The date is was created is unknown.

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The post NRO: Getting the Job Done Video first appeared on The Black Vault.

Document Archive

Alleged Unauthorized Disclosure – Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community – Case: 18-0001-IN – 2018 [22 Pages, 6MB]

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The post Alleged Unauthorized Disclosure – Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community – Case: 18-0001-IN – 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the NRO, here is some background on the agency:

Develop. Acquire. Launch. Operate.

When the United States needs eyes and ears in critical places where no human can reach – be it over the most rugged terrain or through the most hostile territory – it turns to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The NRO is the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America’s intelligence satellites. Whether creating the latest innovations in satellite technology, contracting with the most cost-efficient industrial supplier, conducting rigorous launch schedules, or providing the highest-quality products to our customers, we never lose focus on who we are working to protect: our Nation and its citizens.

From our inception in 1961 to our declassification to the public in 1992, we have worked tirelessly to provide the best reconnaissance support possible to the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD). We are unwavering in our dedication to fulfilling our vision: Supra Et Ultra: Above and Beyond.

The below, are indexes to the videos that the NRO holds, in reverse chronological order on when they were released.

Declassified Documents

 Index of videos at the NRO, as of July of 2021 [50 Pages, 7.5MB]

 Index of videos at the NRO, as of September of 2016 [26 Pages, 7.5MB]

 Index of videos at the NRO, as of August of 2014 [78 Pages, 5.2MB]

 Index of videos at the NRO, as of August of 2009 [61 Pages, 12.35MB]

The post National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Videos first appeared on The Black Vault.

The following are the released editions of the NRO’s internal publication, The RECON.

More dates have been requested, and will be added when they are released.

Declassified Documents

 The RECON issues, 4/20/09, 5/4/09, 5/15/09, 6/01/09 [67 Pages, 10.34MB

 The RECON issues all of 2008 [23 Pages, 0.8MB]

 The RECON issues from 09/2001 through 01/2002 [124 Pages, 11.24MB]

 The RECON issues all of 2003 [327 Pages, 37MB] – This PDF file has bookmarks that mark every date issue discernible from the release.

The post The RECON – National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Publication first appeared on The Black Vault.

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) began in 1961, but operated in secret for decades before it was officially acknowledged. Before the existence was declassified, in 1974, they evaluated numerous incidents where the agency was talked about within the press. The concern was how the Soviets, or the media, would react.

This document was first released to the National Security Archive (also archived below) and was heavily redacted. In August of 2019, I filed a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request to have it reviewed. To my surprise, all redactions were lifted and it was released in full minus one name at the end of the report.

Document Archive

History of NRO Security Breaches, January 7, 1974 [6 Pages, 1MB]

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Archived Versions

Original Release to the National Security Archive

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The post History of NRO Security Breaches, January 7, 1974 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Study encompasses all facets of the NRO workforce, with the goal to optimize human capital across the NRO to achieve mission objectives.

Document Archive

NRO Workforce 2015 Study, 11 April 2012 [22 Pages, 3.8MB]

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The post NRO Workforce 2015 Study, 11 April 2012 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Internally, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)’s Office of Strategic Communication published the blog entitled, “Vigilance from Above”. It appears, that it began in November of 2009 and was published until June of 2010.

I do have an open request for the entire collection, and this page will be updated when that request response comes in. Until then, the final 10 blogs published have been released to me below.

Document Archive

 NRO Internal Blog/Newsletter: VIGILANCE FROM ABOVE (Requested “all issues” a/o February 2019) [17 Pages, 1.5MB]

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 NRO Internal Blog/Newsletter: VIGILANCE FROM ABOVE (Requested “Last 10” a/o 2017) [11 Pages, 1.8MB]

The post NRO Internal Blog/Newsletter: VIGILANCE FROM ABOVE first appeared on The Black Vault.

This is the second volume in the history of the National Reconnaissance Program. The first volume related the story of CORONA-the first successful program in applying space vehicles to overflight reconnaissance operations. In its several evolutionary versions, CORONA steadily improved its photographic surveys of denied areas (with final resolutions of six to ten feet), operating in what the Intelligence Community calls “search mode.”

