DCEETA

The Defense Communications Electronics Evaluation and Testing Activity (DCEETA) is a U.S Military installation located in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Alternate names may be Aerospace Data Facility (East) or Area 58.
The large, two-story, concrete building, The site has a number of radomes oriented on a north south axis.
Operations
DCEETA is alleged to be a downlink site for satellite imagery collection, supporting the KH-11 and advanced KH-11 space vehicles and capable of delivering near-real time imagery to support the Military Intelligence Corps, other intelligence organisations and allied partners.
It is further claimed that the first significant use of raw imagery to influence politicians was in 1977, in the White House.
However, there were ongoing problems stemming from an unstable asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch. The ATM switch has a record of poor performance, and the Dec. 27, 1999 problems produced outages of 12 hours or more for Pacific Command and Central Command, according to an internal Pentagon e-mail message.

Apparantly, operations run 24/7/365, with automated vehicle access control. The guard shack is manned weekdays.
First White House Use
The first documented use of material downloaded at DCEETA was in 1977.
On January 21, 1977, Acting Director of the CIA, Mr. E. Henry Knoche met with and delivered reconnaissance satellite photographs to President Carter, that had been downloaded at DCEETA. It was the beginning of real-time imaging.
' "Of course," Jimmy Carter said as he turned to Brzezinski, "this will also be of value in our arms control work." The KH-11 had made its White House debut, and on that hopeful note the meeting in the Map Room came to an end.'
Y2K Issues
During Y2K, there were some problems downloading there:
Early on Jan. 1, NRO's Defense Communications Electronics Evaluation Testing Activity (DCEETA) at Ft. Belvoir was capable of capturing, on average, no more than 70 percent of the planned coverage by the imagery satellites. DCEETA, known within intelligence circles as Area 58, is a highly secure facility, and defense officials do not discuss operations at the complex. This article elaborated on the press conference of Deputy Sec Def John Hamre;.
The problem wasn't with the satellite system - they were under positive control at all times," Hamre said. "The problem was on the ground in the processing station."
Classification
The NRO has reaffirmed the classification of Area 58: 1.3.3.e. (U) The term "Area 58" or "A-58" when limited to the context of a very general association with the NRO, intelligence activities, imagery intelligence, or satellite reconnaissance <u>but not revealing any</u> geographic location information."
But as Mr. Bamford, in The New York Times previously noted:
The irony is that the Soviet security and intelligence organization K.G.B. probably knows more about America's spy-satellite operations than all but the few most highly cleared people in the United States. The reason for this is an abominable track record in security on the part of the C.I.A. and the satellite intelligence community as a whole."
See Also
*Ground Control Station
*Spy satellite

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