Comments on: Orbital ATK gets first FCC license approval for space repair mission

By: Steve Earle

Steve Earle — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 01:19:24 +0000

Does Russia and China know that they need NOAA’s permission to take pictures of the Earth from Space??

Silly is the correct term.

By: Edward

Edward — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 23:42:09 +0000

Permits or restrictions aside, this is an exciting technology.

By: mkent

mkent — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:21:27 +0000

I suspect it has to do with enforcing the resolution limits on commercial imagery but maybe not.

By: wodun

wodun — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 23:38:00 +0000

This is great news. The industry gets a new and needed product that has implications for national defense, expanding activities in cislunar space, and greater use of LEO/GEO.

By: ken anthony

ken anthony — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 19:44:43 +0000

I guess camera restrictions in East Germany or N.K. would confuse folk today? “Isn’t that just normal?” the American [non-history] educated student asks?

By: mike shupp

mike shupp — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:00:47 +0000

I think the issue is that NOAA has jurisdiction over Landsat-like satellite imagery. In principle, the US government would like private firms to take over this business. Ir looks simple enough, people enjoy such images and corporations with land management concerns may find them valuable, but forty years of experience pretty much proves that no one wishes to pay much for such images. Consequently, firms providing satellite imagery want exclusivity — no rivals. Which means someone with licensing authority has to decide if satellites put up by other companies are snapping innocent single photographs of the earth, or acting as a commercial rival.

Which, yes, is kind of silly, but maybe made sense when such satellites cost hundreds of millions of dollars and we were trying to get the industry going. Now, in an era of cheap nanosats … I dunno, maybe not.