ICEYE launched its latest-model SAR-sat, called Generation 4 and boasting a 25 centimeter resolution, in March 2025. (Photo courtesy of ICEYE)
WASHINGTON — The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) today announced new contracts to three synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite operators — Capella Space, ICEYE US and Umbra — in what the spy satellite agency called a “significant step” designed to provide operational data for integration with data from its own classified intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance birds.
The new contracts have a year-long performance base running from Aug. 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027, as well as two optional follow-on years that, if executed, would run through July 31, 2029, according to the NRO press release. The agency did not reveal the value of the awards, as its budget is classified.
An NRO spokesperson told Breaking Defense in an email that the move by the agency’s Commercial Systems Program Office will enable a “rapid transition” of the companies’ current study contracts into new Radar Commercial Augmentation (RCA) contract vehicles based on “rigorous requirements.”
The new contracts “transition these successfully proven partners into an expanded role for sustained, enterprise-wide delivery of radar data,” the spokesperson added.
