Government as Customer of Space Commerce
Remote Sensing Data Buys
The past decade has seen the emergence of U.S. commercial remote sensing satellite systems capable of meeting many government requirements for imagery and earth observations. Many agencies have embraced the use of commercially available remote sensing data as an effective alternative to building and operating governmental satellites. Other agencies continue to operate their own remote sensing satellites but purchase commercial data to supplement their in-house capabilities.
It is the official policy of the U.S. government to rely to the maximum practical extent on U.S. commercial remote sensing space capabilities for filling imagery and geospatial needs for military, intelligence, foreign policy, homeland security, and civil users. Commercial satellite data buys are a key to implementing this policy.
Read more about the U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Space Policy... Read more about commercial remote sensing...ClearView and NextView
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) serves as a government clearinghouse for commercial satellite imagery, negotiating bulk purchases with U.S. commercial data providers to make it easy and cost-effective for other agencies to acquire imagery when needed. Through the ClearView and NextView programs, NGA has established the U.S. government as a long-term customer of the domestic remote sensing satellite industry, similar to what the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the General Services Administration (GSA) have done for commercial satellite communications.
Read more about DISA and GSA...SeaWiFS
A pathfinder for government data buys was the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) mission. SeaWiFS is a global ocean color sensor launched in 1997 as part of the OrbView-2 remote sensing satellite. A private company (ORBIMAGE, now GeoEye) led the development of the spacecraft and continues to operate it on a commercial basis today. NASA defined the requirements for the sensor and contributed funding toward its development.
From 1997 to 2004, NASA purchased the data produced by SeaWiFS from the satellite operator, who also sold it to customers in the commercial fishing industry. This business arrangement represented the government's first commercial purchase of space-based environmental remote sensing data for research purposes. For NASA, it represented a major break from the agency's tradition of building, launching, and operating its own scientific satellites.
Learn more at NASA.gov... Learn more about OrbView-2 at Orbital.com...This page includes references and links to specific private sector organizations, satellites, and/or websites. These are provided for educational purposes and do not constitute a U.S. government endorsement of any private sector products, services, or views.
