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 builds and operates the United States’ spy satellites.
The U.S. Space Force launched a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on 2021-06-15 aboard a Minotaur I rocket at 9:35 a.m. EDT from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
NROL-111 was the National Reconnaissance Office’s second mission launched from Wallops Flight Facility.
The National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-111 mission logo includes three stars that represent the mission’s three payloads developed by the agency.
A Northrop Grumman Minotaur 1 four-stage solid fuel rocket launched three National Reconnaissance Office payloads on 2021-06-15 at 9:35 a.m. Eastern from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
A Minotaur 1 launch of a National Reconnaissance Office mission was scheduled to launch from Wallops Island on 2021-06-15.
The National Reconnaissance Office procures services outside the NSSL program to support missions on tight schedules and to deploy lower-cost research payloads.
The National Reconnaissance Office builds and operates the U.S. government’s spy satellites.
The National Reconnaissance Office operates with greater autonomy and less organizational red tape than the U.S. Space Force.
The National Reconnaissance Office has launched satellites on SpaceX and Rocket Lab rockets under commercial contracts in recent years.
In the late 1990s the Air Force, DARPA, and the National Reconnaissance Office collaborated on plans for a constellation of radar remote-sensing satellites but the project was canceled in the 2000 federal budget.
The NROL-82 launch was the ninth Delta IV Heavy flight supporting the National Reconnaissance Office.
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launched the NROL-82 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
NROL-82 was the National Reconnaissance Office’s first launch from Vandenberg since January 2019.
United Launch Alliance launched the classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite NROL-82 on a Delta IV Heavy rocket on 2021-04-26 at 1:47 p.m. Pacific from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is in final preparations to launch the NROL-82 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office to support national security.
The National Reconnaissance Office received substantial feedback from its November 2020 request for information and is in the process of awarding a number of study contracts.
In 2019 the National Reconnaissance Office awarded study contracts to Maxar, Planet, and BlackSky under which those companies provided imagery for government assessment of quality and performance.
The National Reconnaissance Office is exploring the potential to purchase commercial radar (SAR) imagery.
The National Reconnaissance Office plans to sign new deals with commercial providers of satellite radar imagery.