This volume is the story of a companion photographic satellite called GAMBIT, which was developed to perform at even better resolutions than CORONA and work against specified targets-an operation usually referred to as “surveillance mode.” GAMBIT fulfilled this surveillance function from July 1963 to April 1984.

Document Archive

The GAMBIT Story, June 1991 [200 Pages, 11MB]

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The post The GAMBIT Story, June 1991 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The NRO Primer was referenced in a February 2003 issue of the NRO’s internal magazine called RECON. I requested the document in December of 2018, and it was released on March 29, 2019.

Document Archive

NRO Primer Presentation, August 22, 2005 [75 Pages, 1.1MB]

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The post NRO Primer Presentation, August 22, 2005 first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the document, the purpose of this task was was to:

“Advise the DCI on issues attendant to the future of the National Reconnaissance Office, including those raised by The Senate “Intelligence Reorganization Act of 1992″ (S. 2198) and House National Security Act of 1992″ (HR 4165).”

Although previously released, I requested a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) on it in April of 2018. In October of the same year, I received the below document. I highlighted changes so you can see the newly released information.

Document Archive

DCI Task Force on the National Reconnaissance Office, Final Report (The Fuhrman Report), April 1992 (October 2018 Release – with Highlighted newly released information) [36 Pages, 19.5MB]

DCI Task Force on the National Reconnaissance Office, Final Report (The Fuhrman Report), April 1992 (National Security Archive [Unknown Date] Release) [35 Pages, 4.2MB]

The post DCI Task Force on the National Reconnaissance Office, Final Report (The Fuhrman Report), April 1992 first appeared on The Black Vault.

POPPY is the code name given to a series of U.S. intelligence satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office. The POPPY satellites recorded ELINT data, targeting radar installations in the Soviet Union and Soviet naval ships at sea.

The POPPY program was a continuation within NRO’s Program C of the Naval Research Laboratory’s Galactic Radiation and Background (GRAB) ELINT program, also known as Tattletale. The National Security Agency was given the responsibility of collecting, interpreting, and reporting the signals intercepted.

The existence of the POPPY program was declassified by the NRO in September 2005, although most of the details about its capabilities and operation are still classified. The NRO revealed, though, that the POPPY satellites, like other US SIGINT systems, used the principle of signals time difference of arrival, which enables precise locating of an object.[1] All POPPY launches orbited multiple satellites. The first POPPY launch included two satellites, launch #2 and #3 three satellites each, and subsequent launches orbited four satellites each. The full configuration thus employed four vehicles in low Earth orbit.

There were seven launches of POPPY satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base from 1962 until 1971, all of which were successful. The program continued until August 1977.

Declassified Documents

The Poppy Satellite – First Launch [100 Pages] – All documents released from the National Reconnaissance Office, as of 14 August 2006.

The History of the Poppy Satellite System

Abstract: This report describes the history of the Poppy project from its concept in 1958 through its termination on 30 September 1977. This history was compiled at the request of the Director National Reconnaissance Office to the Director, Program C.

Included in this report are the significant events during the nineteen years of the Poppy project, including the development and refinement of POPPY satellites,
mission ground stations, ground readout equipment; analog analysis, and data processing. The impact of failures, problems and anomalies are evaluated. Successes of the Poppy project are measured against program objectives. Technical cost history, key contributions, a glossary of terms related to the POPPY project, and a bibliography are contained in annexes to the report.

Each of the chapters in the report is intended to be somewhat self-contained. Annex i contains a summary of mission characteristics and merges some information from the third throughout the seventh chapters in order to provide a chronological summary of the technological innovations in the order of the launches.

The History of the Poppy Satellite System, 2019 Release (Highlighted Portions of NEW Information) [98 Pages, 32MB] – In January of 2019, I requested a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) of this document. Previously, the last release of it was in 2016. I was successful in getting the NRO to release additional portions of the report, that have never been released before. This included project names, mission numbers and key technical data. I archived the 2012 and 2016 versions below, for reference.

The History of the Poppy Satellite System, 2016 Release [98 Pages, 9.5MB] – In October of 2016, I requested a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) of this document. Previously, the last release of it was in 2012. I was successful in getting the NRO to release additional portions of the report, that have never been released before. I archived the 2012 version below, for reference.

