For their parts, the Navy and National Reconnaissance Office expressed strong reservations about the agreement.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Clinton Legacy Watch #50 : Stealthy Accord With Ru

"Twelve of the 50 EELV launches have been NRO missions and these have been vital to our overall mission of delivering on commitments critical to our national security, " said Bruce Carlson, director of the National Reconnaissance Office.

MSN: Shhh �� Air Forces launches secret US spy satellite

The US agency was recently gifted two Hubble-class spy telescopes by the National Reconnaissance Office, but even with this donation Nasa is short of the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to turn one of them into a dark mission.

BBC: Euclid telescope to probe dark universe

In the end the NSA became the primary owner, the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) owned and built the spacecraft that collected the intelligence and the military branches had organizations (Air Force Security Services, Army Security Agency or Naval Security Group) that manned the collection platforms (airplanes, listening posts, etc) which all fed back into the National Security Agency.

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