[Infowarrior] - Intel Community Agrees To Allow Industry To Sell High-Res Imagery,

[Richard Forno]

DefenseDaily.com
April 15, 2014


Intel Community Agrees To Allow Industry To Sell High-Res Imagery, Clapper
Says

Pat Host

The Intelligence Community (IC) has reached a consensus allowing commercial
satellite imagery companies to sell high resolution imagery, Director of
National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper said Tuesday.

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The announcement is certainly good news for companies like DigitalGlobe
[DGI], which have been pressing the federal government to ease restrictions
on selling its highest-quality imagery. Domestic imagers are currently
prohibited from selling imagery with resolution better than 50 cm in
panchromatic, or black and white; two meters in the multi-spectral and 7.5
meters in shortwave infrared (IR). DigitalGlobe last May petitioned the
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to ease these resolution
restrictions, which it claimed hampered industry. An email to NOAA for
comment on developments was not returned by press time.

DigitalGlobe in August plans to launch its advanced WorldView-3 satellite
capable of 31 cm resolution panchromatic, 1.24 meter resolution
multi-spectral and potentially 3.7 meter resolution in shortwave IR,
according to an April 8 blog post on its website. DigitalGlobe said Ball
Aerospace [BLL], manufacturer of WorldView-3, completed thermal vacuum,
acoustic, vibration and pyro-separation testing on the satellite and its
integrated sensors and electronics to confirm the spacecraft¹s design
integrity. Electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility
will wrap up April 23.

DigitalGlobe Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Walter Scott told Defense Daily
last year the company wants the restrictions lifted because companies today
can use airplanes to get 5 cm resolution in 90 countries, in addition to
foreign competitors providing 50 cm resolution imagery via satellite. Scott
added that there were ³dozens² of other satellites either in operation, or
in preparation, to be launched that operate close to, or in a few cases,
better than 50 cm resolution.

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http://www.defensedaily.com/intel-community-agrees-to-allow-industry-to-sell-high-res-imagery-clapper-says/

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