Pentagon OKs Spy Satellite Program

Defense Dept. Approves Plans To Launch Two Imagery Satellites To Complement Existing Ones

(AP)  The U.S. Defense Department has approved plans to buy and launch two commercial-class imagery satellites to complement its classified constellation of spy satellites.

The Pentagon also will increase the amount of imagery purchased from private companies operating similar satellites already in the sky.

The decision last week caps months of wrangling among the U.S. Air Force, the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Intelligence Director's Office and the Office of the Secretary of Defense over which agency would buy the satellites for about $1.7 billion. The satellites are to be launched around 2012. The NRO will head satellite acquisition, according to Pentagon documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Critics of the program say the Pentagon is spending billions to recreate and compete with private companies like GeoEye, with headquarters near the Pentagon; and DigitalGlobe, in Colorado, which are expected to put four new satellites into orbit by 2013. On its face the decision conflicts with the president's national security space policy, which directs the government to buy as much commercial imagery as possible to help the companies withstand competition from subsidized foreign satellite companies.

Buying the imagery from commercial companies also might be less expensive. The GeoEye 1 satellite was launched on Sept. 6 for $502 million, including the satellite, launch, insurance and four ground stations, according to company spokesman Mark Brender. It is expected to begin taking 16-inch resolution imagery this weekend.

The Pentagon may decide to turn over operation of the new satellites to the private companies, the internal document notes.

The new satellites will comprise the Broad Area Space-Based Imagery Collection satellite system, or BASIC. They also will have 16-inch resolution. They could be used to spy on enemy troop movements, spot construction at suspected nuclear sites or alert commanders to militant training camps. Their still images would be pieced together with higher resolution secret satellites into one large mosaic.

The new satellite system is meant to bridge what intelligence agencies fear will become a gap caused by the cancellation in September 2005 of a major component of the Future Imagery Architecture system overseen by the National Reconnaissance Office. The primary contractor, Boeing Co., headquartered in Chicago, ran into technical problems developing the satellite and spent nearly $10 billion, blowing its budget by $3 billion to $5 billion before the Pentagon stopped the project, according to industry experts and government reports.

A single satellite can visit one spot on Earth once or twice every day. BASIC's additional satellites will allow multiple passes over the same sites, alerting U.S. government users to potential trouble, humanitarian crises or natural disasters such as floods.

[xmanborg]

More Eyes in the Sky

Now Lance Lot Link Secret Chimp will have more toys to play with.

[rf35]

Load of bull. The Pentagon isn''t gonna publicly acknowledge factual information about top secret programs, and -gasp- violate national security.
Posted by darkfyreaol

The ones they are talking about here aren''t the classified satellites. These are the low-res jobs that only get 16-inch resolution. The classified ones can read what you''re typing on your Blackberry on an overcast day. Of course, they aren''t looking at you.
You guys who are worried about the government spying on you, don''t be. You''re really just not that important to be of concern to the government. Iraq, Afghanistan, eastern Europe, and N. Korea are far more interesting than you "veggie" garden, nagognog.

[hologram5]

$1.7 billion to catch people growing a couple of pot plants in their gardens. Goes well with the up and coming law that will allow the government to spy on citizens with NO suspicion. Besides - we have plenty of spy satellites parked up there over places with military interests. I''''m betting this is for the so-called "War on Drugs."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by nagognog at 05:23 AM : Sep 18, 2008


All this is for the alleged "War on Terror" trying to catch what they call "Homegrown" terrorists. What a joke. People claim, there hasn''t been an attack on our soil in seven years. Yeah? so? That doesn''t mean a thing.

[nagognog]

$1.7 billion to catch people growing a couple of pot plants in their gardens. Goes well with the up and coming law that will allow the government to spy on citizens with NO suspicion. Besides - we have plenty of spy satellites parked up there over places with military interests. I''m betting this is for the so-called "War on Drugs."

[darkfyreaol]

Load of bull. The Pentagon isn''t gonna publicly acknowledge factual information about top secret programs, and -gasp- violate national security.

[missingamerica]

Hmmmm....to tell you the truth, think I''d trust our military to run spy satellites more than I would our corporations.

Our corporations are too famous for attempting to ensure that specific people get elected to let anywhere near our spyware.