Impact on the military

It is becoming increasingly likely that in the not-too-distant future a commercial imaging system or systems with high spatial resolution imaging capabilities and near- real-time reporting capabilities will be operating in space. 1 This is an assumption, but the necessary technology already is available, launch and systems costs may be heading downward, and some media representatives are talking fairly confidently about a “Mediasat.” 2 What is still lacking is the clear identification of market that will make it financially attractive to acquire by commercial means better space imagery than is now available. US law requires that any such system based in the United States have a federal operating license, but a responsible applicant is not likely to experience any difficulty in obtaining it. This article looks at three questions posed by this situation: 1) Will high resolution commercial imaging systems in space have any particular impact on military strategy and operations, considering that both the United States and Soviet military forces already are served by government- operated high resolution systems? 2) Will imagery from commercial sources benefit US military forces and/or US policymakers? 3) To what extent might commercially available high quality imagery from space pose national security problems to the United States?