The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the U.S. government spy satellite agency, has awarded a major contract to a Boeing-led team to develop the next generation of imaging reconnaissance satellites.
The contract's value is classified, although private analysts have estimated that it is over $4 billion. Also classified are the number of satellites, their capabilities, and their launch dates.
The satellites are the main element of NRO's Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) program, which according to the intelligence agency will "provide a more capable but less costly means of fulfilling the nation's imagery needs." In April, NRO announced that Raytheon Systems Co. had won a contract to build the program's ground-based infrastructure.
The Boeing contract extends to the year 2010, and the "peak part" of its expenditures will be in the middle of the coming decade, according to Roger Roberts, vice president and general manager for integrated defense systems at Boeing's Space and Communications Group, based in Seal Beach, California. Members of Boeing's team include Hughes, Raytheon, Eastman Kodak, and Harris Corp.
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