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.
DoD budget documents released 2020-02-10 state that funding related to the National Reconnaissance Office will not transfer to the U.S. Space Force.
Rocket Lab’s first Electron launch of 2020 on 2020-01-30 placed a classified payload into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Rocket Lab successfully launched a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on 2020-01-30.
The National Reconnaissance Office procured the NROL-151 launch through its Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) program.
The payload carried by the Electron on 2020-01-30 was designated NROL-151 by the National Reconnaissance Office.
Chris Scolese departed the Goddard Space Flight Center on 2019-07-31 after the Senate confirmed his nomination to become director of the National Reconnaissance Office.
The intelligence community opposed merging the National Reconnaissance Office with the U.S. Space Force, while some stakeholders support transferring Air Force elements within the NRO that directly support satellite operations to the U.S. Space Force.
This launch is the National Reconnaissance Office’s first awarded under the Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) program, which the agency started in 2018.
The National Reconnaissance Office develops and launches the United States’ intelligence satellites.
On 2020-01-20 Rocket Lab scheduled the Electron vehicle’s first mission of 2020 to be for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The Department of Defense must submit to Congress within 180 days a report on integrating space capabilities with the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and U.S. Space Command.
The National Reconnaissance Office funds its own missions separately from the Rocket Systems Launch Program.
NROL-111, another National Reconnaissance Office mission, will launch in late 2020 from Wallops Island aboard a Northrop Grumman Minotaur 1 vehicle.
NROL-129, a National Reconnaissance Office mission, is scheduled to launch in spring 2020 on a Northrop Grumman Minotaur 4 from Wallops Island, Virginia.
The National Reconnaissance Office awarded imagery data integration study contracts to Capella Space and HawkEye 360 on 2019-12-11.
The contract requires HawkEye 360 to examine the integration of commercial RF capabilities and products into the NRO’s geospatial intelligence architecture.
HawkEye 360 Inc. was awarded a contract from the National Reconnaissance Office for a commercial RF survey study.
A Delta IV Heavy launched NROL-71 for the National Reconnaissance Office in January 2019.
The National Reconnaissance Office and U.S. Space Command have agreed that in times of conflict the National Reconnaissance Office will take direction from U.S. Space Command.
The National Reconnaissance Office began as a secret program in 1960 established jointly by the U.S. Air Force and the CIA.