National Reconnaissance Office Contract Awarded to Muon Space
National Reconnaissance Office Contract Awarded to Muon Space
Will Develop Commercial Electro-Optical Capabilities
A National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Contract for the development of electro-optical capabilities has been awarded to LEO satellite constellation company Muon Space. The contract applies to the sensor and constellation levels for assessment and potential contribution to the NRO mission. This award falls under the NRO Strategic Commercial Enhancements (SCE) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Framework, commercial electro-optical capabilities Focus Area.
"I'm encouraged by the NRO's continued push to integrate emerging commercial capabilities at the speed and scale needed to address critical National Security needs."
Muon Space board member Christine Fox
Muon Space will provide multispectral electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) data collected by the company's climate monitoring constellation for NRO assessment. The planned full constellation, which will be deployed at regular intervals, is designed to provide global coverage with rapid revisits for a persistent understanding of global thermal activity.
"We believe deeply in both of these missions and look forward to building a lasting partnership with the NRO." said Jonny Dyer, CEO of Muon Space.
In just two years from inception, Muon Space designed and built a satellite platform optimized for remote sensing payloads and successfully launched its first satellite MuSat-1 in June 2023. Muon Space was awarded a contract by Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's (AFLMC)'s Weather Systems Branch and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to evaluate GNSS-R ocean wind speed, soil moisture products, and ionospheric data on their MuSat-2 satellite mission. Muon Space has also been awarded a contract from Hydrosat for its Constellation-as-a-Service (CaaS) spacecraft that will integrate Hydrosat's imaging instruments.
"I'm encouraged by the NRO's continued push to integrate emerging commercial capabilities at the speed and scale needed to address critical National Security needs," said Muon Space board member and Former Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox. "Muon Space's capabilities will provide important insights and understanding to the NRO at an unclassified level, which can be easily shared with global partners."