Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by dcrazy on Saturday January 31, 2026 @01:29AM
(#46834029)
I’m surprised that the classification markings, all of which include “TK, were merely struck through instead of blacked out. But I guess the cat’s been out of the bag on the meaning of TALENT KEYHOLE for quite a while.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by sizzzzlerz on Wednesday January 28, 2026 @09:32PM
(#46805006)
This blows me away. I worked on systems that processed the signals from these satellites at the ground sites. At the time, these were highly classified, requiring background investigations and a polygraph to be granted access to know about these things. All our work had to be performed in a SCIF and we were forbidden to discuss our work with anyone not cleared to know. The form that we had to sign when being briefed stated that this was a lifetime commitment. I never would have believed that the NRO would declassify this system.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by Neywiny on Friday January 30, 2026 @11:38PM
(#46833559)
I'm sure I don't need to say it, but what got declassified and the work you did are very, very different things. Pretty much everything in the notice is included in this article, so anything you're not reading.... Best to keep to yourself.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by sizzzzlerz on Saturday January 31, 2026 @09:56AM
(#46837219)
Not to worry. Unlike trump, I didn't remove classified info from the SCIF and store it in my bathroom or share it with Russian dinner guests. I hold my oaths seriously.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by kevin_thibedeau on Saturday January 31, 2026 @07:12PM
(#46842266)
For the downvoters. See EO12333 2.4(b) & (c):
2.4 Collection Techniques...
These procedures shall not authorize:
...
(c) Physical surveillance of a United States
person in the United States by agencies
other than the FBI, except for:
(1) Physical surveillance of present or former
employees, present or former intelligence
agency contractors or their present or former
employees, or applicants for any such
employment or contracting; and
(2) Physical surveillance of a military person
employed by a nonintelligence element of a
military service.
This is written to look like it's constitutional but it's granting power through the wide-ranging exceptions. The upshot is it grants all agencies other than the FBI approval to surveil individuals covered by 2.4(c)1 & 2. The FBI gets a complete blank check on everyone. Covering "former employees" means this remains in effect until death for those affected.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by pseudohadamard on Saturday January 31, 2026 @10:31PM
(#46843360)
Was this really that secret? I've known about JUMPSEAT for at least 20 years and I'm not a US citizen, nor do I have any kind of security clearance. Not sure where the information was published, maybe one of James Bamford's books, but there's nothing terribly new there apart from the USG finally acknowledging what we already knew.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by Biggbboattttt on Saturday January 31, 2026 @10:38PM
(#46843389)
Interesting point! I think a lot of the secrecy around programs like JUMPSEAT is more about official acknowledgment than actual hidden knowledge so what’s been publicly available for years suddenly becomes ‘news’ once the government confirms it. James Bamford’s work definitely made a lot of this info accessible to the public, so it makes sense that someone could know about it without clearance.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by pseudohadamard on Sunday February 01, 2026 @05:26AM
(#46845085)
I've had a quick look and it's mentioned in a number of places, Matthew Aid's "The Secret Sentry" mentions it briefly, Bamford has a page or two in "Body of Secrets", and for honorable mention Jeffrey Richelson's "Wizards of Langley" doesn't have it but does cover the entire KH series across a span of around 250 pages. It may be in a few more books but it'd be a pile to go through.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by sizzzzlerz on Sunday February 01, 2026 @10:10AM
(#46846701)
Knowing that some classified program exists is one thing. Knowing technical details, capabilities, missions, targeting, is a whole nother. One can read about such black programs from a number of sources, Bamford's Puzzle Palace is one. Sontag's Blind Man's Bluff is another. You can also learn about such things from books and newspaper articles about people who revealed secret information to the Soviet Union, Chris Boyce, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen, and the Walker Family. In other words, nothing is truly secret if you know where to look and have a ability to piece together disparate facts to build up a more complete picture.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by pseudohadamard on Sunday February 01, 2026 @10:52PM
(#46852209)
"Blind Man's Bluff" was a really impressive piece of work, I once talked about it with someone who was involved with the program and he was astounded at how much Sontag had managed to find out. There were things in the book that he didn't even know about, because they were compartmentalised and Sontag wasn't.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by gpt5 on Saturday January 31, 2026 @01:21AM
(#46833995)
If you are curious what this is about. The US effectively wanted a geostationary satellite parked right over the high-latitude regions of the Soviet Union to intercept their signals.
The problem is, that geostationary satellites must orbit directly above the equator. If you try to look at northern Russia from the equator, the curvature of the Earth gets in the way.
So, the NRO used a Molniya (HEO) orbit as a clever cheat.
They launched JUMPSEAT into a stretched-out ellipse. Because of orbital mechanics, a satellite moves incredibly fast when it's close to Earth (perigee) but slows down dramatically when it's far away (apogee). It spends about 10 hours of its 12-hour orbit just loitering high above the USSR, slowly drifting across the sky, essentially emulating a geostationary satellite.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by dcrazy on Saturday January 31, 2026 @01:24AM
(#46834004)
Thanks for filling in the missing link on why this program was special. Otherwise, it just seems like an announcement that NRO does indeed use satellites.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by unwind on Saturday January 31, 2026 @01:26AM
(#46834012)
“The historical significance of JUMPSEAT cannot be understated,” said Dr. James Outzen, NRO director of the Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance.
I'm no native speaker but that is backwards, right? Shouldn't it be overstated if it was a success?
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by vessenes on Saturday January 31, 2026 @04:14AM
(#46834878)
Native here: you’re correct it’s a weird sentence and turn of phrase in English.
That said, can/cannot is a flexible word in English and we could take it to mean “Anyone discussing the significance of JUMPSEAT [accurately] [should never] understate it.”
But I think he meant overstate in this case. Or maybe he hated JUMPSEAT, thought it sucked and put that right out there in the press release.
Re:Declassifying JUMPSEAT: an American pioneer in space
by nradov on Saturday January 31, 2026 @06:13PM
(#46841884)
The laws of physics haven't changed. Despite some technical advancements we still can't read a license plate from a satellite like what you see in the movies. This is due to fundamental physical limits.
Information needs and wants to be free for humankind.
https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/execu...
The problem is, that geostationary satellites must orbit directly above the equator. If you try to look at northern Russia from the equator, the curvature of the Earth gets in the way.
So, the NRO used a Molniya (HEO) orbit as a clever cheat.
They launched JUMPSEAT into a stretched-out ellipse. Because of orbital mechanics, a satellite moves incredibly fast when it's close to Earth (perigee) but slows down dramatically when it's far away (apogee). It spends about 10 hours of its 12-hour orbit just loitering high above the USSR, slowly drifting across the sky, essentially emulating a geostationary satellite.
I'm no native speaker but that is backwards, right? Shouldn't it be overstated if it was a success?
That said, can/cannot is a flexible word in English and we could take it to mean “Anyone discussing the significance of JUMPSEAT [accurately] [should never] understate it.”
But I think he meant overstate in this case. Or maybe he hated JUMPSEAT, thought it sucked and put that right out there in the press release.
Feels like all the crazy satellite capabilities in spy movies are not that crazy after all.
Well that’s an interesting blurb from the declassification memo -https://www.nro.gov/Portals/135/Documents/foia/JUMPSEAT%20Re...