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U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

US
gov defenseFounded 1961
United States
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All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.

The National Reconnaissance Office is committed to ensuring the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and its customers continue to have access to Planet imagery for creating value-added geospatial products for partners and policy makers.

Mentioned as: National Reconnaissance OfficeTechnical ProductOct 15, 2019NRO awards imagery subscription contract to Planet

In June 2019 the National Reconnaissance Office awarded study contracts to BlackSky, Maxar Technologies, and Planet to evaluate how commercial imagery providers could satisfy NRO needs relative to EnhancedView.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Org RelationshipOct 15, 2019NRO awards imagery subscription contract to Planet

The National Reconnaissance Office operates a fleet of satellites including very large systems, smallsats, and cubesats.

Mentioned as: the national reconnaissance officeTechnical ProductOct 15, 2019NRO awards imagery subscription contract to Planet

Maxar won study contracts with Planet and BlackSky from the National Reconnaissance Office in June to assess commercial provider capabilities.

Mentioned as: National Reconnaissance OfficeOrg RelationshipOct 2, 2019Maxar weaving components into new business ventures

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center awarded United Launch Alliance a five-year $1,180,000,000 contract for Launch Operations Support to complete the last planned five Delta 4 Heavy National Reconnaissance Office missions from 2020 through 2024.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Org RelationshipSep 30, 2019Air Force awards ULA $1.18 billion contract to complete five Delta 4 Heavy NRO missions

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy has been certified for national security missions but was not able to meet the mission-unique requirements for very large NRO satellites needing difficult orbits at the time the launches were acquired in 2016 and 2017.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Narrative GeneralSep 30, 2019Air Force awards ULA $1.18 billion contract to complete five Delta 4 Heavy NRO missions

The National Reconnaissance Office operated a Keyhole (KH-11) class electro-optical imaging satellite program that began launches in the late 1970s.

Mentioned as: National Reconnaissance OfficeTechnical ProductSep 26, 2019Top secret Twitter: How trolling Iran with classified satellite imagery could backfire on the U.S.

Martin Faga was director of the National Reconnaissance Office from 1989 to 1993.

Mentioned as: National Reconnaissance OfficeTechnical ProductSep 26, 2019Top secret Twitter: How trolling Iran with classified satellite imagery could backfire on the U.S.

The National Reconnaissance Office awarded its first commercial hyperspectral imaging study contract to HySpecIQ on 2019-09-23.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Org RelationshipSep 23, 2019NRO awards first commercial contract for hyperspectral imaging from space

The NRO’s newly created Commercial Systems Program Office will oversee the procurement of imagery.

Mentioned as: NROTechnical ProductSep 23, 2019NRO awards first commercial contract for hyperspectral imaging from space

In February the Air Force selected Falcon Heavy for the AFSPC-44 mission as part of a $297,000,000 contract that also includes two Falcon 9 launches for NRO satellites NROL-85 and NROL-87.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Org RelationshipSep 21, 2019Air Force certified Falcon Heavy for national security launch but more work needed to meet required orbits

Maxar Technologies provides imagery and data products on a realtime and near-realtime basis to defense and intelligence customers, including the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and to allied countries.

Mentioned as: National Reconnaissance OfficeTechnical ProductSep 8, 2019Maxar CEO predicts return to growth

The National Reconnaissance Office operates with a more streamlined organization and can move faster than the Department of Defense acquisition processes.

Mentioned as: National Reconnaissance OfficeOrg RelationshipSep 4, 2019Air Force contends Space Force should not have separate acquisition office

WFIRST will use a 2.4-meter mirror provided to NASA by the National Reconnaissance Office.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Narrative GeneralSep 1, 2019WFIRST telescope passes preliminary design review

AeroCube 7 launched as a secondary payload on a ULA Atlas V rocket that carried a classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite.

Mentioned as: National Reconnaissance OfficeTechnical ProductAug 27, 2019Water propulsion technologies picking up steam

All future Delta 4 Heavy missions will support United States Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office customers.

Mentioned as: national reconnaissance officeOrg RelationshipAug 21, 2019ULA’s Delta 4 Heavy down to final five missions

The National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-82 mission is planned to launch on a Delta 4 Heavy from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California in 2020.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Org RelationshipAug 21, 2019ULA’s Delta 4 Heavy down to final five missions

The National Reconnaissance Office’s NROL-44 mission is planned to launch on a Delta 4 Heavy from Cape Canaveral, Florida in 2020.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Org RelationshipAug 21, 2019ULA’s Delta 4 Heavy down to final five missions

Under a 2018 Launch Vehicle Production Services contract, United Launch Alliance is building Delta 4 Heavy hardware for three National Reconnaissance Office missions and the contract is now worth $467,500,000 after a $149,000,000 modification in May 2020 and a $156,700,000 modification earlier in August 2020.

Mentioned as: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)Org RelationshipAug 21, 2019ULA’s Delta 4 Heavy down to final five missions

In the event of conflict extending to space, the NRO will take direction from the commander of U.S. Space Command and execute defensive operations based on a jointly developed playbook.

Mentioned as: NROOrg RelationshipAug 20, 2019U.S. Space Command and National Reconnaissance Office will join forces to defend space
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