This milestone delivery keeps the program on track for full assembly of the payload, known as Flight Unit 1, expected to launch in 2028.

“We met multiple challenges across a multiyear timeframe to successfully deliver our components for the next stage of full payload assembly,” said Thai Sheridan, vice president and general manager of military space for BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems. “This program will provide essential next-generation defense and intelligence capabilities for the Space Force.”

The sensor subassembly built by BAE Systems is a significant component of the mission payload and provides the optics, pointing mechanism, controlling electronics and electrical bus interface to the spacecraft.

The sensor system controller interfaces directly to the space vehicle to receive commands and provide telemetry data for the mission. It provides power control and conversion for sensor assembly components as well as high-accuracy mirror direction.

The BAE Systems hardware originally was designed for use with the geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) element of the program. Featuring a highly adaptable design, the components were able to be repurposed for the NGP mission, allowing the program to meet challenging schedule needs.

Source: BAE Systems

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NGA and ICEYE will conduct experiments to explore commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imaging modes and provide new technology for missions such as safety of navigation, international security, climate security and protection of natural resources. NGA’s research interests lie in remote sensing of polar regions and sensing natural hazards worldwide.

ICEYE, NGA and other Department of Defense stakeholders will complete five research tasks through a variety of overhead remote sensing experiments. The collaborative research will include subsidence time-series mapping, automated monitoring, coherent change detection and bathymetric retrieval to produce new information for iceberg detection and tracking, mapping of complex environmental conditions such as deforestation or permafrost thaw and border security.

This CRADA will allow NGA to access a large constellation of commercial satellites, enabling R&D collaboration and dynamic SAR tasking for persistent monitoring to support critical NGA missions, according to NGA Research Director Cindy Daniell, Ph.D., who recently visited ICEYE’s North American headquarters to meet the team and see the facility and operations firsthand.

“Government and industry need a regular dialogue to understand one another’s objectives, processes and challenges, so we can address top national security threats together,” said Daniell. “This agreement lets us do exactly that—it helps us understand how commercial SAR data can support geospatial intelligence, and simultaneously, increases ICEYE’s awareness of our most pressing challenges.”

Through its Research component, NGA manages more than 70 active CRADAs, which are low-risk, flexible agreements that allow NGA to work with commercial industry, universities and other non-federal entities on joint research and development projects for national security. CRADAs enable federal laboratories like NGA to collaborate with non-federal entities by providing personnel, services, facilities, equipment, intellectual property and other resources, but not funding. In turn, the non-federal entities may provide funds, personnel, services, facilities, equipment, intellectual property and other resources.

Source: NGA

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