National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
The American mapping and imagery analysis agency, known as NGA since 2003
Overview
Founded as NIMA in 1996 and renamed in 2003, the NGA analyzes satellite imagery and geospatial data for defense, intelligence, and disaster response. Its analysts built the scale model of the Abbottabad compound used to plan the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden. The agency also supports humanitarian mapping, aviation safety, and maritime navigation, illustrating how overhead imagery serves purposes far beyond espionage. It is the newest of the major American agencies. The agency absorbed older mapping organizations, including the Army Map Service, consolidating imagery analysis under one roof.
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