In the 1960s, geodesy was the superficial goal of the satellite program CORONA, while military reconnaissance was in fact a driving force. Even for geodetic data, new secrecy guidelines worked to restrict collaboration in a field that had formerly been fundamentally international; the Figure of the Earth had geopolitical significance beyond questions of pure geoscience. Still, geodesists were able to retain enough autonomy and subvert secrecy limitations enough to make use of the findings of their military research to overturn some of the fundamental theories of geodesy.
In the 1960s, the primary aim of the CORONA satellite program was superficially about geodesy, but in reality, military reconnaissance drove its development. Even for geodetic data, new secrecy guidelines limited collaboration within a field that had once been fundamentally international; the Figure of the Earth carried geopolitical significance beyond purely geological concerns. Nevertheless, geodesists managed to retain enough independence and subvert secrecy limitations to apply military research findings to revise some core geodesy theories.