collect communication, electronic, and foreign instrumentation signals intelligence.

Systems Engineering Directorate (SED)

* Provides beginning-to-end systems engineering for all of NRO's systems.

### Personnel

In 2007, the NRO described itself as "a hybrid organization consisting of some 3,000 personnel and jointly staffed by members of the armed services, the Central Intelligence Agency and DOD civilian personnel."[48] Between 2010 and 2012, the workforce is expected to increase by 100.[49] The majority of workers for the NRO are private corporate contractors, with $7 billion of the agency's $8 billion budget going to private corporations.[17]: 178

### Budget

NRO budget FY 2004 to 2013

The NRO derives its funding both from the US intelligence budget and the military budget. In 1971, the annual budget was estimated to be around $1 billion in nominal dollars ($ 7.8 billion real in 2026).[19] A 1975 report by Congress's Commission on the Organization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy states that the NRO had "the largest budget of any intelligence agency".[50] By 1994, the annual budget had risen to $6 billion (inflation adjusted $ 12.7 billion in 2026),[51] and for 2010 it is estimated to amount to $15 billion (inflation adjusted $ 21.6 billion in 2026).[52] This would correspond to 19% of the overall US intelligence budget of $80 billion for FY2010.[53] For Fiscal Year 2012 the budget request for science and technology included an increase to almost 6% (about $600 million) of the NRO budget after it had dropped to just about 3% of the overall budget in the years before.[49]

### NRO directives and instructions

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the NRO declassified a list of secret directives for internal use. The following is a list of the released directives, which are available for download:

* NROD 10-2 – "National Reconnaissance Office External Management Policy"
* NROD 10-4 – "National Reconnaissance Office Sensitive Activities Management Group"
* NROD 10-5 – "Office of Corporate System Engineer Charter"
* NROD 22-1 – "Office of Inspector General"
* NROD 22-2 – "Employee Reports of Urgent Concerns to Congress"
* NROD 22-3 – "Obligations to report evidence of Possible Violations of Federal Criminal Law and Illegal Intelligence Activities"
* NROD 50-1 – "Executive Order 12333 – Intelligence Activities Affecting United States Persons"
* NROD 61-1 – "NRO Internet Policy, Information Technology"
* NROD 82-1a – "NRO Space Launch Management"
* NROD 110-2 – "National Reconnaissance Office Records and Information Management Program"
* NROD 120-1 – The NRO Military Uniform Wear Policy
* NROD 120-2 – "The NRO Awards and Recognition Programs"
* NROD 120-3 – "Executive Secretarial Panel"
* NROD 120-4 – "National Reconnaissance Pioneer Recognition Program"
* NROD 120-5 – "National Reconnaissance Office Utilization of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program"
* NROD 121-1 – "Training of NRO Personnel"
* NROI 150-4 – "Prohibited Items in NRO Headquarters Buildings/Property"

### Coordination with USSPACECOM and USSF

At a mid-2019 press event just prior to the establishment of USSPACECOM, then-Air Force General John W. Raymond (set to lead the new command) stated that the NRO will “respond to the direction of the United States Space Command commander” to “protecting and defending those (space) capabilities”. General Raymond further stated that “we [NRO and USSPACECOM] have a shared concept of operations, we have a shared vision and a shared concept of operations. We train together, we exercise together, we man the same C2 center, if you will, at the National Space Defense Center."[54]

In December 2019, the United States Space Force (USSF) was established, also helmed by John Raymond, now a Space Force General and Chief of Space Operations (CSO).[55] NRO continued its close relationship with American military space operations, partnering with the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) to manage the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, which uses government and contract spacecraft to launch important government payloads.[56][57] NSSL supports both the USSF and NRO, as well as the Navy.[57] NRO Director Scolese has characterized his agency as critical to American space dominance, stating that NRO provides “unrivaled situational awareness and intelligence to the best imagery and signals data on the planet.”[56]

In August 2021, “Scolese said he, Raymond, and Dickinson recently agreed to a Protect and Defend Strategic Framework covering national security in space and the relationship between DOD and the intelligence community on everything from acquisition to operations”. [58]

