Christopher Scolese, director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, said he expects commercial technology to play an important role in the agency’s future space architecture as the threat landscape continues to evolve, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.
“We’re making architectural changes to improve resiliency, increase capacity and capabilities, and ensure the delivery of NRO mission-essential functions,” Scolese told the audience at a Washington Space Business Roundtable event.
He noted that the office could procure and adapt commercial systems for its own purposes and there are circumstances where vendors provide technologies that replace traditional capabilities at the agency.
On June 28th, NRO opened the registration for its annual program that seeks high-risk and low-maturity technology concepts from agencies, companies and academic institutions to transform the office’s space mission.
Interested parties have until Aug. 11th to submit proposals for the Director’s Innovation Initiative.
