View source for Misty (satellite program)

{{Short description|Classified project of the United States National Reconnaissance Office}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}

'''Misty''' is reportedly the name of a [[Classified information|classified]] project by the United States [[National Reconnaissance Office]] (NRO) to operate [[Stealth technology|stealthy]] [[reconnaissance satellite]]s. The satellites are conjectured to be [[photo reconnaissance]] satellites<ref>{{cite news |title=Transcript: Jim Popkin, Author "Code Name Blue Wren" |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2023/01/05/transcript-jim-popkin-author-code-name-blue-wren/ |access-date=15 January 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> and the program has been the subject of atypically public debates about its worthiness in the defense budget since December 2004. The estimated project costs in 2004 were, at the time of statement, US$9.5 billion (inflation adjusted US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|9.5|2004|r=1}}}} billion in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="wired14.02" />

== Launches ==
The first satellite (USA-53 or 1990-019B,<ref>[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1990-019B 1990-019B] {{PD-notice}}</ref> 19,600 kg) launched for the program was deployed on 1 March 1990 by the [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'']] as part of Mission [[STS-36]]. Objects associated with the satellite decayed on 31 March 1990, but the satellite was seen and tracked later that year and in the mid-1990s by amateur observers.<ref name="wired14.02">{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.02/spy.html?pg=3|title=I Spy|magazine=Wired|first=Patrick Radden|last=Keefe|access-date=2010-12-27 |date=February 2006}}</ref> The second satellite (USA-144 or 1999-028A <ref>[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1999-028A 1999-028A] {{PD-notice}}</ref>) was launched on 22 May 1999, and by 2004 the launch of a third satellite was planned for 2009.<ref name="WP20041211">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56171-2004Dec10.html|title=New Spy Satellite Debated On Hill: Some Question Price and Need|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Dana|last=Priest|access-date=2010-12-27|date=2004-12-11}}</ref> Circumstantial evidence suggested that the third satellite might be the payload of the [[Delta IV]] Heavy launch designated [[List of NRO launches|NROL-15]], which was launched in June 2012.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
|-
! Name
! [[International Designator|COSPAR ID]]<ref>[http://planet4589.org/space/log/ Jonathan's Space Report: ''List of satellite launches'']</ref><br/><small>[[Satellite Catalog Number|SATCAT No.]]</small>
! Launch date<br>([[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]])
! Launch vehicle
! Launch site
! [[List of NRO Launches|Launch designation]]
! Orbit
! Remarks
|-
| USA-53
| {{COSPAR|1990-019B}}<br><small>20516</small>
| 28 February 1990<br>07:50
| {{OV|104}}
| [[Kennedy Space Center|KSC]] [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A|LC-39A]]
| [[STS-36]]
| 811 km × 811 km, i=65°<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-19 |title=Ted Molczan: The Saga of USA 53 -- Found, Lost, Found Again and Lost Again |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019235727/http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/tm_usa53.html |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref>
|
|-
| USA-144
| {{COSPAR|1999-028A}}<br><small>25744</small>
| 22 May 1999<br>09:36
| [[Titan IV|Titan IV(404)B]]
| [[Vandenberg Air Force Base|VAFB]] [[Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4|SLC-4E]]
| NROL-9
|
| [[Enhanced Imaging System]]
|}

== Criticism ==
[[Porter Goss]], a former [[Congressman]] and former [[Director of Central Intelligence|CIA director]], and [[George Tenet]], former CIA director, have both vigorously supported successors to Misty, despite several attempts by [[United States Senate|Senators]] [[Dianne Feinstein]] and [[John D. Rockefeller IV]] to terminate the program. The primary contractor is [[Lockheed Martin Space |Lockheed Martin Space Systems]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

On 21 June 2007, the [[Associated Press]] reported that [[Director of National Intelligence]] [[John Michael McConnell]] had cancelled the Misty program. A spokesperson for McConnell confirmed that McConnell has the authority to cancel projects, but declined to comment further.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.satnews.com/stories2007/4677/index.shtml|title="Misty" Stealth Spy Satellite Program Cancelled? |publisher=SatNews|access-date=2010-12-28|date=2007-06-26}}{{dead link|date=November 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Blackjack (satellite)]]
* [[Future Imagery Architecture]]
* [[KH-11]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* Allen Thomson. [http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/track/stealth.pdf Stealth Satellite Sourcebook] (from [[Federation of American Scientists]])
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/afp-731.htm GlobalSecurity.org article]
* {{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/mystery_monday_050103.html|publisher=Space.com|title=Anatomy of a spy satellite|author=Leonard David|date=January 3, 2005}}
* [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB143/index.htm The Spy Satellite So Stealthy that the Senate Couldn't Kill It] (Excerpt from ''The Wizards of Langley'' on MISTY)
* {{cite journal|author=Jeffrey T. Richelson|title=Satellite in the shadows|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|volume=61|year=2005|issue=3}}

{{Template:National Reconnaissance Office}}
{{NRO satellites}}
{{US Reconnaissance Satellites}}

[[Category:Cold War military equipment of the United States]]
[[Category:Lockheed Martin satellites and probes]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1990s]]
[[Category:National Reconnaissance Office satellites]]
[[Category:Reconnaissance satellites of the United States]]