## Technology

NRO's technology is likely more advanced than its civilian equivalents. In the 1980s, the NRO had satellites and software that were capable of determining the exact dimensions of a tank gun.[50] In 2012 the agency donated two space telescopes to NASA. Despite being stored unused, the instruments are superior to the Hubble Space Telescope. One journalist observed, "If telescopes of this caliber are languishing on shelves, imagine what they're actually using."[59]

### Spacecraft

KH-9 Hexagon during integration at Lockheed

The NRO maintains four main satellite constellations:[60]

* NRO SIGINT constellation
* NRO GEOINT constellation
* NRO Communications Relay constellation
* NRO Reconnaissance constellation

The NRO spacecraft include:[61]

#### GEOINT imaging

* Keyhole series – Imagery intelligence:
* KH-1, KH-2, KH-3, KH-4, KH-4A, KH-4B Corona (1959–1972)
* KH-5 – Argon (1961–1962)
* KH-6— Lanyard (1963)
* KH-7 – Gambit (1963–1967)[62]
* KH-8 – Gambit (1966–1984)
* KH-9 – Hexagon and Big Bird (1971–1986)
* KH-10 – Dorian (cancelled)
* KH-11 – Kennan (or Kennen), Crystal, Improved Crystal, Ikon, and Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL System (1976–2013)
* Samos – photo imaging (1960–1962)
* Misty/Zirconic – stealth IMINT
* Enhanced Imaging System
* Next Generation Electo-Optical (NGEO), modular system, designed for incremental improvements (in development).[63]

#### GEOINT radar

* Lacrosse/Onyx – radar imaging (1988–)
* TOPAZ (1–5) and TOPAZ Block 2[61]

#### SIGINT

* Samos-F – SIGINT (1962–1971)
* Poppy – ELINT program (1962–1971) continuing Naval Research Laboratory's GRAB (1960–1961)
* Jumpseat (1971–1983) and Trumpet (1994–2008) SIGINT
* Canyon (1968–1977), Vortex/Chalet (1978–1989) and Mercury (1994–1998) – SIGINT including COMINT
* Rhyolite/Aquacade (1970–1978), Magnum/Orion (1985–1990), and Mentor (1995–2010) – SIGINT
* NEMESIS (High Altitude)[61]
* ORION (High Altitude)[61]
* RAVEN (High Altitude)[61]
* INTRUDER (Low Altitude)[61]
* SIGINT High Altitude Replenishment Program (SHARP)

#### Space communications

* Quasar, communications relay[61]
* NROL-1 through NROL-66 – various secret satellites. NROL stands for National Reconnaissance Office Launch.

This list is likely to be incomplete, given the classified nature of many NRO spacecraft.

### NMIS network

The NRO Management Information System (NMIS) is a computer network used to distribute NRO data classified as Top Secret. It is also known as the Government Wide Area Network (GWAN).[64]

### Sentient

The Verge published an article in July 2019 describing Sentient as a product of the NRO, which is “an omnivorous analysis tool, capable of devouring data of all sorts, making sense of the past and present, anticipating the future, and pointing satellites toward what it determines will be the most interesting parts of that future”.[65]

## Locations

NRO ground station at Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, CO

In October 2008, NRO declassified five mission ground stations: three in the United States, near Washington, D.C.; Aurora, Colorado; and Las Cruces, New Mexico, and a presence at RAF Menwith Hill, UK, and at the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap, Australia.

* NRO Headquarters  [ ⚑ ] 38°52′55″N 77°27′07″W﻿ / ﻿38.882°N 77.452°W﻿ / 38.882; -77.452 – Chantilly, Virginia
* National Reconnaissance Operations Center (NROC)[66]
* Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado (ADF-C)  [ ⚑ ] 39°43′05″N 104°46′37″W﻿ / ﻿39.718°N 104.777°W﻿ / 39.718; -104.777, Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, Colorado
* Aerospace Data Facility-East (ADF-E)  [ ⚑ ] 38°44′10″N 77°09′29″W﻿ / ﻿38.736°N 77.158°W﻿ / 38.736; -77.158, Fort Belvoir, Virginia
* Aerospace Data Facility-Southwest (ADF-SW)  [ ⚑ ] 32°30′07″N 106°36′40″W﻿ / ﻿32.502°N 106.611°W﻿ / 32.502; -106.611, White Sands, New Mexico[67][68]
* NRO spacecraft launch offices reside at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.[69]

