Aerospace Data Facility-East

Last updated

Aerospace Data Facility-East
Part of Fort Belvoir
Fairfax County, Virginia
Aerospace Data Facility-East logo.PNG
Site information
Type Satellite ground station
Owner United States Army
Controlled by National Reconnaissance Office
Location
Aerospace Data Facility-East
Coordinates 38°44′10″N77°9′30″W / 38.73611°N 77.15833°W / 38.73611; -77.15833
Site history
In use1977–present
Garrison information
Current
commander		Col. Nicholas Martin

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 stations operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in the continental United States. Located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the facility directs reconnaissance satellites and disseminates their intelligence to other U.S. government agencies. [1]

Contents

Function

ADF East is co-located with elements of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the agency that operates U.S. space-based imagery constellation. [2] [3] Authors James Bamford and Jeffrey Richelson report that the site manages the KH-11 imagery spacecraft and the Lacrosse radar imaging spacecraft. [3] [4] NASA engineer Ken Young, who visited the site as part of a plan for KH-11 to photograph STS-1, described its equipment as far more sophisticated than at his agency. [5]

History

The facility's south radome Dceeta-south-radome.jpg
The facility's south radome

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 delivered reconnaissance satellite photographs that had been downloaded at ADF East to U.S. President Jimmy Carter. [6] [ verification needed ]

Y2K

On the morning of January 1, 2000, a technical glitch caused by the Y2K bug limited ADF East to 70 percent of its planned imagery satellite coverage. [2] At a press conference on January 4, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre 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." [7] [8]

Declassification

The facility was declassified by the U.S. government in 2008. Mission Ground Station declassification.pdf
The facility was declassified by the U.S. government in 2008.

On October 15, 2008, the NRO declassified its three Mission Ground Stations: ADF-East, ADF-Colorado, and ADF-Southwest. [1] [9] [10] [11]

List of commanders

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Reconnaissance Office, Mission Ground Station Declassification, Questions and Answers
  2. 1 2 Lardner, Richard (January 13, 2000). "Pre-Y2K Problems Undercut Operation of U.S. Satellite Imagery Network". InsideDefense.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  3. 1 2 Richelson, Jeffrey (1999). The U.S. Intelligence Community (4th ed.). Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. pp.  171. ISBN   0813368936.
  4. ↑ Bamford, James (January 13, 1985). "America's Supersecret Eyes In Space". The New York Times .
  5. ↑ White, Rowland (2017-04-12). "The Spysat and the Shuttle". Air & Space. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  6. ↑ Burrows, William (1986). Deep Black: Space Espionage and National Security. New York: Random House. pp. 225–227. ISBN   0394541243.
  7. ↑ Garamone, Jim (January 3, 2000). "Y2K has little effect on military operations". Government Executive . Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  8. ↑ John Hamre (January 4, 2000). "DoD News Briefing". Federation of American Scientists . Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  9. ↑ Day, Dwayne (June 1, 2009). "Look! Up in the air! No, down on the ground! The NRO's domestic ground stations". The Space Review .
  10. ↑ "National Reconnaissance Office Review and Redaction Guide" (PDF). Version 1.0. 2006: 31.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ "NRO Releases Compendium of Declassified Data". Secrecy News (59). June 7, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  12. ↑ "Colonel Todd J. Benson, United States Air Force (bio)" (PDF). opce.uah.edu. March 2024. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  13. ↑ https://www.spaceforce.mil/Biographies/Display/Article/4249787/nikki-r-frankino/

Further reading

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