National Reconnaissance Office

SpaceX to launch next SDA missile tracking satellites

SpaceX will launch 36 Tranche 2 Tracking Layer satellites — 18 built by L3Harris and 18 built by Lockheed Martin — plus eight FOO Fighter birds built by Millennium Space Systems.

‘Overwatch’ from space, cyber ops foundational to Maduro mission

Gen. Dan Caine, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, on Jan. 3 gave a shout-out to the roles played by US Space Command and US Cyber Command in Operation Absolute Resolve.

Space Force will not partner with NRO for next-generation surveillance satellites

Interested firms have until Jan. 9 to respond to a Space Force request for information about new wide-field-of-view cameras for a SILENTBARKER replacement constellation.

Space Force ramps up counter-drone defense at Cape Canaveral, Eastern Range

“It's giving me a holistic coverage over the Cape, as opposed to pockets of coverage that I have today,” Space Launch Delta 45 Commander Col. Brian Chatman told Breaking Defense.

NRO extends contracts for 4 providers, readies new acquisition approach

NRO Deputy Director Maj. Gen. Christopher Povak said that the spysat agency soon will begin using a new commercial contract vehicle with a five-year "rolling" window for bids.

Space Force taps SpaceX, ULA for first set of critical launches beyond FY27

SpaceX was assigned seven NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 launches under a contract worth $714 million; ULA two launches worth $428 million.

What’s in a name: Goodbye Maxar, hello Vantor and Lanteris

Both of the newly named companies are focusing heavily on the national security market for space-related capabilities.

NRO needs AI to manage more than 200 (and counting) satellites, director says

Chris Scolese envisions an NRO constellation user saying, “‘I want to know how many ships are in the Taiwan Strait’ ... and then the system could go off and do it.”

House Intel Committee props up FY26 funding for NRO commercial imagery buys

The bill also directs the Director of National Intelligence to appoint a single official to oversee the acquisition of commercially available information by all IC agencies.

Space Force launching sats to ‘enable’ GMTI ahead of mission-dedicated birds in 2028

Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, the Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber and nuclear, also said the service expects to complete an analysis of alternatives by this fall for a separate but related effort to track airborne targets from the heavens.

Space Force ponders shakeup to LEO satellite strategy, potentially hiring SpaceX for data relay

Contracts for the next-generation Tranche 3, which will replace the earliest Transport Layer satellites, have been paused until the Space Force study is completed, five sources with knowledge of the program told Breaking Defense.

Space Force is contracting with SpaceX for new, secretive MILNET SATCOM network

The MILNET contract with SpaceX is being paid for by the Space Force but managed by the National Reconnaissance Office, sources said.

Commercial ISR satellite operators petition Congress to reverse NRO cuts

The June 16 letter asserts that the cuts will undercut the Pentagon's Golden Dome plan to create an air and missile defense shield over the US homeland.

US cuts to commercial space imagery could endanger ‘long-term health’ of industry, say insiders

Beyond the potential consequences for the US industry, a reduction in NRO acquisition of commercial imagery also could directly impact US and allied military commanders in the field and US agencies charged with disaster relief, industry and government officials warned.