The History of the Poppy Satellite System, 2012 Release [97 Pages, 2.5MB]

Raising the Periscope… GRAB and POPPY: America’s Early ELINT Satellites [27 Pages, 1.5MB] – We offer in this publication a brief history of Grab and Poppy—two of the earliest U.S. satellite-based electronic intelligence (ELINT) programs. Our brief history represents the scope of programmatic details that former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet authorized the Director of National Reconnaissance to declassify.1 Our goal was to produce a consolidated summary of these programs on the occasion of DNRO Donald Kerr’s recognition of key contributors to the Poppy program.2 Although security constraints limit how much we can say about these programs, we present an overview and summary of Poppy’s early contributions to national security. Such information can provide current NRO program managers with an unclassified historical context for programmatic and policy decisions.

The post Poppy Satellite first appeared on The Black Vault.

Document Archive

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request Response:

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The post Gambit: Eye of the Eagle — National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Video first appeared on The Black Vault.

Document Archive

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request Response:

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The post Hexagon: Sentinel of Liberty — National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Video first appeared on The Black Vault.

This document transcript was originally released in 2012 with redactions. In December of 2018, I requested that the document be reviewed again when I filed a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) request. There was additional information released, which includes the identity of the Kennon satellite in the interview, which was previously redacted.

According to Wikipedia:

“Hans Michael Mark (born June 17, 1929 in Mannheim, Germany) is a former Secretary of the Air Force and a former Deputy Administrator of NASA. He is an expert and consultant in aerospace design and national defense policy. Mark retired from the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering in July 2014.”

Gerald Haines was the official historian of the NRO, at the time, when he conducted this interview. It should be noted that Mr. Haines worked also for the CIA, NSA and others.

Document Archive

 Dr. Hans Mark Interviewed by Gerald Haines, 12 March 1997 [37 Pages, 17MB] – 2019 Release

 Dr. Hans Mark Interviewed by Gerald Haines, 12 March 1997 [36 Pages, 2.2MB] – 2012 Release

The post Dr. Hans Mark Interviewed by Gerald Haines, 12 March 1997 first appeared on The Black Vault.

HOMERUN was a secret US aerial reconnaissance operation against the USSR conducted between March and May 1956.

During that time RB-47E and RB-47H reconnaissance aircraft flew almost daily flights over the North Pole to photograph and gather electronic intelligence over the entire northern section of the Soviet Union. Project Homerun used 16 RB-47Es from the 10th SRS and five RB-47Hs from the 343rd SRS. 156 sorties were performed. On a typical RB-47H reconnaissance mission covering 5,984 mi (9,360 km), the aircraft would fly from Thule, Greenland to the Kara Sea to Murmansk and then return only to find Thule weathered-in, forcing the flight from the air-refueling/decision point near the northeast shore of Greenland to one of three equidistant alternates: Goose Bay, Labrador, London, or Fairbanks, Alaska. Five KC-97s at Thule were required to support this scenario. Two ground spares and one air spare insured two 20,000 lb (9,090 kg) fuel transfers at a distance of over 600 mi (965 km) from Thule. Tankers returned to Thule to refuel and again repeat the flight to intercept the returning RB-47H six hours later for another air refueling. When the Soviet government filed an angry complaint with the US government, the US government attributed the overflights to “navigational difficulties”.

Document Archive

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

 Project HOMERUN Documents [398 Pages, 65MB]

The post Project HOMERUN first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the document, the purpose of the report is to:

“To provide strategic direction for the NRO in a changing world environment. The plan also provides a basis for focused dialogue among NRO managers regarding critical issues and choices, as well as a basis for dialogue between the NRO and its government and industry partners.” 

In April of 2018, I requested a Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) on the record.

On 18 May 2018, they released the below version.

Document Archive

 The NRO Strategic Plan, 1993 [14 Pages, 2.2MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nro/NROStrategicPlan1993.pdf

The post The NRO Strategic Plan, 1993 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Excerpt from document:

“Intelligence vital to the national security of the US now depends to a very large extent on photography acquired by overhead reconnaissance. This important intelligence source has been developed quite dramatically over the past ten years. All of our present photography has been collected by there reconnaissance systems.”

