Spy Director Ends Program on Satellites

SPY DIRECTOR ENDS PROGRAM ON SATELLITES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Mark Mazzetti]
The nation’s top intelligence official has decided to terminate a multibillion-dollar spy satellite program beset by spiraling costs and opposition from powerful lawmakers. Government officials and defense experts said that the official, Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, would cancel the next generation of a highly classified stealth satellite program, known publicly as the Misty system, because he had determined that the system was not worth the cost. Mr. McConnell said at an intelligence conference this week that he had decided to scrap a large intelligence program, joking that it was a way to flex his bureaucratic clout. The position of spy chief has long been criticized as lacking enough authority over the nation’s 16 intelligence agencies. Mr. McConnell gave no details about the program, but officials confirmed on Thursday that it was the Misty system, a satellite fleet built principally by Lockheed Martin. Spy agencies have long hoped to develop smaller, stealthier satellites in part because other nations are improving their capabilities to detect and destroy satellites. During a test in January, the Chinese government fired a medium-range missile from a mobile launcher and smashed a target satellite into more than 1,000 pieces.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/us/22spy.html
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