Baker is a technology policy analyst at Rand specializing incommercial observation satellite issues. Her expertise includes systems analysis of environmental problems, environmental science and technology policy, sustainable development policy, mathematical modeling and GIS analysis of urban systems. Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Learn more about Amazon Prime. This report assesses the key risks facing U. These companies aim to become an important part of the U. This report provides some muchneeded perspective on how these risks, or at least our appreciation of them, have changed from the early s when the U.
Read more Read less. Prime Book Box for Kids. From the Publisher This report assesses the key risks facing the emerging U. Be the first to review this item Amazon Best Sellers Rank: Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features: Commercial Remote Sensing Satellite Industry: An Analysis of Risks. Licensing is regulated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which subjects applications to interagency reviews in which the Defense, State and Interior departments, as well as intelligence agencies, all can participate.
Congress has imposed additional restrictions, such as the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of , which states that imagery of Israel with better than 2-meter resolution cannot be sold commercially. And the alternative gets to questionable restrictions on both commercial activity and the flow of information, experts agreed. Schuster believes the recent voices who have spoken out against the programs and availability of imagery likely will not have a dramatic effect on U.
But he stressed that commercial firms think about these issues and revisit them, saying that Orbimage sometimes even goes beyond policy restrictions when deciding how to handle sensitive data. As noted, a new satellite, QuickBird, was successfully launched in In September , Orbview-4, developed by Orbimage, was launched but failed to reach orbit. While Stennis remains the primary purchaser of remote sensing data for applications, other NASA offices and centers now are involved in such purchases to support their scientific activities. NIMA has created a Commercial Imagery Program to help industry develop capabilities to provide it with products to assist its mapping mission.
In addition, NIMA has established contracts with several remote sensing firms for the purchase of image products and services. In both cases, actions are being taken by the agencies to support the development of a commercial industry that can be relied upon as a steady supplier of imagery. Despite the optimism and federal activities described above, the outlook for commercial remote sensing is uncertain.
The higher figure includes all analytical and consultant services provided in addition to the raw images. At present, no commercial remote sensing satellite owner is profitable. OSC retains the rights to the data, however, and is marketing information on ocean fishing locations. Feder, New York Times, F1.
CRS There appear to be several reasons for the current uncertain state of the industry. Image prices are relatively high, which has restrained demand, particularly from smaller users such as academic researchers, local governments, and small businesses that might have a need for high resolution images. Evidence to date suggests a strong price sensitivity in the market.
Given the limited expertise in interpreting and assessing remote sensing images by many potential uses, such value-added services will be crucial to the future of the remote sensing industry. A similar situation existed with the development of geographic information systems GIS.
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As GIS technologies matured, processes were developed that made them easier to use and, consequently, resulted in an expanded market. A fourth factor is the role of the federal government as a purchaser of images. In particular, for various reasons, the NIMA strategy described above does not appear to be providing the stimulus hoped for.
Without such support, industry officials claim it will be hard to raise the capital needed to build and launch the next generation of commercial remote sensing satellites which includes a 0. See also, Congressional Research Service, U. It is the source of most of the data NIMA disseminates. Furthermore, they argue that it is not certain that the commercial remote sensing industry needs substantial federal investment to survive, but rather the U.
For example, NASA is interested in measuring climate parameters, such as atmospheric water vapor, temperatures, and wind speeds, for its study of global climate change. Other federal agencies also use remote sensing data. In a report recently released by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services, it was reported that of 19 civilian agencies polled, 15 used remote sensing data in some form.
In particular, they cited high costs of commercial data, processing, and analysis; and lack of technology and trained personnel to fully exploit imagery. In addition to purchasing commercial remote sensing images, the federal government also markets images and may act as a competitor to the commercial industry. Landsat 7, operated by USGS, makes available its images to the public at cost. Some claim that the availability of Landsat 7 images at cost has helped expand the potential market for remote sensing data.
Recently, however, USGS has proposed offering levels of enhancement as well as the raw data. Williamson, Commercial Observation Satellites, A debate is developing over who should build and operate the next Landsat mission. In order to ensure continuity of Landsat data, NASA has stated that a new satellite — the Landsat Data Continuity Mission — will likely be needed by the end of the decade when the design life of Landsat 7 is complete.
Currently, NASA has stated that it wants that follow-on mission to be financed, built, and operated by a private company. Several remote sensing advocates in the private sector also support a private Landsat 7 follow-on. They point out that at a workshop held by NASA on the Continuity Mission, it was the consensus of commercial remote sensing image providers at the meeting that there was insufficient promise of an adequate financial return from a Landsat 7 follow-on to justify private investment. In particular, the possibility that the federal government may impose restrictions on what a licensee can observe and transmit, has added a measure of uncertainty to the market.
U. S. Commercial Remote Sensing Satellite ...
While shutter control has not been invoked to date, the possibility may create concern on the part of potential commercial purchasers of remote sensing imagery that they may lose access to those images during times of national emergency. A fifth factor is the effect of foreign competition. In addition to the French, Indian, and Israeli launches mentioned above, several other foreign remote sensing satellites are either operating or are planned to be launched within the next several Competition from these entities is likely to be substantial and could seriously hinder the growth of a domestic commercial industry.
It is clear that while the market for commercial remote sensing is growing, there is little expectation that the industry will be profitable anytime soon. Nongovernmental applications have been slower to develop than anticipated, and competition from aerial remote sensing and foreign competitors is substantial. It is possible that the new generation of 1 meter PAN or better satellites may provide the stimulus needed to develop new, profitable applications. Until that happens, however, the economic future of the industry is uncertain.
