Pine Gap
Located just 18 kilometers south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in the center of Australia and originally known as Joint Defense Space Research Facility, the Joint Defense Facility Pine Gap would serve as an essential satellite surveillance base jointly ran by Australia and the United States as the tensions between the US and the Soviet Union increased in the 60’s.
Under the guise of “space research”, the base would become fully operational by 1970, It would use a number of spy satellites to monitor Soviet missile activity. It is in a strategically significant location as it allows the American military to control its spy satellites as they pass over one-third of the globe, including China, the Asian parts of Russia, and the Middle East.
The base still plays an important role today in the United States global intelligence gathering efforts with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), US National Security Agency (NSA), and US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) all still playing an active role at this remote location.
