COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—In early May, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) expects to launch the first phase of its planned proliferated space architecture that aims to significantly expand the number of satellites the spy agency has on orbit, to include commercial and national assets, Troy Meink, principal deputy director of the NRO, said on Tuesday.
The upcoming mission will be NROL 146 and follows “a number of demonstration satellites” that have been launched the past few years “to verify cost and performance,” Meink said at the annual Space Symposium here. About six proliferated architecture launches are planned this year and more through 2028, he said. There will be more details to come as launch dates approach, he said.
“We wanted to make sure when we went into hybrid production that we had everything sorted out and we believe we do, but this launch will be the first launch of actual operational system,” he told attendees here. “This system will increase timeliness of access, diversity of communication paths, and enhance our resilience.”
In October 2023, an NRO official told reporters that within a decade the agency expects “to quadruple the number of satellites we have on orbit—different sizes, orbits, both commercial and national. These satellites will deliver over 10 times as many signals and images that we collect today. The proliferation and diversification of our architecture will provide increased coverage, greater capacity and resilience, and more timely delivery of data” (Defense Daily
, Oct. 12, 2023).
The drivers behind why NRO can pursue a proliferated architecture include far lower launch costs and expanded launch locations, digital technologies that have significantly lowered payload costs and enable new “architectures and capabilities, and a change to accepting more risk in acquisition depending on the number of satellites being procured and launched annually, Meink said.
The costs of using larger rockets are now below $100 million and under $10 million for some recent launches using smaller launch vehicles, he said.
Meink touched on efforts NRO has ongoing with the U.S. Space Force and the Defense Department in developing space-based moving target indication (MTI) systems.
“In coordination of both the DoD and the IC, we’re developing and acquiring a space system that will meet the MTI requirements for the entirety of the enterprise,” Meink said.
At 12:53 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, United Launch Alliance (ULA) lifted into space a national security payload for NRO, marking the 16th and final launch of the joint venture’s Delta IV Heavy rocket. The NROL-70 mission launched from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla.
ULA is comprised of Boeing [BA] and Lockheed Martin [LMT].
Meink said the NROL-70 mission will “provide and deliver critical space-based information to our nation’s warfighters, intelligence analysts, and decision makers.”