Commercial Eyes in Space

Commercial remote sensing from satellites provides tremendous information about objects on the Earth's surface for a variety of business, civil, and recreational needs. Using two case studies, this research paper investigates how commercial satellite remote sensing capabilities in 2030 could impact U.S. military operations and analyzes what investments should be made today to protect U.S. interests from adversaries using these capabilities. Interviews with multiple experts from the commercial remote sensing community combined with research of open-source documentation provide unique insights into possible futures. The research shows that by 2030, the commercial remote sensing industry will be able to provide dynamic and vertically-integrated multi-source information in near-real-time. The implications for the U.S. military include a wealth of information to supplement national intelligence collection as well as a need to develop capabilities to deny its use by adversaries. To preserve information superiority in 2030, the U.S. must advocate international policies to prevent sales of commercial information products and invest today in technology development efforts such as counter-communications, synthetic aperture radar jamming and spoofing, computer network attack, and mobile laser technologies as part of a comprehensive counter-ISR fielding program.