Wonder what's meant by "risky methods" NRO envisions in the article below by: "Using advanced and potentially technologically risky methods of exploiting data to learn more from it." ---------- 30 July 1997, Jane's Defence Weekly NRO opens up to new satellite system ideas For the first time in its history, the once super-secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is considering whether commercial space technology can satisfy its `customer' requirements for reconnaissance data needed by the DoD and the intelligence community. In existence for over 30 years, the NRO is coming in from the cold for one clear reason: acquisition and operation of US reconnaissance satellites continues to account for most of the $28 billion in annual spending by the US intelligence community. Congress wants to find ways to trim the bill by encouraging the NRO to adopt commercial technology and move towards launching smaller, less expensive satellites. The question of whether the NRO should continue to exist was an open debate last year. A panel chaired by Adm David Jeremiah, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, concluded that the unique partnership between the Director of Central Intelligence and the Defense Secretary to build, operate and manage space-based intelligence systems should continue in the form of the NRO. "There are important inter-relationships between the NRO and DoD space activities in areas such as launch technology, industrial base and communications, and the NRO needs to use DoD systems such as the Global Positioning System as well as the DoD needs to use products from NRO systems," the report said. However the panel also emphasised that all of the relationships between the NRO and the Pentagon need clarification. NRO Director Keith Hall is driving much of the process at the agency towards opening the door to commercial technology and improving the agency. "I do not think that a customer that needs a picture to answer a key question to make an operational decision cares whether that picture comes from one of my satellites, an airplane or a commercial sensor system," he said. "If that means a commercial system can provide some of that, I am entirely for it." A major vehicle for operational change at the NRO is the Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) programme aimed at fielding a next-generation space-based imagery intelligence (IMINT) system. "We have said to our FIA vendors that they are free to propose to us a mixed architecture of government systems and commercial systems," said Hall, noting that such a notion is indeed a first for the agency. "We have not heretofore been involved at all in the acquisition of commercial imagery." The FIA may set a precedent for future reconnaissance acquisition. In mid-1996, the NRO and the old Central Imagery Office, now part of the NIMA, concluded an initial `Phase A' of an architecture study which detailed the attributes of a future imagery system most wanted by NRO customers. It resulted in the identification of more than 20 varying performance levels. The NRO began what it calls the `Phase B' concept programme in May last year. It is working with six contractor teams and the NIMA to determine "what utility would those differences in performance have," said Hall, who became director in March. The NRO expects to publish a final `Phase C' solicitation to industry with detailed performance specifications by early next year. Hall said that the solicitation will have "objective requirements and the relative value the government places on them". Contractors will not be told precisely how to meet those requirements but only the performance objectives. `Phase C' will be separated into a satellite segment and an integration and ground segment. "We have some vendors that are bidding on all segments so theoretically a single contractor could win it all," said Hall. A final contract award is expected late next year with the first satellite system due to be flying early in the next decade. Hall also said that smaller satellites will be considered in the FIA as well as other constellations. Although they present some technical challenges, constellations of smaller satellites mean that more satellites will be on orbit, leading to more frequent `revisits' over targets and less overall system degradation if one satellite fails. The FIA programme has already led to some innovation. The small Surveillance, Targeting and Reconnaissance Satellite (Starlite) being proposed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for tactical reconnaissance could be considered as a future imagery architecture option. However, it appears more likely it will become a technology demonstration. DARPA's proposal underscores the dilemma of how to draw a distinction between reconnaissance - an NRO mission - and surveillance, which traditionally has been done by the US Air Force in monitoring weather and missile launches for example. "We will do more joint programmes with multiple sensors," predicted Maj Gen Robert Dickman, the DoD space architect. As the NRO and DoD grow closer, Hall believes it is important to acknowledge that commercial systems can only go so far in meeting the precise resolution and product delivery requirements needed by the IC. Aside from fielding the FIA, Hall has set a number of other objectives for the agency, including increasing funding for research and development by re- allocating existing funds. His five mission objectives in research and development are: - Developing new sources and methods, such as collection and processing of information against hard targets; - Orders of magnitude improvements in efficiency and effectiveness of NRO systems; - Using advanced and potentially technologically risky methods of exploiting data to learn more from it; - Using space-based solutions to address "intractable" intelligence problems such as monitoring chemical and biological warfare facilities; - Improving "space services" by assisting the US Defense Department with its space mission when possible. -----