In Kissimmee, Florida, Pete Muend, head of the National Reconnaissance Office’s commercial space office, announced plans to establish a flexible contracting pipeline that incorporates the latest innovations from private remote sensing companies. The aim is to use commercial imagery to complement national systems and address the increasing demands from military and intelligence agencies for Earth observation data.
Muend emphasized the importance of seamlessly integrating multiple commercial capabilities into the government’s broader architecture. This proposed approach represents a departure from the traditional acquisition strategy of the NRO, which has typically focused on specific imagery phenomenologies. To achieve this goal, Muend’s office intends to introduce a new contracting vehicle with an “open-ended rolling environment” that can accommodate various types of imagery, such as electro-optical or synthetic aperture radar.
Brett Scott, who heads the NRO’s Geospatial Intelligence Information Systems Acquisition Directorate, highlighted the organization’s interest in leveraging cutting-edge technologies of the commercial space industry and providing incentives to companies. Acknowledging the profit motive of these companies, Scott emphasized the need to find effective and efficient ways to acquire these systems moving forward. The goal is to ensure that companies can reap rewards while also meeting government needs for Earth observation data. While decisions have not yet been made regarding a significant procurement exclusively for commercial synthetic aperture radar imagery known as “the radar commercial layer,” discussions on this matter are already well underway.