NRO’s Proliferated Satellite Constellation Outperforming Expectations

The National Reconnaissance Office is seeing “great output” from its constellation of proliferated low-Earth orbit satellites and is working with the Space Force and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to operationalize the capability, according to Deputy Director Maj. Gen. Chris Povak. 

The agency, which develops and fields spy satellites, launched the constellation’s first spacecraft in 2024 and has nearly 200 in orbit today, making it the largest government-operated satellite fleet. The spacecraft carry a variety of payloads for several mission sets, including communications and imaging, and will provide a foundation for the space-based ground-moving target indicator system NRO is developing with the Space Force, Povak said.

NRO hasn’t identified what companies are building the spacecraft, but Reuters previously reported that SpaceX and Northrop Grumman are both on contract. 

Speaking Dec. 3 at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Povak said the satellites have, to date, generated more than 160,000 imagery and data collections, outperforming NRO’s expectations. The agency has also facilitated 81 “activation opportunities” with the military services and combatant commands, providing specific data sets to support exercises and other training events.  

“We’re getting reps and sets to these systems before they even get to their operational state,” he said. “We get great feedback from our customers on these activations, and we’re making changes and edits based on the feedback we’re getting.” 

The NRO hasn’t discussed the exact number of spacecraft in the current constellation, and Povak declined to forecast how many satellites would be needed to achieve a full operational capability. He noted that the agency is partnered with the Space Force and NGA through the Joint Multi-Mission Operations Center—a Defense Department and intelligence center collaboration hub—to ensure the constellation is meeting IC and military requirements.  

NRO’s shift toward a proliferated constellation of hundreds of small spacecraft with less individual capability isn’t necessarily a move away from the exquisite systems of the past, Povak noted. Rather, it’s a recognition that both approaches are needed to reduce the time it takes to collect, process, and distribute data and provide the persistence and precision that users need. The new constellation has already shortened that collection-to-distribution timeline from hours to “single digit” minutes, he said. In the coming years, it should shrink to seconds. 

Another benefit, Povak said, is that because the individual satellites are less exquisite, and the data sets aren’t as detailed as some of the agency’s more complex systems, the information they collect is easier to share with allies and partners. The proliferated architecture also gives military users more control over satellite tasking. 

Along with its focus on building and launching satellites, the NRO is making investments in the ground systems that operate them. Povak said the agency is exploring opportunities to use AI to improve certain workflows and has introduced automation into areas like satellite command and control, anomaly response, and orchestration—the process of scheduling satellites to perform specific tasks. 

“When you’re talking now about orders of magnitude more data, orders of magnitude more vehicles, orders of magnitude more processing capabilities, and a customer base that’s expanding all around the world, the days of having people in the loop, on the loop, doing manual processes are gone,” he said. “We have to drive automation to meet the timelines and the integration that you’re talking about.”