National Security and Commercial Satellites Commercial remote sensing satellites offer both benefits and concerns for national security. In addition to those noted above, U.
Commercial Remote Sensing by Satellite: Status and Issues
Although the latter have much higher resolution, they are spread thin and the highest resolution is not always necessary. In another action, immediately after the start of bombing in Afghanistan, NIMA contracted with Space Imaging for exclusive rights to all images taken by Ikonos 2 of the Operation Enduring Freedom area of operations. Potential adversaries could use remote sensing imagery to determine U.
Feder, New York Times, F7. Baker and Dana J. CRS imagery to facilitate military actions against another state or against insurgent groups within their borders. While terrorist organizations could in principle use remote sensing imagery, it may not provide much added value to information it can obtain in other ways. A more critical concern is the possibility that commercial remote sensing could be used by terrorists to compromise U.
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In the near term, these risks do not appear to be as serious as they are likely to be in the longer term. Other near-term factors that may limit national security risks are that short turn around access — less than 24 hours — is not likely to be available to non-satellite nations for several years; extensive cloud cover limits the value of conventional remote sensing in many areas; and processing technology for making full use of remote sensing imagery may be many years off.
A recent announcement by the Gulf Cooperation Council, a group of Arab states in the Persian Gulf region, that they are exploring the possibility of purchasing their own remote sensing satellite suggests, however, that some of these mitigating factors may be eliminated or greatly reduced relatively soon. The expansion of foreign remote sensing systems could present the United States with significant national security risks. Should that happen, it may be necessary to consider options to neutralize as much of the risk as possible.
Such actions, however, would have to be weighed against harm that could come about by reducing the potential national security benefits of increased accessibility to high resolution remote sensing satellites. In particular, as many analysts have suggested, such systems could make the planet more transparent, leading to a world where malevolent intentions are more easily observed and thwarted, and, thus they could possibly act as a significant deterrent to conflict. Interpreting remote sensing images is difficult and involves detection, identification, measurement, and analysis.
Without proper equipment or CRS training, incorrect interpretation of images can result, particularly if they are somewhat ambiguous in the first place. Such debates can have implications for national security because many times they are about images of objects of military significance that are the basis of proposed foreign policy or other actions.
Examples include satellite images of long-range missile development in North Korea and nuclear weapons testing in Pakistan and India. These concerns could be mitigated by cooperative arrangements between experienced and newer, untrained users of remote sensing images. This cooperation could be particularly beneficial for the news media and non-governmental organizations. Regulation and Commercial Remote Sensing: Shutter Control The Land Remote Sensing Act of is the basis for regulation by the federal government of the commercial remote sensing industry.
The licensee must protect U. The Act also prohibits use of remote sensing to gather, transmit, or deliver defense related information for the benefit of any foreign government or to publish photographs of defense facilities. As noted above, Presidential Decision Directive 23 PDD was issued in to specify the policy of the Clinton Administration towards commercial remote sensing. The directive allows the Secretary of Commerce to limit image collection and distribution by licensed remote sensing satellites for national security reasons, the so-called shutter control provision.
The policy outlined in PDD also promotes the remote sensing industry and provides for low cost access to the images for the United States. There remains ambiguity and uncertainty in the remote sensing industry about the current regulatory framework governing commercial remote sensing in this country. Rules implementing the Act have taken over eight years from its enactment to develop, with an interim final rule published in July An attempt was made to clarify the regulations during the th Congress, but no amendments to the Act were included in the Commercial Space Act of P.
CRS At issue in the regulations is whether the doctrine of prior restraint — shutter control — can be used to limit actions by remote sensing entities and whether restrictions can be imposed based on foreign policy considerations. In the first case, the debate centers on whether there is adequate justification for regulations that prevent the publication of images prior to any event that may justify that action.
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Some argue that concerns that national security could be endangered by publication of such images may not be sufficient to justify the use of prior restraint. They argue that it is necessary to prove that application of shutter control would prevent the loss of life before a prior restraint regulation could be established. Others argue that national security considerations are sufficient, and that the use of prior restraint is justified even if the level of danger cannot be specified in advance. There is also debate about whether the Act authorizes the use of foreign policy concerns as a justification for shutter control prohibiting the acquisition and publishing of remote sensing images of sensitive areas.
PDD does include foreign policy along with national security as a justification for shutter control. Some have argued that the term foreign policy in this context is too vague and a more precise expression is needed.
Commercial Remote Sensing by Satellite: Status and Issues - tandjfoods.com
These observers suggest the basis for shutter control should be protection of international obligations when harm is possible if images are obtained and published. The crux of this issue is how to balance the seemingly conflicting goals of promoting a commercial remote sensing industry while also protecting national security. The difficult regulatory challenge is to prevent inappropriate use of remote sensing in gathering information on national security sites for a possible adversary without excessively hindering legitimate commercial operation.
While prior restraint through the application of shutter control would likely achieve the first goal, its application could cause severe financial harm for the entity targeted. As noted above, however, the U. This has the advantage of preserving the commercial livelihood of the firm while denying access to potentially critical images by adversaries of the United States.
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It also has the advantage of avoiding a likely court challenge over the legality of using prior restraint in establishing shutter control. The action has not been spared criticism, however, as some have claimed the move is more to control information flow to the public than to assure access to strategic images.