## In popular culture

* The NRO is featured in Dan Brown's novel Deception Point.
* In the film Mammoth, they are the men in black.
* The NRO maintains a YouTube page located at: https://www.youtube.com/c/nationalreconnaissanceoffice
* The NRO has a podcast called “The Dish” located at: https://m.soundcloud.com/user-553105389

## Image gallery

* NRO Organization, circa 1971

* NRO Organization, circa 2009

* Patch commemorating launch of a classified payload

* The official mission patch from Launch-39

* National Reconnaissance Operations Center

* ADF-East Logo

* ADF-Southwest Logo

* ADF-Colorado Logo

## See also

* National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
* National Security Agency
* National Underwater Reconnaissance Office
* National Technical Means
* Reconnaissance satellite

## References

1. ↑ "NRO - Directors: Christopher Scolese". http://www.nro.gov/history/csnr/leaders/directors/dir18.html.
2. ↑ "PDDNRO". https://www.nro.gov/About-NRO/Leadership/PDDNRO/.
3. ↑ https://www.nro.gov/Portals/65/documents/about/leadership/bios/DDNROShiptonBio_Aug2021.pdf
4. ↑ Federation of American Scientists. "The Evolving Role of the NRO". https://www.fas.org/irp/nro/commission/evolving.htm.
5. ↑ Intelligence Agencies Must Operate More Like An Enterprise
6. ↑ "Contact the NRO " "National Reconnaissance Office Office of Public Affairs 14675 Lee Road Chantilly, VA 20151-1715"
7. ↑ Official NRO Fact Sheet via http://www.nro.gov, accessed March 2012
8. ↑ "NRO Airmen transfer to U.S. Space Force". https://www.nro.gov/News/News-Articles/Article/2336230/nro-airmen-transfer-to-us-space-force/.
9. ↑ "Career Opportunities". http://www.nro.gov/careers/careers.html.
10. ↑ Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the United States Intelligence Community. "Preparing for the 21st Century: An Appraisal of U.S. Intelligence, Chapter 13 – The Cost of Intelligence". http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-INTELLIGENCE/content-detail.html.
11. ↑ "National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance (CSNR) Bulletin, Combined 2002 Issue". https://www.governmentattic.org/docs/NRO_CSNR_Bulletin_Comb2002Issue.pdf.
12. ↑ "About_the_NRO". https://www.nro.gov/About-NRO/.
13. ↑ "NRO Provides Support to the Warfighters". NRO Press Office. 28 April 1998. http://www.nro.gov/PressReleases/prs_rel18.html.
14. ↑ "U.S. Intelligence Community Budget". https://www.dni.gov/index.php/what-we-do/ic-budget.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Stares, Paul B.. "The Militarization of Space". p. 23,46. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19851201fabook11624/paul-b-stares/the-militarization-of-space-u-s-policy-1945-1984.html.
16. ↑ Jeffrey Richelson (1990). America's Secret Eyes in Space. Harper & Row.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Paglen, Trevor (February 2009). Blank Spots On the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World. New York: Dutton.
18. ↑ https://www.nro.gov/Portals/65/documents/news/press/2000/2000-07.pdf
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 (Chief, Special Security Center) (1974-01-07). "History of NRO security breaches". National Reconnaissance Office. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB257/19740107.pdf.
20. ↑ Welles, Benjamin (1971-01-22). "Foreign Policy: Disquiet Over Intelligence Setup". The New York Times: p. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/22/archives/foreign-policy-disquiet-over-intelligence-setup-foreign-policy.html. "The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency has a staff of 3,000 and spends $500‐million yearly—as much as the C.I.A.— to collect and evaluate strategic intelligence. [...] Its National Reconnaissance Office spends another $1‐billion yearly flying reconnaissance airplanes and lofting or exploiting the satellites that constantly circle the earth and photograph enemy terrain with incredible accuracy from 130 miles up."
21. ↑ Pincus, Walter (1995-09-24). "Spy Agency Hoards Secret $1 Billion". Washington Post: p. A1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/09/24/spy-agency-hoards-secret-1-billion/7857e132-1b9d-40ba-8ca5-976d09beb10b/.
22. ↑ Fitzgerald, Dennis D. (2005). "Risk Management and National Reconnaissance From the Cold War Up to the Global War on Terrorism". Journal of Discipline and Practice, 2005-U1. NRO. http://www.nro.gov/history/csnr/publications/docs/journal-01.pdf.
