Posted: 12/12/2004 5:59:19 AM EDT
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By The Washington Post and The New York Times Sen. Rockefeller protested on the Senate floor. E-mail this article WASHINGTON — The United States is building a new generation of "stealth" spy satellites in a highly classified program that has provoked opposition from both Democrats and Republicans in closed congressional sessions. Lawmakers have questioned the necessity and escalating cost of the $9.5 billion program, which still would take photographs only in daylight and in clear weather, current and former government officials say. The system, whose existence has not been offically disclosed, has almost doubled in projected cost from its original $5 billion, officials said. The National Reconnaissance Office, which manages spy-satellite programs, has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the program, officials said. CIA chief Porter Goss backed plan in House. The stealth satellite, which would probably become the largest single-item expenditure in the $40 billion intelligence budget, is to be launched in the next five years and is meant to replace an existing stealth satellite, according to officials. Nonstealth satellites can be tracked and their orbits can be predicted, allowing countries to attempt to hide weapons or troop movements when the satellites are overhead. Link to the rest of the story |
