The National Reconnaissance Office just revealed the existence of its "JUMPSEAT" line of spy satellites, eight of which launched to Earth orbit between 1971 and 1987. We just learned about a pioneering U.S. spy satellite program, nearly 40 years after its final spacecraft launched to the final frontier. On Wednesday (Jan. 28), the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) declassified its "JUMPSEAT" spy satellite , eight of which reached a highly elliptical orbit (HEO) between 1971 and 1987. The first JUMPSEAT satellite launched in 1971 from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, which is now known as Vandenberg Space Force Base . Seven other JUMPSEAT spacecraft reached orbit over the next decade and a half, concluding with JUMPSEAT 8 in February 1987 .