23. ↑ "Get Smarter: Demystifying the NRO". SECRECY & GOVERNMENT BULLETIN, Issue Number 39. Federation of American Scientists. August–September 1994. https://fas.org/sgp/bulletin/sec39.html.
24. ↑ "Lack of Intelligence". U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/030811/11nro_2.htm.
25. ↑ Philip Taubman (2007-11-11). "Failure to Launch: In Death of Spy Satellite Program, Lofty Plans and Unrealistic Bids". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/washington/11satellite.html?pagewanted=all#step1.
26. ↑ "Life Sentence for Bid to Sell Secrets to Iraq". The New York Times. 21 March 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/21/us/life-sentence-for-bid-to-sell-secrets-to-iraq.html?module=inline.
27. ↑ John Schwartz (2008-02-05). "Satellite Spotters Glimpse Secrets, and Tell Them". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/science/space/05spotters.html.
28. ↑ David Stout and Thom Shanker (2008-02-14). "U.S. Officials Say Broken Satellite Will Be Shot Down". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/science/14cnd-satellite.html?pagewanted=print.
29. ↑ "DoD Succeeds In Intercepting Non-Functioning Satellite (release=No. 0139-08)" (Press release). U.S. Department of Defense. February 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
30. ↑ Colin Clark (2008-07-03). "Spy Radar Satellites Declassified". DoD Buzz, through Military.com. http://www.dodbuzz.com/2008/07/03/spy-radar-satellites-declassified/.
31. ↑ The Black Vault, "Download the declassified Satellite Reconnaissance: Secret Eyes in Space", NRO, August 2009.
32. ↑ "U.S. Reconnaissance Satellites: Domestic Targets – Documents Describe Use of Satellites in Support of Civil Agencies and Longstanding Controversy". National Security Archive, The George Washington University. 2008-04-11. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB229/index.htm.
33. ↑ https://fas.org/irp/eprint/cac-fs.pdf
34. ↑ "US satellites shadow China's submarines". Pakistan Defence. 13 May 2010. http://defence.pk/threads/us-satellites-shadow-chinas-submarines.58609/.
35. ↑ Bruce Carlson (April 14, 2010). "Bruce Carlson, Director, NRO, National Space Symposium, Remarks". National Reconnaissance Office. http://www.nro.gov/speeches/DNRO_National_Space_Symposium.pdf.
36. ↑ The IG complaint of Mark Phillips concerning the NRO | McClatchy. Mcclatchydc.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-21.
37. ↑ Taylor, Marisa, "Sen. Charles Grassley Seeks Probe Of Polygraph Techniques At National Reconnaissance Office", The McClatchy Company, 27 July 2012
38. ↑ Taylor, Marisa. (2014-04-22) WASHINGTON: IG: Feds didn't pass polygraph evidence of child abuse to investigators | Courts & Crime. McClatchy DC. Retrieved on 2014-04-28.
39. ↑ "SatTrackCam Leiden (B)log: Image from Trump tweet identified as imagery by USA 224, a classified KH-11 ENHANCED CRYSTAL satellite". September 2019. https://sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2019/09/image-from-trump-tweet-identified-as.html?m=1.
40. ↑ Wall 2020-01-31T03:28:03Z, Mike (31 January 2020). "Rocket Lab launches satellite for US spysat agency, guides booster back to Earth" (in en). https://www.space.com/rocket-lab-launches-nrol-151-spysat.html.
41. ↑ Erwin, Sandra (December 19, 2020). "SpaceX wraps up 2020 with Falcon 9 launch of classified NRO satellite". spacenews.com. https://spacenews.com/spacex-wraps-up-2020-with-falcon-9-launch-of-classified-nro-satellite/.
42. ↑ "Northrop Grumman Contributes to Successful National Security Launch". northropgrumman.com. 27 April 2021. https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-contributes-to-successful-national-security-launch.
43. ↑ Thompson, Amy (June 25, 2021). "Minotaur 1 rocket launches 3 classified spy satellites for National Reconnaissance Office". Space.com. https://www.space.com/minotaur-1-rocket-launches-nrol-111-spy-satellites.
44. ↑ Strout, Nathan (June 15, 2021). "National Reconnaissance Office launches 3 satellites off Virginia coast". C4ISRNET. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2021/06/15/national-reconnaissance-office-launches-three-satellites-off-virginia-coast/.
