Undated file photo of the city of Al-Basra, Iraq - which borders Iran, a former wetland has been drained and walled off. Now littered with minefields and gun emplacements, it is a staging area for military exercises.

Undated file photo of the city of Al-Basra, Iraq - which borders Iran, a former wetland has been drained and walled off. Now littered with minefields and gun emplacements, it is a staging area for military exercises. AP Photo/USGS

The Public Will Soon Be Able to Buy Military-Grade Satellite Images

The view from space is about to get a lot clearer for the public. And that’s a good thing for the military. By Patrick Tucker

On Wednesday, the world’s premier marketer of high-resolution satellite imagery, DigitalGlobe, successfully launched their new WorldView 3 (WV3) satellite. As Defense One reported in April, the WorldView 3 will operate 380 miles above the Earth’s surface and will go from pole to pole in 98 minutes, moving at 7 miles per second. 

Who will buy the imagery?

DigitalGlobe’s number one client remains the government, and the largest government client is the National GeoIntelligence Agency, NGA, which gave the company $32.3 million in the second quarter of this year. But DigitalGlobe sells their services to other bodies like NATO to help track Russian troop movements on the Ukrainian Border, and to Google for use with Google Maps. DigitalGlobe’s image archive is the best on the planet with enough pictures to show every corner of the Earth 30 times over.

The satellite uses a shortwave infrared sensor to see through haze, dust and smoke to tell you things like how moist the soil is that you’re looking at. The WV3 can identify minerals, differentiate between tree species—even help determine the health of trees. The images themselves are also pin-point accurate on a map, with each pixel assigned its own latitude and longitude number.

The new satellite’s most important feature is its 30-centimeter resolution, which would “allow you to see not only a car, but the windshield and the direction the car is going. Something as small as home plate,” according to the company.

While that 30-centimeter resolution isn’t sufficient to do computerized facial recognition from space—depending on the light, the angle and the analyst, pictures at that scale could help positively identify Russian military commanders operating in Ukraine. Or it could help illumine ISIL leaders like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The U.S. military has a big interest in what’s called “non-permissive data collection,” which really means the collection of data about a subject without the subject’s knowledge

Prior to this year, the government didn’t want the public to have access to pictures from space at that level of detail, forcing DigitalGlobe to degrade the images that they were selling to a resolution of half a meter. In May of last year, Digital Globe petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to free them up to sell imagery as at a higher resolution at open markets.  

With little notice or fanfare, they won. On June 11th, the company issued a release stating that the government would allow them to sell images at a resolution as detailed 25 centimeters starting six months from Wednesday's launch.

It’s not—on the one hand—bad news for the U.S. that non-permissive data collection from space is now much more open to the public. As Joseph Marks reports in a piece for Defense One sister site NextGov, by opening up the images for public purchase, the price drops and that means that the government will be able to buy a lot more imagery at lower cost. (As previously reported, the company charges a minimum order of 100 square kilometers at $4000.) But on the other hand, it also means that the ability to see a baseball plate, license plate, or possibly a face from 380 miles above the Earth’s surface has suddenly become much less of an exclusive, elite capability.

DigitalGlobe is prohibited from selling high-resolution satellite images if the sale presents a national security threat or foreign policy concern. When a potential client makes contact, the company has to vet the person against a list of known terrorists. The U.S. government retains the right to impose “shutter control” at any time. But they’ve never had to according to DigitalGlobe CTO Walter Scott. The company self-monitors what pictures they sell and to whom. For instance, they sold no images of sensitive areas in Iraq during operation Iraqi Freedom.

It’s an amazing new tool but that doesn’t mean the public will use it. Upstart companies selling microsatellites at much lower cost are giving DigitalGlobe some very serious competition. A company out of California called Planet Labs currently operates the largest constellation of earth-imaging satellites, 28 so-called Dove microsatellites, which the company put into orbit near the start of the year. Others, like SkyBox, KickStat and SkyCube, etc. are all finding strange niches and funding in a rapidly growing marketplace. None of these satellites can offer the sort of images that the WV3 can (many don’t take pictures at all), but they do serve as an indication of how quickly the cost of space access is dropping.

A former intelligence analyst speaking to Defense One questioned whether or not the cost of a satellite like WV justified the value that customers would get it out it, given the rising competition. “I really think the issue is the very complex, extremely expensive, big satellites going up against the Skyboxes of the world,” he said. “The upside will be if the military is heavily tasking US assets on a specific part of the world, another capable satellite could provide coverage of other areas.”

There’s a fundamental shift occurring in the satellite imagery market and that could put more pressure on DigitalGlobe, the analyst said. “The only way [DigitalGlobe] can make money is from the analytical side. Imagery has become a commodity.”

Analytics, as a product, is also growing faster in supply than in demand. Spatial analysis firms like ESRI, based in Redlands, Calif., connect mapmakers around the world through the company’s ArcGIS.com platform, enabling governments, companies, researchers and activists to share lots of geo-specific information and satellite data in realtime. That includes everything from water table maps, to geo-specific histories, to legal boundaries. Skybox, too, is marketing its own satellite analytics service, while academic groups like Harvard’s Satellite Sentinel Project use open-source sat information to predict geopolitical events with a speed and an accuracy that used to be the sole province of governments.

For consumers in the Defense Department and beyond, the competition is a good thing. The government will need to rely much more on the private sector to get its satellites into space, provide communications to drones and, of course, to send pictures down to Earth. And so will the rest of us. The view from 380 miles up just got a lot clearer.   

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.