RED_sky

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

   11-30-95. W$Jiver, Page One lead:

   "New Satellite Imaging Could Soon Transform The Face of the
   Earth. Big Worries About Security."

      Next time you gaze into the heavens, practice your
      smile. The ventures being backed by companies such as
      Lockheed Martin Corp., the E-Systems Corp. and Orbital
      Sciences Corp. will offer days-old digital images of
      unprecedented clarity. These corporate systems worry
      some scientists and federal policy makers concerned
      about privacy invasion and a free-for-all expansion of
      espionage. One notes that Lockheed Martin and E-Systems
      already have such systems in space. "They do this for
      the intelligence agencies. The very system that they're
      putting up there is a classified system now."

      A Senate staffer says that as budgets are chopped for
      the NRO and military satellite operators, the commercial
      systems will offer lower-cost images for government
      needs, preserve jobs and know-how in a vital area of
      technology and ensure U.S. leadership in the imaging
      industry. Nations such as France, Russia, South Africa,
      India and Israel are contemplating expanded use of their
      high-resolution systems.

   RED_sky  (16 kb)