WASHINGTON (AP) The Obama administration on Tuesday approved the purchase of pricey new spy satellites and will buy more commercial imagery from the private sector to plug immediate gaps in satellite coverage.
The new program will take the place of one that had been awarded to The Boeing Co. The Pentagon canceled that project in 2005 because it was grossly over budget and behind schedule.
An intelligence official, who spoke to reporters shortly after the White House approved the program, said the new spy satellites would offer the same capability of those now in use. Officials were concerned that significant changes in their design could break the budget for the program or delay the launch of the satellites, he said.
The official, who spoke only on the condition that his name not be used, declined to reveal the budget for the program.
Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has already complained about the price tag, which he put at more than $10 billion. The official said that figure is incorrect but would not offer an alternative.
The official would also not specify how many spy satellites would be built or when they would be launched. He said officials believed it would be soon enough to plug any gaps left by the 2005 cancellation.
However, military, intelligence and industry officials familiar with the program told The Associated Press last week that the program is called ''2-plus-2'' and calls for building two sophisticated satellites e the Pentagon. The uniformed military favored developing and launching a new class of satellites that would be able to observe targets with better resolution than their commercial counterparts, but would be faster and cheaper to produce than the spy satellites approved by the White House.
The intelligence official said Tuesday at the press conference that officials had determined that the alternate satellites would not have met either military or intelligence needs.
The ''2-plus-2'' program is meant to avert a potential gap in U.S. imagery satellite coverage around the world. The sophisticated spy satellites now in orbit are nearing the end of their service life, and replacements must be launched in the next decade to prevent blind spots.
The plan will have to win congressional approval. A second intelligence official said the administration is confident it will pass.
The Defense Department spends about $20 billion annually on space programs.
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