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.
The National Reconnaissance Office released a request for bids for commercial satellite imagery on 2021-11-03.
The National Reconnaissance Office is procuring traditional satellite imagery from commercial suppliers under a procurement called Electro-Optical Commercial Layer.
The National Reconnaissance Office published its first solicitation for commercial space radar imagery on 2021-10-12.
The Broad Agency Announcement focused on commercial imagery and data builds on the National Reconnaissance Office Commercial Systems Program Office’s earlier study efforts and creates additional opportunities to expand the NRO’s commitment to new and emerging commercial capabilities.
The National Reconnaissance Office’s diversified architecture provides increased flexibility, greater responsiveness, increased capacity, and improved resiliency.
The National Reconnaissance Office is committed to preserving the broad shareability and broad use cases that commercial imagery serves.
The National Reconnaissance Office intends to continue developing direct downlink capabilities so they become a routine capability for the military services to utilize.
The National Reconnaissance Office is working with Capella Space and Hawkeye 360 under study contracts to help establish links between commercial satellites and government networks.
The National Reconnaissance Office delivers approximately 50,000 commercial images per week acquired through operational contracts with BlackSky, Maxar Technologies, and Planet.
The NRO will work with other government agencies, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, to conduct formal quality evaluations of commercial datasets.
The National Reconnaissance Office planned to award new commercial imagery contracts early next year from 2021-10-07.
The National Reconnaissance Office wants to work with companies that have operational constellations as well as emerging companies that are building their systems.
The National Reconnaissance Office is preparing to survey commercial capabilities to provide various geospatial datasets as part of a long-term campaign to establish a new program of record.
The National Reconnaissance Office planned to release the BAA in about a month from 2021-10-07.
In December 2019 the National Reconnaissance Office awarded Capella Space a contract to experiment with the company’s SAR data to evaluate its utility for national security.
The National Reconnaissance Office buys traditional electro-optical imagery from commercial providers.
On 2021-10-07 the National Reconnaissance Office announced it will start buying space radar imagery from commercial providers.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency seeks to ensure its analytic service providers have full access to unclassified imagery procured by the National Reconnaissance Office.
In 2019 the NRO awarded study contracts to Maxar, Planet, and BlackSky to gain access to the companies’ business plans, finances, and projected constellation capacity.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency turned over responsibilities for commercial imagery procurement to the National Reconnaissance Office in 2017.