
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) said on Dec. 5 that it has awarded Airbus' U.S. space and defense division, Albedo Space, Hydrosat, Muon Space, and Turion Space Strategic Commercial Enhancements (SCE) contracts "to assess and leverage commercial electro-optical (EO) capabilities." In May, NRO released a draft solicitation on commercial EO and related phenomenologies to include infrared and non-Earth imagery (Defense Daily, May 22). In April, NRO Director Chris Scolese said the competition would be open to U.S. companies and U.S.-based…