CHANTILLY, Va. (NRO PR) — The National Reconnaissance Office successfully launched the NROL-85 mission aboard a reflown SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4E located at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California today at 6:13 a.m. Pacific Time. The Falcon 9 reusable rocket booster returned safely to Landing Zone 4 after delivering the national security payload to orbit.

CHANTILLY, Va., February 2, 2022 (NRO PR) — The National Reconnaissance Office successfully launched the NROL-87 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4E located at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:27 p.m. PST. NROL-87 is the 60th launch since NRO began publicly disclosing launches in December 1996.

WASHINGTON (NRO PR) — The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) announced the award of five contracts for commercial radar capabilities under the agency’s new Strategic Commercial Enhancements Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Framework. Companies receiving contracts are Airbus, U.S.; Capella Space; ICEYE, U.S.; PredaSAR; and Umbra.

“We are very pleased with the response to the first focus area under our new BAA,” said Dr. Chris Scolese, NRO director, who announced the release of the BAA acquisition just three months ago. “We know that users across the National System for Geospatial Intelligence are eager to explore commercial radar, and these contracts will allow us to rapidly validate capabilities and the benefits to the national mission.”

The Strategic Commercial Enhancements BAA Framework is designed to reach across disciplines and the global commercial remote sensing market to drive innovation, explore new phenomenologies, and ultimately, to ensure that the U.S. government has access to the best available commercial remote sensing capabilities.

ST. LOUIS, Mo.  (NRO PR) –  The annual United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) symposium kicked off Tuesday, Oct. 5 in St. Louis, Mo. The four-day event is the largest annual gathering of GEOINT professionals across the United States. This year’s theme is Discovery and Connections, and will focus on “examining the exponential increase of geospatial data sources, advanced analytic capabilities, new innovative solutions, interoperability, and much more.”

NRO’s director, Dr. Chris Scolese, opened day two of the symposium with a keynote address before the large crowd of government, academia, and commercial partners. Dr. Scolese was introduced by Retired Lieutenant General Mary A. Legere, the former Senior Intelligence Officer for the U.S. Army and the current Managing Director at Accenture Federal Services. Dr. Scolese began his keynote by noting the vibrant and congested arena space has become, adding, “We no longer have the luxury of treating our advantage in space as a given.”

GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has named George Morrow to serve as acting director of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, effective Thursday, Aug. 1. Morrow will replace Chris Scolese, who is departing NASA to be the director of the National Reconnaissance Office. Morrow has been serving as Goddard’s deputy center director since April 2015 and previously served as both director and deputy […]