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Pine Gap

This article is about the joint intelligence base. For the TV series, see Pine Gap (TV series).

Pine Gap
Australia
Pine Gap is located in Australia
Pine Gap
Pine Gap
Coordinates23°48′00″S 133°44′15″E / 23.80000°S 133.73750°E / -23.80000; 133.73750
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Pine Gap is a joint United States-Australian satellite communications and signals intelligence surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately 18 km (11 mi) south-west of the town of Alice Springs. It is jointly operated by Australia and the United States, and since 1988 it has been officially called the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG); previously, it was known as Joint Defence Space Research Facility.[1] It plays a crucial role in supporting the intelligence activities and military operations of the US around the world.[2] The base's role has caused much controversy in Australia leading to various protests.[3]

The station is jointly run by the Australian Defence Force (Australian Signals Directorate), the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), US National Security Agency (NSA), and US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and is a key contributor to the NSA's global interception/surveillance effort, which included the ECHELON program.[4][5][6][7][8] The classified NRO name for the Pine Gap base is Australian Mission Ground Station (AMGS), while the unclassified cover term for the NSA function of the facility is RAINFALL.[9]

  1. ^ Hamlin, Karen (2007). "Pine Gap celebrates 40 years". Defence Magazine. 2007/8 (3): 28–31. ISSN 1446-229X. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  2. ^ Cronau, Peter (19 August 2017). "Leaked documents reveal Pine Gap's role in the US fighting machine". ABC News. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  3. ^ Commons Librarian (22 December 2023). "Campaigns that Changed South Australia". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  4. ^ Leslie, Tim; Corcoran, Mark (19 November 2013). "Explained: Australia's involvement with the NSA, the US spy agency at heart of global scandal". ABC. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  5. ^ Dorling, Philip (26 July 2013). "Australian outback station at forefront of US spying arsenal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  6. ^ Loxley, Adam (2011). The Teleios Ring. Leicester: Matador. p. 296. ISBN 978-1848769205.
  7. ^ Robert Dover; Michael S. Goodman; Claudia Hillebrand, eds. (2013). Routledge Companion to Intelligence Studies. Routledge. p. 164. ISBN 9781134480296.
  8. ^ "Mission Ground Station Declassification (NRO)" (PDF). 15 October 2008. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  9. ^ Peter Cronau, The Base: Pine Gap's Role in US Warfighting Archived 18 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Background Briefing, ABC Radio National, 20 August 2017; Ryan Gallagher and Peter Cronau, The U.S. Spy Hub in the Heart of Australia Archived 23 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine, The Intercept, 20 August 2017.

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