BETHESDA, Md. — The U.S. government’s support for the commercial remote sensing satellite industry is at a critical juncture amid growing military demand for real-time intelligence, industry experts said Aug. 27.
The commercial remote sensing satellite industry is expanding, but it’s still not equipped to meet evolving U.S. military needs for tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), said David Gauthier, former head of commercial operations at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).
Tactical ISR refers to the immediate collection and analysis of data to inform military operations on the battlefield. This intelligence is crucial for decision making during to dynamic situations.
Speaking at the AFCEA-INSA Intelligence and National Security Summit, Gauthier, who is chief strategy officer of the consulting firm GXO Inc., said the Pentagon could find itself at a disadvantage against adversaries unless it has access to satellites capable of real-time monitoring.
The U.S. government owns and operates its own ISR satellites, he said, but the conflict in Ukraine has underscored the strategic importance of commercial remote sensing satellites, showcasing their ability to provide unclassified and easily shareable intelligence. The war has been described as one of the most documented conflicts in history, largely due to the continuous flow of satellite data that has shaped public perception and countered misinformation.
Despite these advancements, Gauthier argued, the commercial satellite industry has to innovate further to meet the U.S. military’s needs for continuous monitoring of military activity. He emphasized the necessity of integrating “virtual constellations” of Earth observation (EO), infrared (IR), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and radio frequency (RF) systems to achieve more precise intelligence.
The conflict has provided a taste of what commercial imaging satellites can do, but the…
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