ST. LOUIS — The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is preparing to open the doors to its new “NGA West” campus just north of downtown St. Louis in late September, the culmination of a nearly decade-long effort to modernize the agency’s footprint in the Midwest.
The $1.7 billion facility — the largest federal investment in St. Louis history — will replace the NGA’s current downtown site and serve as a hub for geospatial intelligence operations. The project has remained on track amid budget pressures and workforce reductions driven by directives from the Trump administration.
Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth, NGA director, confirmed the target date during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee last week.
“We have been giving tours to our workforce. They’re getting excited,” Whitworth said. He emphasized that the new facility is designed to foster deeper collaboration between the federal government, private companies, and universities to accelerate innovation in geospatial intelligence. “One of the best examples of the combination of business, academia, civil government, federal government, intelligence, all banding together to ensure that this is a success,” he said.
The timing of the announcement coincides with the GEOINT Symposium, which is being held this week at the downtown St. Louis convention center. The event brings together leaders in national security, satellite imagery, data analytics, and mapping technologies, with NGA’s role and regional presence expected to be a key theme.
Currently, NGA employs over 3,000 people in the St. Louis area. The agency first announced plans to build the new campus in 2016, and regional leaders have since framed it as a catalyst for transforming St. Louis into a national center for geospatial science and technology.
Geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT, refers to the use of imagery, maps, and other location-based data to understand activities and physical environments on Earth. It supports everything from military planning to emergency response and commercial logistics.
Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.) said the new NGA campus positions the city to attract both top talent and capital. Speaking at the strategic forces subcommittee hearing, Bell said he expects the NGA West campus to position the area as a tech hub that will attract talent and investments to help advance innovation in geospatial intelligence for national security..
To build out a skilled local workforce, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) has introduced legislation aimed at funding workforce training programs focused on geospatial disciplines.
During his congressional appearance, Whitworth stressed the growing importance of space-based systems in collecting the data NGA uses to produce GEOINT. “Gathering the data and imagery necessary to characterize the activities and operations of our adversaries from the earth to space, is not a simple task,” he said.
NGA personnel operate in more than 20 countries worldwide, often embedded directly with military and intelligence teams. The agency also highlighted a new partnership with the U.S. Space Force, including the creation of a joint mission management center over the past year. The goal: streamline coordination and close the gap between data collection and actionable insights.
As NGA West nears completion, the agency is signaling a long-term goal to integrate government, academia and industry to shape the next chapter in U.S. geospatial intelligence.
