Can the US really build a global persistent surveillance system?
The latest reports from the Pentagon indicate that three of the major military space programs that had been in trouble are now, more or less, on the road to repair. Boeing is slowly coming out of the doghouse after it was caught committing industrial espionage against Lockheed Martin during the initial EELV competition. The NRO’s FIA (Future Imagery Architecture) is apparently on track after a major injection of fresh money. The Space Based Infrared System, called SBIRS High, has recovered from last year’s setbacks and is now in recovery. This may be good news for the long-suffering program managers who report to Peter Teets but, compared to where the DoD thought it was going three years ago, this situation is a major disappointment. The Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites that SBIRS are supposed to replace are slowly reaching the end of their lifetimes. The last one still on the ground and is supposed to be launched sometime next year. The DSPs have been invaluable not only in th