45. ↑ "Department of Defense Directive 5105.23, Change 1, 29 October, 2015". Department of Defense. https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodd/510523p.pdf.
46. ↑ NRO Organization
47. ↑ "TacDSR". https://www.nro.gov/InnovateNRO/TacDSR/.
48. ↑ "NRO Factsheet" (Word Document). p. 1. http://www.nro.gov/nro_factsheet.doc.
49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Bruce Carlson (2010-09-13). "National Reconnaissance Office Update". Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition 2010. http://www.afa.org/events/conference/2010/scripts/AFA-100913-Carlson.pdf.
50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `supersecreteyes`
51. ↑ Tim Weiner (1994-08-09). "Ultra-Secret Office Gets First Budget Scrutiny". New York Times. https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40F16FE3C540C738DDDA10894DC494D81.
52. ↑ John Pike (2010). "FY2010 Intelligence Budget". www.globalsecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/budget/index.html.
53. ↑ Dilanian, Ken (2010-10-28). "Overall U.S. intelligence budget tops $80 billion". Los Angeles Times. https://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/28/nation/la-na-intel-budget-20101029.
54. ↑ "Media Roundtable with U.S. Space Command Commander Gen. John Raymond". United States Department of Defense. https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/1949346/media-roundtable-with-us-space-command-commander-gen-john-raymond/.
55. ↑ Browne, Ryan (December 21, 2019). "With a signature, Trump brings Space Force into being" (in en). https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/20/politics/trump-creates-space-force/index.html.
56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Tadjdeh, Yasmin (July 20, 2021). "JUST IN: National Reconnaissance Office Embracing Commercial Tech". National Defense Magazine. https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/7/20/national-reconnaissance-office-embracing-commercial-tech.
57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 McCall, Stephen (December 30, 2020). "Defense Primer: National Security Space Launch". Congressional Research Service. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11531.pdf.
58. ↑ "NRO Innovating Faster in Era of Great Power Space Competition". 31 August 2021. https://www.airforcemag.com/nro-innovating-faster-in-era-of-great-power-space-competition/.
59. ↑ Boyle, Rebecca (June 5, 2012). "NASA Adopts Two Spare Spy Telescopes, Each Maybe More Powerful than Hubble". Popular Science. Popular Science Technology Group. http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-06/nasa-adopts-two-spare-spy-telescopes-each-maybe-more-powerful-hubble.
60. ↑ "NRO Systems Overview - Module 2: Orbital Mechanics". National Reconnaissance Office. 13 February 2012. http://www.nro.gov/Portals/65/documents/foia/declass/ForAll/092818/F-2018-00033_C05108587.pdf.
61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 61.3 61.4 61.5 61.6 Clapper, James R. (February 2012). "FY 2013 Congressional Budget Justification, Volume 1, National Intelligence Program Summary, Resource Exhibit No. 13". DNI. https://www.eff.org/files/2013/11/25/2013-08-30_cryptome_congressional_budget_2013.pdf.
62. ↑ Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance: Bulletin, Combined 2002 Issue: "Declassification of Early Satellite Reconnaissance Film"
63. ↑ Dr. Bruce Berkowitz (September 2011). "The National Reconnaissance Office At 50 Years: A Brief History". Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance. http://www.nro.gov/history/csnr/programs/NRO_Brief_History.pdf.
64. ↑ "2009 National Intelligence / A Consumer's Guide". Office of the Director of National Intelligence. 2009. http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/IC_Consumers_Guide_2009.pdf. (page 74)
65. ↑ "Meet the US's spy system of the future — it's Sentient". 31 July 2019. https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/31/20746926/sentient-national-reconnaissance-office-spy-satellites-artificial-intelligence-ai.
66. ↑ [1]
67. ↑ Mission Ground Station Declassification memo, 2008
68. ↑ "NRO Mission Ground Station Declassification". National Reconnaissance Office. 2008-10-15. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/Mission_Ground_Station_declassification.pdf.
69. ↑ "Who_We_Are". https://www.nro.gov/About-NRO/The-National-Reconnaissance-Office/Who-We-Are/.

