Pine Gap

Pine Gap (officially the Joint Defense Facility Pine Gap) is a CIA-operated satellite ground control station located approximately 18 km southwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. It is operated jointly by the United States and Australia under a defense treaty.

Mission

Pine Gap's original and still primary purpose is to serve as the ground control station for geosynchronous signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellites operated by the CIA under Program B of the National Reconnaissance Program. It is considered the CIA's most important technical intelligence collection station in the world. Primary satellite systems controlled from the facility included the Rhyolite, Aquacade, and Magnum geosynchronous SIGINT platforms.

History

The facility's existence was negotiated in the mid-1960s under a joint US–Australian intelligence agreement. The first US Chief of Facility was Richard Lee Stallings, a senior CIA officer in the Office of ELINT, who arrived in Australia in September 1966 and moved to Alice Springs in January 1967.

The facility has operated continuously since and remains active. Its connection to the Directorate of Science and Technology placed it organizationally under successive DDS&T officers, including Everett Hineman (1982–1989).