A View from Space

With an annual budget of $35 to $40 billion in space-based related products and services, the U.S. dominates in this field. (By comparison, Europe spends the equivalent of $7 billion.) This outlay gives the U.S. access to the highest quality information from space, especially in the area of intelligence — providing the ability to determine performance of military equipment.

To meet military, intelligence, foreign policy and homeland security needs, as well as those of civilian users, President George Bush in 2003 authorized a new policy that substantially increases U.S. government use of commercial imagery and geospatial products. (Imagery provided by commercial satellites is of sufficient quality for military purposes.) The policy — intended to support development of future capabilities, as well as exploit current capabilities — designates the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency as having the primary responsibility for acquiring and disseminating imagery and geospatial products to meet the requirements of national security and foreign policy (in consultation with the Secretary of State).

For the future, several U.S. government agencies are interested in a dedicated orbiting radar to meet their needs. Installing sensors on a space-based platform, rather than an aircraft, brings several advantages. Such a platform allows officials to look down at steep angles and extends sensor range.

In fact, the Space Based Radar program, which SAIC will play a critical role in helping the Air Force develop, is intended to conduct persistent global collection of intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance products. A constellation of satellites operating in either low or medium Earth orbit will carry multimode radar that allows the system to track moving targets, produce high-resolution radar images, and generate high-resolution terrain information.

In contrast to the U.S., many countries have determined that they can derive worthwhile benefits from a substantially lower level of investment in space-based related products and services. For example, Russia continues to put new Earth-observation satellites in orbit — at a far lower rate than during the Cold War — and sells the imagery to other countries on demand.

According to the 2003 edition of the report on Military Power of the Peoples' Republic of China (prepared annually by the DoD), China is "placing major emphasis on improving space-based reconnaissance and surveillance…"

With a long history of building Earth-resources satellites, India is also pursuing more advanced capabilities. Cartosat-2, due for launching in 2006, will carry electro-optical sensors of one-meter resolution.

The Japanese National Space Information Center launched that country's first pair of reconnaissance satellites in March 2003, allowing it to monitor the ballistic-missile and nuclear-weapons programs being conducted by neighboring North Korea.

In the Middle East, Israel has launched a series of reconnaissance satellites built by Israel Aircraft Industries. One satellite, Ofeq-5, carries a camera with a resolution of one meter that allows it to monitor missile launches and other events from a distance of up to 430 kilometers.

In Europe, several countries have expressed interest in a common Earth-resources satellite system. As an interim step, those developing the next generation of such platforms are working to integrate them more closely together. For example, the first of France's two Helios II satellites is due for launching in 2005 (the second should follow four years later). Belgium and Spain are each contributing 2.5% of the program budget and will receive a corresponding amount of imagery in return. In addition, France and Italy have agreed to harmonize their future dual-use Earth-resources satellite programs.

In the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Defence and the British National Space Centre are jointly funding the TopSat program to demonstrate a small, inexpensive satellite that can supply imagery directly to users in the field.

Under the sponsorship of the Malaysian government, local company Astronautic Technology is collaborating with SaTReC Initiative from the Republic of Korea on the medium-sized aperture Camera Satellite due for launch in 2005. In addition, Singapore is widely reported to have ordered a constellation of Earth-observation satellites carrying both optical and radar sensors, primarily for military use.

The article by Kass, "Observation from Orbit," appeared in Jane's International Defense Review.

Related Information

• National Security
• Space