Verified facts grounded in source documentation.
Those ten National Reconnaissance Office missions successfully delivered more than 100 payloads to orbit during the 18-month period from June 2023 through December 2024.
In 2024, six launches supporting the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture were successfully completed.
Umbra Space secured a contract extension with the National Reconnaissance Office on 2024-12-04.
The 2024-11-24 HASTE launch was the first launch from Launch Complex 2 since an Electron mission for the National Reconnaissance Office in 2024-03-01 and the fifth overall launch from that pad.
The National Reconnaissance Office is deploying a proliferated low Earth orbit constellation that has involved four launches since May, most recently on 2024-10-24.
The National Reconnaissance Office is working with other government agencies to establish a program of record for buying commercial synthetic aperture radar through a program called Commercial Radar Layer.
The NROL-146 mission is described as the first launch of the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture delivering space-based ISR.
NROL-146 is the National Reconnaissance Office’s first deployment of a new imaging satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman.
NROL-146 is the first launch of the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture intended to deliver space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
Maxar’s largest contract is a $3.2 billion, 10-year agreement with the National Reconnaissance Office to supply imagery and other services.
Following separation from the Alpha rocket, Elytra will first deploy commercial payloads and support a responsive space demonstration for the National Reconnaissance Office.
The NROL-123 launch was Rocket Lab’s first launch for the NRO from the United States after previously launching four NRO missions from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.
The National Reconnaissance Office plans to launch one of its largest-ever satellites on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy vehicle.
The NRO plans to deploy a diversity of spacecraft ranging from traditional schoolbus-size satellites to smaller platforms built on commercial satellite buses that can integrate new payloads.
Kevin Keating previously worked at the National Reconnaissance Office and most recently at the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science and Technology.
Electron has been providing access to orbit since 2018 and has successfully deployed satellites for NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office, DARPA, and the U.S. Space Force.
Rocket Lab set a previous launch turnaround record at Launch Complex 1 in 2022 when it launched NASA’s CAPSTONE mission followed by a dedicated mission for the National Reconnaissance Office 15 days later.
The National Reconnaissance Office and United Launch Alliance have collaborated through 32 launch campaigns stemming from ULA’s first launch in 2006.
Electron successfully delivered the National Reconnaissance Office national security payload NROL-162 to space.
Rocket Lab plans to deploy satellites to space for the National Reconnaissance Office within 10 days of each other on the two scheduled Electron launches.