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National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Leading the Way For 25 Years

  • May 28, 2021

National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) Director Vice Adm. Robert Sharp recently sat down to discuss the organizations 25-year history, and the ‘Moonshot’ operational effort to face a future as challenging as our nation’s first journey to the moon.

“Just over 50 years ago, the United States achieved the seemingly impossible by putting a man on the moon. It was a feat of human innovation, collaboration, agility and an inclusive approach to complex problem-solving, combining individual contributions from thousands of Americans—from the President of the United States to, famously, a custodian working in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

This event united a nation, as the country gathered together to witness history unfold one small step and giant leap at a time. Though I was pretty young at the time of the landing, I still recall crowding around an old black-and-white television with family, neighbors, and friends to witness the historic event. It’s a memory I hold on to dearly, colored by adventure and excitement and the spirit of teamwork.

In light of that legacy, celebrating our 25th anniversary this year seems entirely fitting. It is a time of great change and great challenge, a time in which nations, our respective agencies, and the GEOINT community at large are facing pressures, changes, and threats we had not fully anticipated. But, I also believe it is a time of great hope and great opportunity.

NGA’s next steps as we move forward into this year and beyond are distilled into the agency’s most important operational effort, our “Moonshot”—and it’s not a coincidence that we’ve used that term to describe our effort. It is a powerful concept that evokes the best of what our country can be and achieve and reminds us that our success—much like the moon landing—depends on our innovation, collaboration, agility, and inclusive approach to complex problem-solving.

The Moonshot is our roadmap toward a common goal—our commitment to deliver trusted GEOINT with the speed, accuracy, and precision required to hold at risk the strategic forces our adversaries use to project power and threaten the United States and our allies. The effort is organized around four mission imperatives, which help define the investments we must make to shorten the timeline it takes us to achieve our Moonshot.”

Check out the full article from Vice Adm. Sharp here.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency recently broke ground on its new western regional headquarters in north St. Louis, Missouri. Scheduled to open in 2025, NGA West represents a $1.7 billion investment and exemplifies the explosive growth of the geospatial ecosystem in St. Louis, of which the NGA is just one active member.

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