In the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved
reconnaissance systems that included high-altitude balloons,
airplanes, and satellites to gain strategic intelligence on the
Soviet Union, China, and other potential threats to the United
States. On August 31, 1960, Secretary of the Air Force Dudley C.
Sharp established the Office of Missile and Satellite Systems to
direct the Air Force satellite reconnaissance program. On
September 6, 1961, Acting Director of Central Intelligence
General Charles P. Cabell and Deputy Secretary of Defense
Roswell L. Gilpatric officially established management
arrangements for the National Reconnaissance Program. These
arrangements consolidated many of America’s national space and
aerial reconnaissance projects under a covert, highly
compartmented National Reconnaissance Office. * Adobe® Reader®
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