The Boeing RC-135 is a family of large reconnaissance aircraft built by Boeing and modified by a number of companies,including General Dynamics,Lockheed,LTV,E-Systems,L3Harris Technologies,and used by the United States Air Force and Royal Air Force to support theater and national level intelligence consumers with near real-time on-scene collection,analysis and dissemination capabilities.
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. It provides satellite intelligence to several government agencies,particularly signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the National Security Agency (NSA),imagery intelligence (IMINT) to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA),and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The NRO announced in 2023 that it plans within the following decade to quadruple the number of satellites it operates and increase the number of signals and images it delivers by a factor of ten.
Edward "Pete" Cleveland Aldridge Jr. is an aerospace engineer and former government official in the U.S. Defense Department. He was also selected as a payload specialist for the Space Shuttle mission STS-62-A,scheduled to launch in July 1986. The mission was canceled after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986,and Aldridge never flew.
The Aerospace Corporation is an American nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). The corporation provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions to military,civil,and commercial customers. As the FFRDC for national-security space,Aerospace works closely with organizations such as the United States Space Force (USSF) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to provide "objective technical analyses and assessments for space programs that serve the national interest". Although the USSF and NRO are primary customers,Aerospace performs work for civil agencies such as NASA and NOAA as well as international organizations and governments in the national interest. Aerospace,as part of its charter,also provides expertise to commercial entities,both established companies and startups,domestically and abroad.
Bruce Allen Carlson,was the 17th Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). He is a former four-star general in the United States Air Force and served as the sixth Commander,Air Force Materiel Command,Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,Ohio. The command conducts research,development,test and evaluation,and provides acquisition management services and logistics support necessary to keep Air Force weapon systems ready for war. After over 37 years of service,he retired from the Air Force on January 1,2009. Carlson served as a general authority and a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from April 2009 to October 2015.
Scott F. Large is an American intelligence officer who served as the sixteenth Director of the National Reconnaissance Office from 2007 to 2009. He previously served as the Principal Deputy Director of the National Reconnaissance Office from April to October 2007,and as the Central Intelligence Agency's Associate Deputy Director for Science and Technology.
Lieutenant General John T. "Tom" Sheridan retired from the US Air Force in August 2011. His last assignment was as Commander,Space and Missile Systems Center,Los Angeles AFB,California;he was succeeded by Ellen M. Pawlikowski in June 2011. He has been VP of the SI's National Security Space program since 16 April 2012,.
Keith Ralph Hall is a United States government official who served as the 12th director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Alexander Henry Flax was the Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) from 1959 to 1961,Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research and Development from 1963 to 1969,and the third Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from 1965 to 1969. He was the director at a time when the second generation of imaging systems became operational and began to play a major role in United States intelligence during the Cold War. He oversaw major growth in NRO funding and personnel,the development of signals intelligence collectors from space,and the development of electro-optical imaging for US reconnaissance satellites.
Betty Jean Sapp is the former Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO). She served as a United States Air Force Officer in a variety of roles,before joining the Central Intelligence Agency in 1997. She was the first female Director of the NRO,serving nearly seven years.
Susan K. Mashiko is a retired United States Air Force major general who served as the Deputy Director,National Reconnaissance Office,Chantilly,Virginia. Her responsibilities include assisting the director and principal deputy director in managing the strategic and tactical operations of the NRO. Also,as the commander,Air Force Space Command Element,she manages all air force personnel and resources assigned to the NRO and serves as the senior adviser to the DNRO on all military matters. Mashiko is the first Japanese American woman to be promoted to flag rank.
Major General Robert Alan "Rosie" Rosenberg of United States Air Force was Director of Defense Mapping Agency from July 1985 to September 1987. Throughout his 30-year career with the U.S. Air Force,he was instrumental to the U.S. satellite program. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2005.
William Gregg King Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force (USAF). After service with the United States Army in World War II,he joined the USAF in 1947. He helped establish the Eastern Test Range at Cape Canaveral,Florida,was project officer for the SM-62 Snark cruise missile,helped initiate the WS-117L military satellite program,worked on the SAMOS reconnaissance satellite,commanded the Air Force Satellite Control Facility,and was director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Project A.
John Landrum Martin Jr. was a major general in the United States Air Force. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1940 and flew combat missions in Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers in the China-Burma-India Theater.
Donna D. Shipton is a United States Air Force lieutenant general who serves as commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. The center is responsible for total life cycle management for aircraft,engines,munitions,electronic,computer,network,cyber and agile combat support systems. The center employs more than 28,000 people and has a budget of over $300 billion. Previously she served as military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition,Technology and Logistics.
Christopher Stephen Povak is a United States Space Force major general who serves as the deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office and commander of the Space Force Element to the National Reconnaissance Office. He previously served as the deputy director of the Space Warfighting Analysis Center.
John Ferdinand "JT" Thompson is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force who last served as the commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center from May 2017 to July 2021. He entered the United States Air Force in 1984 as a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.
Donald Jason Cothern is a United States Space Force major general who serves as the program executive for ground-based weapon systems at the Missile Defense Agency. He previously served as the deputy commander of the Space Systems Command. He transferred to the Space Force from the United States Air Force in May 2021.
Michael Anthony Guetlein is a United States Space Force general who serves as the second vice chief of space operations. He recently served as the first commander of Space Systems Command from 2021 to 2024. He previously served as the deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office from 2019 to 2021.
Frank Calvelli is an American intelligence official who had served the assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration (SAF/SQ). He previously served as the principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office from 2012 to 2020. In 2021,he joined Booz Allen Hamilton as senior vice president.