Document Archive

 A summary of the National Reconnaissance Problem, 13 May 1965 [24 Pages, 2.9MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nro/NationalReconProblem1965-nro.pdf

The post A summary of the National Reconnaissance Problem, 13 May 1965 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The following document was a “Top Secret” briefing by the Office of General Counsel at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) regarding the “Legal Status of the NRO,” given to a Joint DOD/CIA Inspector General team on 11 September 1995.

I filed the FOIA request to receive the document in April of 2018 and it was released in May of the same year.

Document Archive

 Legal Status of NRO – Briefing to Joint DOD-CIA IG Team, 11 September 1995 [23 Pages, 1.8MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nro/LegalStatusNRO.pdf

The post Legal Status of NRO – Briefing to Joint DOD-CIA IG Team, 11 September 1995 first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the document:

“The Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency conducted a joint inspection of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from October through December 1995. The goal of the inspection was to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes and mechanisms to manage and administer NRO resources and administrative programs. The objectives to: evaluate the authorities and delegations of thc NRO and oversight organizations; evaluate the processes to identify mission requirements and plan and organize resources for them; evaluate internal  administrative and management programs; and, evaluate internal management oversight processes.”

I requested the document under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in June of 2016, and it was finally released in April of 2018.

Note: Strangely, the letter erred on multiple dates. It said the date of the letter was April 27, 2017, but was actually sent the same day in 2018. It also notes my request was from 2006, but actually, it was 2016. Unclear why the mistakes, but alas, I wanted to point them out for clarity.

Document Archive

 1996 Joint Inspection of the National Reconnaissance Office, Inspection Report No. 96-014, 23 July 1996 [166 Pages, 15.1MB]

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The post 1996 Joint Inspection of the National Reconnaissance Office, Inspection Report No. 96-014, 23 July 1996 first appeared on The Black Vault.

This document was fought hard for, as it was finally released in a heavily redacted form, after a FOIA appeal.

After receiving the declassified page on the NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE (NRO) from the Intellipedia system, I found a reference to the NRO GEOINT Capabilities document.

I requested it in September of 2017, and it was denied in its entirety by the NRO as they claimed it was classified due to national security, or FOIA exemption (b)(1).

On October 21, 2017, I filed an appeal to their decision, referencing the fact that it was unlikely the entire document was “classified” as they stated. I believed that there should be at least some releasable portion of this document, whether it be as simple as the cover page, the table of contents, the index, the references section, etc. Some/most of which may not fall into the (b1) and/or (b)(3) exemption categories as they cited as their reason for denial.

On March 16, 2018, the NRO sent me the record as my appeal was partially granted. Though the end result was a highly redacted document, just as I suspected, some portions could be released.

Declassified Document

 NRO GEOINT Capabilities, February 2012 [92 Pages, 4.5MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nro/NROGEOINT-Capabilities.pdf

The post NRO GEOINT Capabilities, February 2012 first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the document:

Almost forty years ago, United States leaders created a hybrid National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to meet the unusual intelligence demands of the nuclear age and the Cold War. The chain of events began when President Dwight D. Eisenhower and a few confidants undertook national and international initiatives between 1953 and 1961 intended to help preclude a surprise nuclear attack.

Among them, they approved for development remarkable overhead technical systems that could collect reliable intelligence about the military equipage and disposition of Soviet forces; in the process they opened the Soviet Union to American  scrutiny.

During this period they also established the national policy and organizations needed to guide and execute a newly-emergent enterprise: astronautics.

Document Archive

 The National Reconnaissance Office: A Brief History of its Creation and Evolution, April 1999 [4 Pages, 0.8MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nro/F15-0025.pdf

The post The National Reconnaissance Office: A Brief History of its Creation and Evolution, April 1999 first appeared on The Black Vault.

While looking at the Intellipedia entry on the  National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), I came across a reference to the “NRO Satellite Resource Guide” under the “Suggested Readings” heading.

In September of 2017, I requested this document from the NRO, along with all other available versions of it. The Intellipedia page referenced a 2011 version, but that may have been a out of date reference, so I sought all versions available.

I was sent 5 versions of the document, from various dates. I put them in one .pdf below, and added bookmarks marking each version.

Document Archive

 The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Satellite Resource Guides, Released December 2017 [133 Pages, 7.1MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nro/satelliteresourceguide-dec2017.pdf

The post The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Satellite Resource Guides first appeared on The Black Vault.

