US military bought commercial satellite images of alleged narco airstrips, Chinese naval fleet. The Space Force can improve how it embraces commercial intel, a new GAO report says. Senior Reporter August 27, 2026 04:54 PM ET The U.S. military purchased satellite images that identified Chinese aircraft carrier positions and Ecuadorian airstrips allegedly used for drug trafficking, a new report from the Government Accountability Office revealed. But despite those and other examples of prior use, the Space Force still hasn't fully embraced commercial intelligence, the watchdog said. "Some Space Force officials told GAO about challenges they have faced related to purchasing and using commercial space data such as licensing costs, perceived use restrictions, and concerns over long-term access to the data," the report said. "These challenges led to hesitation to purchase and use commercial data among these potential users." The Space Force's Joint Commercial Operations Cell, the group that buys the majority of the service's data, spent nearly $77 million between 2023 and 2025 on commercial space services through the Global Data Marketplace, an e-commerce site used by the military for unclassified images. The JCO has a working group to discuss purchases being made by the U.S. government, but Space Force officials aren't included in that group, according to the report. That's led to the hesitations and confusion about purchasing intelligence on the platform, the GAO said. "This working group meets monthly and coordinates purchases. GAO found that many of the challenges reported by Space Force officials could have been addressed with discussions at the working group, but the Space Force officials were not part of the working group and information about the working group is not widely available," the watchdog report said. The GAO recommended that Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, who formerly served as principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, increase communication and awareness of the working group. The Defense Department concurred with the watchdog's findings in a June 18 response. "Increased communication about the working group could lead to additional Space Force and other officials engaging in discussions that could address perceived issues and improve the use of commercial space data and services for national security purposes," the GAO report said. The Space Force will need to rely on those commercial assets for future fights, according to the GAO. As adversary counterspace capabilities grow, the Defense Department needs private satellite imagery to fill in blind spots and decrease risk to its own space assets. "Threats to DoD's space assets from strategic competitors have grown substantially in number and intensity," the GAO report said. "DoD is working to integrate commercial space solutions, such as data and services, to mitigate these threats as well as enhance its capabilities." Jon Ludwigson, GAO's contracting and national security acquisitions director, said in a phone interview on Thursday afternoon that there are positives to using those commercial systems in tandem with the military's highly-classified spy satellites. "We're not going to use commercial data for everything, but if we can use it for some things, it reduces the pressure on the exquisite systems to do things," Ludwigson said. "It also gives us the opportunity to cue others that we're watching in ways that don't require us to disclose that we're using exquisite systems." The National Reconnaissance Office, an intelligence agency which builds and launches spy satellites, purchased commercial electro-optical imagery from Vantor, Planet Labs, and BlackSky through its $4 billion Electro-Optical Commercial Layer contract awarded in 2022, according to GAO. Images purchased by NRO in 2024 showed "changes in Chinese aircraft carriers and other ships' locations over time, and identify the types of ships" at Sanya Naval Base in Hainan province. That same year, NRO purchased images that "helped the U.S. Southern Command identify possible clandestine airstrips in Ecuador." The U.S. government shared the intelligence, which led the Ecuadorian government "to further investigate and disable the airstrips that were likely used by narcotraffickers," GAO reported. Identifying those sites and sharing their locations with Ecuador is an example of how governments can benefit from the unclassified imagery, Ludwigson said. It also protects and frees up use of the military's most crucial spy satellites. "When we go to share stuff that's coming off an exquisite system, that image is, itself, classified," he said. "So, if we can use commercial imagery for those conversations with the Ecuadorian government or other governments to say, 'Hey, look at this. This is what we think it is, and this is what we are concerned about,' it"s a commercial asset, then Defense One haven't given up anything about its exquisite assets."

HawkEye 360 awarded NRO commercial RF Capability Augmentation contract. Aug 18, 2026, 08:30 ET HERNDON, Va., Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - HawkEye 360, Inc. (NYSE: HAWK), the global leader in space-based RF data and analytics, today announced it has been awarded a contract under the National Reconnaissance Office's Commercial Radio Frequency Capability Augmentation (CRFCA) program. Under the contract, HawkEye 360 will provide commercial radio frequency (RF) data in support of U.S. national security missions, moving the company to a more operational, production contract. This award marks an important transition for HawkEye 360. Following the successful completion of all three phases of the NRO's Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) study contracts, the company has become the first commercial provider to move from test-and-evaluation efforts into an operational augmentation contract through the CRFCA program. The progression reflects sustained collaboration with the NRO and the maturation of commercial RF sensing as a reliable source of mission-ready data. The contract further expands the company's support to the NRO's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission and underscores shared efforts to assess and integrate commercial remote sensing capabilities for government users. HawkEye 360's space-based RF collection provides insights to help inform awareness and understanding across a range of operating environments. "Our RF capabilities are built to support the mission needs of government customers who require reliable, timely information," said John Serafini, Chief Executive Officer of HawkEye 360. "We appreciate the continued partnership with the NRO and remain committed to delivering trusted commercial RF data for national security missions." Through the CRFCA program, HawkEye 360 will provide RF data that assists government users with operational awareness and mission planning. The contract reinforces the role of commercial RF sensing as an important source of timely, persistent information for defense, intelligence, and security missions. "HawkEye 360 is focused on delivering high-quality RF data that help meet the operational requirements of our government partners," said Todd Probert, Chief Operating Officer of HawkEye 360. "Our progression into an operational augmentation role underscores the maturity and reliability of our RF capabilities, and we are committed to supporting the NRO through the CRFCA program as a dependable contribution to mission success." About HawkEye 360 HawkEye 360 is equipping defense, intelligence, and national security leaders with mission-critical signal intelligence to enable faster, better decision-making. By detecting, geolocating, and characterizing radio-frequency emissions worldwide, HawkEye 360 delivers trusted domain awareness and early-warning indicators to the U.S. Government and allied partners. Our space-based collection, proprietary signal processing, and AI-powered analytics transform knowledge of the RF spectrum into a strategic advantage. Proven by operational mission success, HawkEye 360 is redefining how signals intelligence strengthens national and global security. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release. The words "will," "expects," "plans," "could," "would," "believes," "anticipates," "intends," "may," "continue," "estimate," or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions and risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond the Company's control that could affect its financial results. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the sections titled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's final prospectus related to its initial public offering, dated May 6, 2026, and other filings that the Company makes from time to time with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at sec.gov. Moreover, the Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for management to predict all risks, nor can the Company assess the impact of all factors on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements the Company may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in any forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company is under no obligation to update these forward-looking statements subsequent to the date of this press release, or to update the reasons if actual results differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. SOURCE HawkEye 360 Inc.