Weekly GEOINT Community News

NGA’s Primary Commercial Imagery Delivery System Now Includes Small Satellites

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)’s primary unclassified delivery system now features small satellite commercial imagery, enabling federal government and international partners increased access to geospatial data to meet mission demands. The G-EGD system, first introduced in 2011, consisted of only of imagery from Maxar Technologies, formerly DigitalGlobe. The addition of Planet Federal and BlackSky Global data represents the first time that small satellite imagery has been integrated into the delivery system.

Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Successful Open Mission Systems Compliant Advanced Sensor

Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated an open mission systems (OMS) compliant active electronically scanned array (AESA) sensor in recent ground and multiple flight demonstrations. For the demonstrations, an advanced Northrop Grumman wideband AESA sensor was connected to an OMS-compliant mission computing system provided by Boeing. After integrating with the Boeing mission computing environment, the AESA sensor was instructed to focus on specific targets, capture and manage data, and communicate the information back to the mission computing system, which was displayed in real-time on an operator’s workstation.

General Dynamics Awarded $4.4B Department of Defense Enterprise Cloud Contract

General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), was awarded the Defense Enterprise Office Solutions (DEOS) contract by the General Services Administration (GSA) in partnership with the Defense Department (DoD) and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). DEOS will streamline the DoD’s use of cloud email and collaborative tools while enhancing cybersecurity and information sharing across the DoD’s enterprise based on the latest commercial technology. GDIT will stand up and accredit DEOS cloud environments as well as support the migration of existing DoD Office 365 (O365) tenants into DEOS. The DEOS environments are intended to support over 3.2 million DoD users and GDIT will provide engineering, migration, training and support services for those users. DoD estimates the value of the DEOS Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) at $4.4 billion over a 10-year period, which includes a five-year base period with two two-year options and one one-year option.

Fourth Lockheed Martin-Built GPS III Satellite’s Onboard Engine Now Propelling It To Orbit

The fourth Lockheed Martin-built Global Positioning System III (GPS III) satellite is now headed to orbit under its own propulsion. Following a successful, GPS III Space Vehicle 04 (GPS III SV04) separated from its rocket and is now using onboard power to climb to its operational orbit, approximately 12,550 miles above the Earth. In the coming days, GPS III SV04’s onboard liquid apogee engine will continue to propel the satellite towards its operational orbit. Once it arrives, the engineers will send the satellite commands to deploy its solar arrays and antennas and prepare GPS III SV04 for handover to Space Operations Command. GPS III satellites will provide significant capability improvements over previous GPS satellites, including three times better accuracy, up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities, and a new L1C civil signal to improve civilian user connectivity.

Peer Intel

Woolpert appointed Ryan Thomas as a program director for the firm’s energy market. Thomas is a chemical engineer who brings 20 years of experience working in leadership positions for power companies and energy consulting firms across the South and Southeast.

Featured Image: Northrop Grumman demonstrating an OMS-compliant advanced sensor during a live ground demonstration | Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman