Commercial imaging satellites prove their military worth in the Ukraine War
Capitalism in space: Because of the ability of private commercial satellites to obtain high resolution reconnaissance and radar images of the ground quickly, U.S. intelligence agencies decided right before the Russian invasion of the Ukraine to not only use those satellites, but to funnel that data both to the public and to the Ukraine.
“We partner with over 100 companies, we’re currently using imagery from at least 200 commercial satellites and we have about 20 or so different analytic services in our pipeline,” David Gauthier, director of commercial and business operations at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), said during a panel discussion at the 37th Space Symposium. “Because of all that, when Russia prepared to invade, we and the NRO [National Reconnaissance Office] increased and accelerated several efforts that were underway commercially,” said Gauthier.
The daily flow of intelligence that previously was only available from government sources and seldom released to the public is no accident, said Gauthier. “This moment has really been set up by a lot of hard work by many companies and many in the government to prepare ourselves to take better advantage of commercial capabilities.”
Leading up to the conflict, he said, “we more than doubled the commercial electro-optical imagery that was bought over Ukraine.” Imagery from companies like Maxar, BlackSky and Planet “was able to flow directly to those who need it, EUCOM [U.S. European Command], NATO and directly to Ukrainians,” Gauthier said.
The military’s increased reliance on reconnaissance imagery from these private commercial satellite constellations during this war is likely to accelerate the military’s switch from building its own big and expensive government satellites — which also launch rarely and provide little redundancy — to using the private sector for its needs.
In other words, the success of the private sector in this area during this war has once again proved the validity of the recommendations in my 2017 policy paper, Capitalism in Space [pdf].
The government should stop being a builder and instead become merely a customer. Let competing private companies do the work. Not only will the government get what it needs faster and for far less, the competition will fuel innovation and prosperity for the American people.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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Capitalism in space: Because of the ability of private commercial satellites to obtain high resolution reconnaissance and radar images of the ground quickly, U.S. intelligence agencies decided right before the Russian invasion of the Ukraine to not only use those satellites, but to funnel that data both to the public and to the Ukraine.
“We partner with over 100 companies, we’re currently using imagery from at least 200 commercial satellites and we have about 20 or so different analytic services in our pipeline,” David Gauthier, director of commercial and business operations at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), said during a panel discussion at the 37th Space Symposium. “Because of all that, when Russia prepared to invade, we and the NRO [National Reconnaissance Office] increased and accelerated several efforts that were underway commercially,” said Gauthier.
The daily flow of intelligence that previously was only available from government sources and seldom released to the public is no accident, said Gauthier. “This moment has really been set up by a lot of hard work by many companies and many in the government to prepare ourselves to take better advantage of commercial capabilities.”
Leading up to the conflict, he said, “we more than doubled the commercial electro-optical imagery that was bought over Ukraine.” Imagery from companies like Maxar, BlackSky and Planet “was able to flow directly to those who need it, EUCOM [U.S. European Command], NATO and directly to Ukrainians,” Gauthier said.
The military’s increased reliance on reconnaissance imagery from these private commercial satellite constellations during this war is likely to accelerate the military’s switch from building its own big and expensive government satellites — which also launch rarely and provide little redundancy — to using the private sector for its needs.
In other words, the success of the private sector in this area during this war has once again proved the validity of the recommendations in my 2017 policy paper, Capitalism in Space [pdf].
The government should stop being a builder and instead become merely a customer. Let competing private companies do the work. Not only will the government get what it needs faster and for far less, the competition will fuel innovation and prosperity for the American people.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Even lil’ old socialist me has nothing but agreement here Bob… government must be held responsible for their spending… much like a publicly listed company are bound by law to maximise profits for the shareholders, government should be bound to maximise benefits to the tax payers who fund the whole system.
We are no doubt at loggerheads regarding what those benefits are, but what you guys call “pork” should be cut out , even called out as illegal. The rise of the private space industry is making it harder and harder for NASA to justify its job creation programs… the money yet to be spent on SLS would be much better spent helping NASA employees involved find new jobs, and would no doubt have plenty left over for the stuff NASA is excellent at..
And the rise of private space won’t just help the USA, there is a lot of the rest of the world with time, talent and treasure invested in the new space movement… a rising tide lifts all ships…
yep ….. ” in the new space movement… a rising tide lifts all ships…”
Then the crew needs to know what to do.
Ebb tide gets them out of the harbor though,
If they know what to do. … and if I have my tides correct …..
I wonder if any commercial birds can match the capabilities of a KH-11, Misty or Lacrosse
I wonder of the US government still limits the resolution of the optics on those private birds.
And if they do I bet they wish they hadn’t.
Well from memory, I believe that the olde French Spot System had a higher resolution than the USA first systems of the 1960s, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.; the film from Corona Birds reentered and was caught mid air by C-119 Air Force Cargo aircraft.
You could say that was the grandmother of Elon Musk’s Drone Fairings recovery fleet..
Done without fancy GPS…… radar systems of today, that are a Wonder too…….
Note the NRO, using U2 and Corona Satellite data had a hard time fixing and providing the locations of Soviet ICBM’S and Air Force Bases and Navy Piers to the United States Nuclear Strike Effort.
The Soviets had purged all detailed data on their nations cartographic locations from the World’s access. The problem was solved when researchers found an ancient copy of the bench mapping in Britian of the Russian Trans-Siberian railway. The. Wooden towers used to mark and calculate the railways right of way done by a British mapping engineers were still standing in some form, thus allowing the accurate fixing of missile launching pads by NRO.
A short look at the Photo Birds:
https://www.wired.com/story/how-the-government-controls-sensitive-satellite-data/
“government should be bound to maximise benefits to the tax payers who fund the whole system.”
No. Government should be bound not to spend money it does not need to spend. It should be bound to enable people to provide for themselves, not be the provider. They should be bound to take the minimum amount of taxes they need. They should be bound not to invent new benefits for the sake of winning votes for their party.
Between commercial imaging and commercial communication (Starlink), things are changing fast. Opposing government sats we’re always going to be targets, but add in commercial, we are reaching a point where there is no way they could eliminate all the sats quickly.
Until the paradigm shifts again to counter these new capabilities.
When can we start sending Democrat Liberals into Deep Space aboard the S.S. Botony Bay? Sleeper Ship?
I am all for leaving the eco religion folks behind on Earth and the rest of us leaving. They will live like native Americans in tents and protect the environment at all costs.
Put the liberals on Mars and the Moon and the right thinking peoples going to the stars.
This way everyone gets everything they want.
No liberal has ever gone out and started a nation.
Best to keep a few phone sanitizors around, just in case.
No liberal has ever gone out and started a nation
There’s a definition bomb if there ever was one. Only a few decades ago, most of America would have disagreed with that, holding up the Founding Fathers as a counter example. I still disagree, but I’d hold up the French and/or Russian revolutions as counter examples, depending on how far Left one’s definition of “liberal” has drifted.
By the modern definition of liberal…….