US government declassifies Cold War-era 'JUMPSEAT' spy satellites

A tall cylindrical satellite with a dome-shaped radar dish on top, standing upright in a hangar.

We just learned about a pioneering U.S. spy satellite program, nearly 40 years after its final spacecraft launched to the final frontier.

On Wednesday (Jan. 28), the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) declassified its "JUMPSEAT" spy satellite, eight of which reached a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) between 1971 and 1987.