A Starfish Space Otter space vehicle in GEO. Photo: Starfish Space

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) said on Wednesday that its Office of Space Launch (OSL) has awarded Broad Agency Announcements for Agile Launch Innovation and Strategic Technology Advancement (BALISTA) contracts to Houston’s Cognitive Space, Redondo Beach, Calif.’s Impulse Space, and Seattle’s Starfish Space.

“In March 2024, OSL released the BALISTA BAA which included areas of interest of in-space mobility and maneuver, on-orbit logistics and sustainability, mission acceleration, artificial intelligence for ground operations, and spacecraft propellant particle count,” NRO said.

BALISTA represents the first BAA contracts awarded by OSL–contracts that “are smaller in scope and will assess emerging providers and capabilities,” the agency said. “They are intended to demonstrate new mission capabilities that directly solve critical intelligence problems or address technology needs of interest.”

OSL Director Col. Eric Zarvbnisky said in the NRO statement that BALISTA will aid NRO’s advancement in “emerging technologies across launch, on-orbit support, and command & control.”