Editor's Perspective
GIF 2010 Volume: 8 Issue: 5 (July/August)
Budget constraints and new technologies will spur defense agencies worldwide to make greater use of commercial satellite Earth observation (EO) data in the coming years, according to a new report.
The recently released study by Euroconsult, a space sector research firm, projects that global government procurement of EO will total $2.6 billion a year by the end of the decade, compared with $735 million last year.
“Defense budgets are under pressure, and developing autonomous satellite capacities remains costly, just as commercial Earth observation data is becoming a viable solution for defense and security applications,” said Adam Keith, director of Earth Observation for Euroconsult. “This combination of factors will encourage governments to look towards the most cost-effective combination of solutions to meet their image intelligence requirements, including development of dual-use systems, increasing government cooperation to access third-party systems, and purchasing commercial data.”
A critical factor in that growth, the study notes, is that commercial technology has continued to improve. In contrast with the past, the spread of commercial high-resolution optical and synthetic aperture radar systems, together with increased image accuracy and faster delivery, is making commercial data more suitable for defense and intelligence needs.
Government-owned satellites will remain a major force as well, however. Nine nations launched 57 satellites, representing a total of $12.5 billion in manufacturing costs, for defense purposes in the period 2000-2009, Euroconsult found. During the period 2010-2019, manufacturing revenues are expected to reach $18.3 billion, with a marked increase in the number of satellites.
The United States is the leading user of commercial satellite data, purchasing $430 million, or more than half of the 2009 total, for defense and intelligence agencies. Euroconsult analysts expect spending by other nations to grow, however, as high-accuracy commercial solutions become more available and distribution networks are developed.
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Harrison Donnelly, Editor
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