The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense and a member of the United States Intelligence Community that designs, builds, launches, and operates reconnaissance satellites for the U.S. federal government. It provides satellite intelligence, including signals intelligence (SIGINT), imagery intelligence (IMINT), and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT), to various government agencies like the NSA, NGA, and DIA. The NRO partners with organizations such as the U.S. Space Force, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX, and its activities include developing advanced satellite technology and launching assets into orbit. Keywords associated with the NRO include: reconnaissance satellites, intelligence, national security, and space-based surveillance.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Rocket Lab plans to deploy satellites to space for the National Reconnaissance Office within 10 days of each other on the two scheduled Electron launches.
The satellites for NROL-162 and NROL-199 were designed, built, and will be operated by the National Reconnaissance Office in partnership with the Australian Department of Defense.
The satellites flying on NROL-162 and NROL-199 will support the National Reconnaissance Office by providing critical information to government agencies and decision makers monitoring international issues.
Frank Calvelli served a 30-year career at the National Reconnaissance Office overseeing satellite and ground system acquisitions.
Space Delta 18 will support the space intelligence community that includes the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office.
The SARah-1 booster had flown two National Reconnaissance Office missions earlier in 2024 and landed back at the Vandenberg launch site after the 2022-06-18 launch.
Planet received a $146,000,000 initial commitment from the National Reconnaissance Office to provide imagery over five years for SkySat constellation tasking, PlanetScope daily imagery, and access to Planet’s imagery archive.
The National Reconnaissance Office announced its selection of Electro-Optical Commercial Layer vendors on 2023-05-25.
Planet disclosed the $146,000,000 NRO contract value during its 2022-06-14 earnings call.
The committee encourages the National Reconnaissance Office to expand its current commercial synthetic aperture radar acquisition program beyond pilot program status.
The committee recommends the National Reconnaissance Office accelerate adoption and integration of U.S. commercial synthetic aperture radar systems and requests a report on NRO plans to acquire commercial SAR capabilities.
The NRO awarded 10-year EOCL contracts to BlackSky, Maxar Technologies, and Planet.
The National Reconnaissance Office awarded Electro-Optical Commercial Layer (EOCL) contracts to BlackSky, Maxar Technologies, and Planet on 2022-05-25.
Under EOCL, the National Reconnaissance Office can purchase foundation data, traditional imagery, shortwave infrared imagery, nighttime imagery, non-Earth imaging, and direct downlink to U.S. military remote ground terminals.
The National Reconnaissance Office’s market research for EOCL included study contracts awarded in 2019 to BlackSky, Maxar, and Planet.
Planet’s EOCL contract provides the National Reconnaissance Office access to Planet’s high- and medium-resolution satellite imagery and to Planet’s archive of over 2,000 images of every point on Earth dating back to 2009.
The 2019 study contracts gave the National Reconnaissance Office access to the companies’ business plans, finances, and projected capacity of their satellite constellations.
Prometheus 2 are cubesats developed by the U.K. Ministry of Defence in partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office.
Maxar’s EOCL contract gives the National Reconnaissance Office access to Maxar’s current WorldView and GeoEye four-satellite constellation and to six new Legion satellites that have not yet been launched.
The National Reconnaissance Office awarded BlackSky, Maxar Technologies, and Planet Labs 10-year contracts on 2022-05-25 to provide satellite imagery for U.S. intelligence, defense, and federal civil agencies.