NGA to Test Join Regional Edge Node This Summer

The National Geospational-Intelligence Agency will demonstrate how the Joint Regional Edge Node can turn satellite imagery into usable data that would be disseminated in hard-to-reach locations.

The NGA is developing four JRENs that will be installed in multiple locations around the world. Under the JREN concept, nodes will be placed closer to users, allowing them to distribute large volumes of data faster.

The nodes will be tested during several exercises in the summer, C4ISRNET reported.

The JREN concept was first made known in February 2022 when Department of Defense and intelligence community officials asked the NGA to head up the program. In an Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association event, NGA Chief Information Officer Mark Andress explained that JRENs are designed to handle multiple network and space-based paths for communications and other purposes.

In December, NGA Director and 2022 Wash100 awardee Frank Whitworth said the JREN could be deployed as early as the fiscal year 2024. Whitworth, who spoke at the Potomac Officers Club’s 8th Annual Intel Summit in October, shared that JREN is the agency’s latest effort to improve its bandwidth capacity, which comes amid a growing user base for the Odyssey GEOINT Edge Node.