Jeremy Banik, deputy director of the commercial systems program office at the National Reconnaissance Office, said NRO is close to completing a solicitation to procure commercial hyperspectral satellite data and expects to issue the request for proposals before the end of 2022, Via Satellite reported Thursday.
“I’m looking forward to exploring [hyperspectral], this emerging phenomenology that’s coming out of the commercial industry, and really helping the government discover ways that we can utilize commercial hyperspectral data. We expect to release that RFP prior to the end of this year,” Banik said Thursday at an event in Reston, Virginia.
When it comes to hyperspectral imaging, he said the agency is interested in acquiring many individual bands and is taking the agile study contract approach to encourage nontraditional vendors to do business with the government and “cast the widest net possible to capture the best coming out of the industry.”
In October 2021, NRO issued a broad agency announcement to explore new phenomenologies, including hyperspectral imagery, commercial radar, radio frequency remote sensing and emerging electro-optical capabilities.