Facility
The facility consists of a large computer complex with 14 radomes protecting antennas and has over 800 employees. It is believed to be one of the largest ECHELON ground stations and appears to be physically and operationally similar to the American signals intelligence facilities at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado and RAF Menwith Hill, United Kingdom. United States government personnel at Pine Gap are believed to be mostly from the National Security Agency and subordinate service-associated agencies as well as the Central Intelligence Agency. A long-term NSA employee at Pine Gap, David Rosenberg, has suggested that the CIA runs the facility.
As published in ERSA by CASA, the airspace around Pine Gap is the only area in Australia designated as "prohibited", which prohibits entering and overflying the airspace up to a height of Flight Level 180 (approximately 18,000 ft or 5,500 m).
The location is strategically significant because it controls America's spy satellites as they pass over the one third of the globe which includes China, parts of Russia and Middle East oil fields. Central Australia was chosen because it was too remote for spy ships passing in international waters to intercept the signal.
The facility has become a key part of the local economy.
Read more about this topic: Pine Gap
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