US spy satellite agency declassifies high-flying Cold War listening post
by Stephen Clark from Ars Technica - All content on (#736W4)
The National Reconnaissance Office, the agency overseeing the US government's fleet of spy satellites, has declassified a decades-old program used to eavesdrop on the Soviet Union's military communication signals.
The program was codenamed Jumpseat, and its existence was already public knowledge through leaks and contemporary media reports. What's new is the NRO's description of the program's purpose and development and pictures of the satellites themselves.
In a statement, the NRO called Jumpseat "the United States' first-generation, highly elliptical orbit (HEO) signals-collection satellite."