National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency NGA

The NGA was formed in 1996 as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, which merged the Defense Mapping Agency, the CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center, and other imagery offices. It was renamed in 2003 to reflect its focus on geospatial intelligence, the analysis of imagery and geographic information to describe and assess physical features and activities on Earth. It is a Defense Department combat support agency and a member of the intelligence community.

NGA analysts study imagery from satellites, aircraft, and drones to track military forces, weapons programs, and disasters. The agency produces the maps, charts, and navigation data that pilots, ships, and precision weapons rely on, and it maintains the World Geodetic System that underlies GPS. Its analysis helped locate the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. It also shares unclassified imagery and data during natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

Headquartered at a large campus in Springfield, Virginia, NGA has a major second hub in St. Louis, where it built a new western headquarters. It has invested heavily in artificial intelligence and computer vision to sort through vast volumes of imagery, and since 2023 it has managed the Pentagon's Project Maven, which applies machine learning to identifying objects in surveillance data, raising debates about the role of AI in targeting.