## External links

* NRO official website
* Space-Based Reconnaissance by MAJ Robert A. Guerriero
* National Security Archive: The NRO Declassified
* Memo of Declassification of NRO
* Additional NRO information from the Federation of American Scientists
* U.S. News & World Report, 8/11/03; By Douglas Pasternak
* Agency planned exercise on September 11 built around a plane crashing into a building, from Boston.com
* History of the US high-altitude SIGINT system
* History of the US reconnaissance system: imagery

Template:Intelligence agencies of USA Template:DOD agencies

* v
* t
* e

Public-sector space agencies

Africa|

| Pan-African
and pan-Arab|

* RASCOM
* Arabsat

|

National|

* ASAL
* EgSA
* NARSS
* ESSTI
* GSSTC
* KSA
* NASRDA
* SANSA

Americas|

| North America|

* CSA
* NASA
* NESDIS
* OSC
* FAA/AST
* FCC
* USSF
* USSPACECOM
* NRO

|

Latin America
and the Caribbean|

* ALCE
* AEM
* CONAE
* ABE
* AEB
* DCTA
* INPE
* ITA
* CCE
* ABAE
* IVIC

Asia|

| Pan-Asian|

* APSCO

|

Central Asia|

* KazCosmos1
* Roscosmos1
* SRI
* VK
* TNSA1

East Asia|

* CNSA
* SASTIND
* CASC
* CALT
* CAST
* CCF
* CGWIC
* PLAASF
* CASIC
* JAXA
* ISAS
* JSS
* NICT
* NATA
* KASA
* KARI
* KASI
* SaTReC
* TASA

South Asia|

* SPARRSO
* ISRO2
* Antrix Corp
* DoS
* NRSC
* NSIL
* DSA
* SUPARCO

Southeast Asia|

* BRIN
* ORPA
* INASA
* MYSA
* PhilSA
* SSTL
* GISTDA
* VNSC

West Asia|

* ArmCosmos1
* MAKA1
* NSSA
* NEHSA
* ISA
* ISRC
* ISA
* NCSR
* SSA
* KACST-SRI
* SSA2
* GORS
* TUA
* TÜBİTAK UZAY
* UAESA (MBRSC)

Europe|

| Pan-European|

* CEN/CENELEC
* CEPT
* ETSI
* Eurocontrol
* ECAC
* ESA
* ECSS
* ESTEC
* EAC
* ESRIN
* ECSAT
* ESAC
* ESOC
* ESTRACK
* Guiana Space Centre
* EUMETSAT
* EUTELSAT IGO
* ESO

|

EU and EEA|

* DG DEFIS
* EUSPA
* EU SatCen
* EASA
* BEREC
* ALR2
* BELSPO
* BIRA-IASB
* SRTI2
* CSO2
* DTU Space
* ESO1
* CNES2
* AAE
* CdE
* DLR2
* HSA
* HSO2
* ASI
* LSA
* LSO1
* SRON
* NSO
* NOSA
* POLSA2
* CBK PAN
* UKE
* KRRiT
* ORO
* ULC
* File:Flag of Portugal (official).svg PTSPACE
* ROSA2
* INTA
* AEC
* EAE
* AEE
* SNSA

Other|

* ArmCosmos1
* MAKA1
* BSA1
* KazCosmos1
* Roscosmos1
* SRI
* VVKO
* File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg SSO
* TUA
* TÜBİTAK UZAY
* SSAU1
* UKSA2

Oceania|

* ASA
* CSIRO
* NZSA

World|

* CCSDS
* CEOS
* COSPAR
* IPDA
* Cospas-Sarsat
* GEO
* GSC
* IADC
* ICSMD
* IMSO
* ISECG
* ISS MCB
* ITSO
* Intersputnik
* ODCWG
* ITU-R
* UNCOPUOS
* UNOOSA
* UNOSAT

Former|

* BNSC
* KCST
* INCOSPAR
* LAPAN
* NAL
* NASDA
* SSP
* MOM
* Interkosmos

* See also: Timeline of first orbital launches by country
* 1 Preceded by the Soviet space program
* 2 Preceded by Interkosmos participation

[ ⚑ ]  38°52′55″N 77°27′01″W﻿ / ﻿38.88194°N 77.45028°W﻿ / 38.88194; -77.45028

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