NRO Loses Decision Authority on BASIC Imaging Satellite Program

摘要

Senior U.S. defense and intelligence leaders have stripped the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) of its authority to make key decisons on a planned imaging satellite procurement and are poised to do the same for others managed by the spy satellite agency, according to current and former intelligence officials. The step was taken amid concern that the NRO, which has suffered numerous setbacks in recent years including program cancellations and on-orbit failures, was in danger of running afoul of White House policy with a program dubbed BASIC, or Broad Area Satellite Imagery Collection.