Special thanks to Gunter’s Space Page for this description of GeoLITE:

GeoLITE (Geosynchronous Lightweight Technology Experiment) is an advanced, experimental communications satellite featuring Laser and UHF communication devices. It is operated by the NRO.

GeoLITE is the first mission for TRW’s T-310 satellite bus, a new lightweight, highly stable platform capable of a range of missions. TRW has system integration responsibility for GeoLITE, including the satellite development, integration and preparation for launch.

The lsser communications experiments consisted of:

• the GeoLITE Laster Terminal (GLT) to provide the NRO with information concerning high data rate geosynchronous orbit to ground communications in varying atmospheric conditons. It provided data to refine models and systems to reduce costs, riskas and schedule for future operational lasercom systems.
• the GLOM radiometer payload to measure the intensity fluctuations and polaization of the laser beams transmitted from Earth to the GeoLITE satellite

The UHF payload was part of the IBS-S (Integrated Broadcast Service – Simplex) inteligence data dissemination architecture to replace the older military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) archtecture. Other IPS-S payloads were flown on different missions to provide geostationary and polar coverage.

The satellite was designed and built in 3 1/2 years using streamlined program methodologies.

The below document was referenced in the Intellipedia Entry for  GeoLITE. After more than a year, I was able to get the document declassified, and it is now available here, for reference.

Declassified Documents

 Flight Ops GeoLITE Training, May 2009 (Declassified May 2017) [132 Pages, 9.9MB]

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The post Flight Ops GeoLITE Training, May 2009 (Declassified May 2017) first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the report:

“We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which comprise the balance sheet as of September 30, 2015, the related statement of net cost and changes in net position, and the combined statement of budgetary resources (hereinafter referred to as the “financial statements”) for the year then ended, as well as the related notes to the financial statements.

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America; the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 15-02, Audit Requirements for Federal Financial Statements. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.”

The Audit

 Audit of the National Reconnaissance Office Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Statements, 13 November 2015 [20 Pages, 2.9MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nro/F-2017-00040.pdf

The post Audit of the National Reconnaissance Office Fiscal Year 2015 Financial Statements, 13 November 2015 first appeared on The Black Vault.

The Intelligence Community (IC) defines the term insider threat as an insider using her/his authorized access, wittingly or unwittingly, to do harm to the security of the United States. As recently experienced by the IC and the Department of Defense, this harm can take many forms, including industrial espionage, unauthorized disclosure of classified information, or even violent acts. This is an organization-wide risk that is not limited to information technology or counterintelligence (CI).

To address the magnitude of this risk, in October 2011, the President released an Executive Order (E.0.)1 requiring departments and agencies to establish an insider threat program. The President subsequently issued several additional memoranda that established the National Insider Threat Policy clarifying his expectations for protecting federal entities.

Under Presidential direction, the National Insider Threat Task Force (NIITF) issued guidance on how to comply with the National Insider Threat Policy and specified what must be included in an insider threat program. It prescribed a coordinated effort across multiple disciplines. Examples ofthese disciplines include Personnel Security, Law Enforcement, Privacy and Civil Liberties, Human Resources, Information Assurance, CI, and Office of Inspector General (OIG). These interrelated disciplines are supposed to form an agency-wide safety net, including government and contractors, to deter, detect, and mitigate actions by employees who may represent a threat to national security.

Accepting that an insider threat program takes time to mature, the President provided a timeline for agencies to reach initial operating capability with their respective Insider Threat Programs. The NITTF, with White House concurrence, clarified that by 20 May 2013, all agencies must

1. (U) designate an insider threat senior official(s ),
2. (U) issue an insider threat policy signed by the department or agency head, and
3. (U) submit to department or agency leadership an insider threat program
implementation plan that addresses how the organization intends to meet the
requirements set forth in the minimum standards.

The Investigation

 Audit of the National Reconnaissance Office Insider Threat Program (Project Number 2015-002 A), 30 April 2015 [9 Pages, 1.8MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nro/F-2017-00045.pdf

The post Audit of the National Reconnaissance Office Insider Threat Program (Project Number 2015-002 A), 30 April 2015 first appeared on The Black Vault.