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.
NROL-111 is the second of three missions the Space Force procured from Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office, with NROL-129 having launched in 2020 and NROL-174 not yet scheduled.
SpaceX launched the National Reconnaissance Office NROL-108 mission on a Falcon 9 on 2020-12-19 at 9:00 a.m. EST.
The National Reconnaissance Office builds and operates the U.S. government’s spy satellites.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a classified mission for the National Reconnaissance Office on 2020-12-19.
NROL-108 was SpaceX’s second launch for the National Reconnaissance Office, following NROL-76 which flew on a Falcon 9 in May 2017 from the same pad.
The National Reconnaissance Office has procured commercial launches from Rocket Lab that are licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The National Reconnaissance Office awarded a data integration study contract to Hawkeye 360 in December 2019.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is obtaining Hawkeye 360 data through the National Reconnaissance Office study contract.
One more Falcon 9 launch in 2020 was scheduled to carry a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on mission NROL-108 with a no-earlier-than date of 2020-12-17.
A National Reconnaissance Office classified satellite flew to orbit on 2020-12-10 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket.
TriSept Corporation primarily serves commercial and U.S. government customers including the Department of Defense, NASA, and the National Reconnaissance Office, and supports classified payload missions.
The 2020-12-10 launch was United Launch Alliance’s 30th mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The Delta 4 Heavy is slated to be retired after launching four more National Reconnaissance Office missions over the next few years.
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the NROL-44 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office lifted off from Space Launch Complex-37 on 2020-12-10 at 8:09 p.m. EST.
An Atlas V AV-009 rocket performed the NROL-30 mission lift-off at 11:12 a.m. EDT on 2020-06-15 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on a classified mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.
United Launch Alliance last performed a launch from Vandenberg in January 2019 when a Delta 4 Heavy launched a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
United Launch Alliance is under contract to fly NROL-44 and four additional Delta 4 Heavy missions for the National Reconnaissance Office over the next four years before the vehicle is retired.
The NROL-101 mission represented United Launch Alliance’s 29th mission launched for the National Reconnaissance Office.
United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas V rocket carrying the NROL-101 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 2020-11-13 at 5:32 p.m. EST.
The NROL-101 mission represented the 17th National Reconnaissance Office mission launched on an Atlas V.