Five Companies Receive NRO Contracts to Provide Electro-Optical Capabilities

The National Reconnaissance Office has announced a new set of Strategic Commercial Enhancements contracts to assess and utilize private-sector electro-optical capabilities.

Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Albedo Space, Hydrosat, Muon Space and Turion Space secured deals under the SCE Broad Agency Announcement Framework, NRO said.

Each provider will undergo an evaluation process beginning with an analytic study to gauge EO system capabilities at the sensor and satellite constellation levels. The next stage will involve assessing their on-orbit capabilities and procuring their data products.

Pete Muend, director of NRO’s commercial systems program office, said the contracts are part of ongoing efforts to expand the agency’s commercial data acquisition.

According to NRO, the new awards are smaller in scope than its Electro-Optical Commercial Layer agreements with BlackSky, Maxar and Planet Labs, which involve operational subscriptions for commercial imagery.

Since 2022, the agency has awarded a series of contracts to obtain hyperspectral imaging, radio frequency sensing and radar support from the private sector.