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. 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.
The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was part of the United States Air Force (USAF) human spaceflight program in the 1960s. The project was developed from early USAF concepts of crewed space stations as reconnaissance satellites,and was a successor to the canceled Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar military reconnaissance space plane. Plans for the MOL evolved into a single-use laboratory,for which crews would be launched on 30-day missions,and return to Earth using a Gemini B spacecraft derived from NASA's Gemini spacecraft and launched with the laboratory.
The Aerospace Corporation is an American nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in El Segundo,California. 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 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 the primary customers,Aerospace also performs work for civil agencies such as NASA and NOAA as well as international organizations and governments in the national interest.
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.
Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's space development,acquisition,launch,and logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base,California and manages the United States' space launch ranges.
Thomas Samuel Moorman Jr. was a United States Air Force officer who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from July 1994 to August 1997.
The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/AQ) is a civilian position in the Department of the Air Force that is appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. This position is established under Title 10 US Code Section 9016 and is one of five Assistant Secretary positions under the Secretary of the Air Force. The Assistant Secretary reports to the Secretary of the Air Force.
Frank Kendall III is an American engineer,lawyer and executive who is the 26th and current United States Secretary of the Air Force. He has served in several senior positions in the U.S. Department of Defense. A West Point graduate,he retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve. From 2011 to 2017,Kendall served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition,Technology and Logistics in the Obama Administration. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program was an effort by the United States Air Force to train American military personnel as payload specialists for United States Department of Defense missions on the Space Shuttle program.
Peter Bartholomew Teets was the thirteenth Director of the National Reconnaissance Office and the Under Secretary of the Air Force.
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.
Joseph Vincent Charyk was widely credited as the founder of the geosynchronous communications satellite industry. He was born in Canmore,Alberta to a Ukrainian family. Early in his career,Charyk consolidated the Central Intelligence Agency,United States Air Force,and United States Navy space programs into the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). He brought the first United States imagery satellite,CORONA,into operation and demonstrated signals intelligence technology from space. During his tenure,the NRO operated the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft and managed development of the A-12.
Brigadier General Cary C. Chun is a retired senior officer of the United States Air Force. He served as the Deputy Commander,Operations and Interagency Integration,Joint Functional Component Command for Space,United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM),and the Director for Mission Operations,National Reconnaissance Office. In this role,he led all Department of Defense space forces aligned with USSTRATCOM and provided tailored,responsive,local and global effects in support of national,USSTRATCOM and combatant commander objectives. As Director for Mission Operations,he led operations for all NRO overhead reconnaissance systems,ground stations,operational communications,and the operations center used to conduct intelligence activities essential for the national security of the United States and its allies.
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.
Paul Garrett Kaminski is a technologist and former U.S. government official,best known for his leading role in the development of stealth aircraft.
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.
William B. Roper Jr. is an American physicist and foreign policy strategist who served as the 13th Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition,Technology and Logistics,overseeing procurement for the U.S. Air Force and Space Force from 2018 to 2021. Before taking office he served elsewhere within the Department of Defense as founder and director of the Strategic Capabilities Office,and prior as Ballistic Missile Defense System Architect at the Missile Defense Agency. He was also a member of the 2018 National Defense Strategy steering group. He is currently the CEO at Istari,as well as serving as senior advisor at McKinsey and Co.,and teaching at Georgia Tech.
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.
While the United States Space Force gained its independence on 20 December 2019,the history of the United States Space Force can be traced back to the beginnings of the military space program following the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945. Early military space development was begun within the United States Army Air Forces by General Henry H. Arnold,who identified space as a crucial military arena decades before the first spaceflight. Gaining its independence from the Army on 18 September 1947,the United States Air Force began development of military space and ballistic missile programs,while also competing with the United States Army and United States Navy for the space mission.
