Capella Awarded Contract with NRO to Integrate Commercial SAR Data for National Security

Award Represents Capella’s First Partnership with the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 11, 2019 - Capella Space,  an information services company that provides on-demand Earth observation imagery, today announced it signed a contract with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), to study the integration of its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery into the NRO’s national ground architecture. Capella is the first U.S. commercial SAR provider to work with the NRO to explore opportunities to integrate commercial SAR in support of the NRO’s national security mission.

"Capella’s SAR service provides high revisit rates and images in all weather and lighting conditions. SAR also captures amplitude and phase history enabling the extraction of valuable information such as material properties, digital elevation mapping, and precise changes and movements, not available with optical imagery," said Dan Brophy, vice president of government services at Capella Space. "The NRO’s interest in Capella comes on the heels of other recent agreements between Capella and other governments and global businesses, affirming interest and creating strong momentum in Capella’s SAR data service."

The NRO will use this study contract to explore how best to integrate commercial SAR into the enterprise architecture.  Study findings will help to inform potential architecture modifications and better enable the NRO to leverage multiple, diverse phenomenologies. 

Capella recently announced an exclusive agreement with Inmarsat to task any satellite in its constellation in any location in the world in real-time, giving Capella a market lead in delivering imagery faster. Along with access to the largest network of ground station operators via AWS Ground Station, Capella’s 36-satellite constellation will be the first to deliver high-resolution SAR data on demand, heralding unparalleled real-time insights that will transform commerce, conservation, and security.

About Capella Space
Capella Space is an information services company that provides on-demand sub-0.5m very high resolution (VHR) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Earth observation imagery. Through a constellation of small satellites, Capella is providing easy access to frequent, timely and flexible information affecting dozens of industries worldwide. Capella’s high-resolution SAR satellites are matched with unparalleled infrastructure to deliver reliable global insights that sharpen our understanding of the changing world - improving decisions about commerce, conservation and security on Earth. Learn more at capellaspace.com and follow us on Twitter @CapellaSpace.