All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
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.
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems will launch a National Reconnaissance Office payload later 2019 using a Minotaur launch vehicle.
United Launch Alliance received a $467,500,000 Launch Vehicle Production Services contract covering three Delta 4 Heavy missions for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The three NRO missions under the $467,500,000 contract were projected to launch in fiscal years 2022, 2023, and 2024 respectively for NROL-91, NROL-68, and NROL-70.
The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center awarded United Launch Alliance a $156,700,000 contract modification on 2019-08-07 for a Delta 4 Heavy launch of the National Reconnaissance Office mission NROL-70.
The value of ULA’s contract for three Delta 4 Heavy launches represents about half of the total government cost to launch the NRO missions because launches are funded through multiple contracting vehicles.
The Air Force is buying the three Delta 4 Heavy missions to ensure the NRO can place very large satellites on orbit before 2024 while transitioning to new vehicles under the National Security Space Launch program starting in 2022.
The Atlas 5 aft bulkhead carrier was originally developed for the National Reconnaissance Office to take advantage of excess capacity on large rockets to place small payloads into orbit.
A National Reconnaissance Office satellite was launched from SLC-6 in January.
One option in the Air Force’s National Security Launch Architecture study is to set aside launches such as demonstration payloads from the Space Test Program or the National Reconnaissance Office to create opportunities for non-Phase 2 providers to prepare for Phase 3.
The NRO created a Commercial Systems Program Office to oversee procurement of commercial imagery.
The NRO pays $300,000,000 per year for access to Maxar’s WorldView-1, WorldView-2, and WorldView-3 satellites and its image library under the program renamed EnhancedView Follow-On.
The National Reconnaissance Office took over responsibility for buying commercial satellite imagery from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2018.
Extending Maxar’s options until 2023 gives the NRO additional time to transition to a new procurement while continuing to buy imagery from Maxar.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will continue to buy value-added services and analytics after the NRO acquires commercial imagery.
The NRO awarded one-year study contracts in 2019 to Maxar, Planet, and BlackSky to evaluate the companies’ products and the projected size and capacity of their satellite constellations.
The NRO expects it will need more imagery than it currently acquires from Maxar and is likely to spend more than $300,000,000 annually on commercial imagery.
The National Reconnaissance Office is a joint intelligence community and Department of Defense organization that develops, launches, and operates signals, imagery, and communications satellites.
Christopher Scolese intends for the National Reconnaissance Office to remain independent because the NRO supports non-defense agencies such as NASA while collaborating with U.S. Space Command.
The National Reconnaissance Office issued a study contract to Planet Federal, a Planet subsidiary established in 2018 to work closely with U.S. government agencies.