10 US Defense, Intelligence, and Commercial Satellites

In the United States, commercial remote sensing satellite development has been closely tied to activities in the defense and intelligence sector, and these developments have in turn affected civil Earth observation satellite development and data sharing policies. As would be expected, sharing of reconnaissance and commercial satellite data has been much more limited than sharing of civil Earth observation data. However, there have been numerous examples in which archived reconnaissance data has been declassified and made broadly available, and there have been sustained efforts to broaden access to commercial satellite data purchased by US intelligence agencies, making this data accessible to all government agencies and their affiliated researchers. Further, many commercial entities have engaged in data sharing of their own volition, in projects designed to increase awareness and usefulness of their products or to address acute humanitarian needs.