Posted: Fri, Apr 10, 2009, 7:40 AM ET (1140 GMT)
The head of the National Reconnaissance Office announced his resignation this week, a day after the White House approved a new spysat program. Scott Large announced his resignation in a memo to NRO employees on Wednesday, without citing a specific reason for his departure. Large, who had been NRO director since October 2007 after working as the agency's principal deputy director, had been criticized in some circles for management problems, as well as his association with the Future Imagery Architecture, the next-generation satellite program that encountered major budget overruns and eventually led to the new program announced this week. Current deputy director USAF Maj. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski will serve as acting director after Large's departure next week.

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