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Spy Satellites: Still a Few Steps Ahead
By Kenneth Silber
Staff Writer
posted: 01:16 pm ET
21 September 1999
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gov_imagery_990921The U.S. government retains key technological advantages over the commercial sector in satellite imagery, despite the planned launch this week of the advanced commercial satellite Ikonos II, according to private analysts who monitor the government's spy satellite program. Colorado-based Space Imaging's Ikonos II will be the first commercial satellite with one-meter resolution, or the capability to discern objects as small as one meter (3.28 feet) in diameter. According to an estimate by the private Federation of American Scientists (FAS), three satellites operated by the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) have resolutions as sharp as 10 centimeters (3.93 inches) -- in other words, the satellites can discern a softball-sized object from several hundred miles away. Tim Brown, a security analyst at FAS, describes 10-centimeter resolution as "our best approximation, derived from a few sources." The number and capabilities of U.S. spy satellites are classified. Higher resolutions are not the government's only advantage over the commercial imagery sector, according to Brown. He notes that NRO has fast "revisit times" -- such as the ability to photograph a particular site several times a day -- because it operates multiple satellites. Moreover, he says, the agency's satellites have sophisticated on-board propulsion systems that allow flexibility in maneuvering -- including the possibility of evading anti-satellite missiles that someday may be launched by a hostile power. On rare occasion, Brown believes, NRO may dip one of its satellites into a low orbit to take images at resolutions better than 10 centimeters.
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