The proliferation of foreign remote sensing satellites -- both commercial and military -- threatens U.S. national security. Adversaries can use these satellites to track troop movements or plan attacks against U.S. bases.
Keywords: Commerical High-Resolution Satellite Imagery, Shutter Control.
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Domestic assets are also threatened by the proliferation of remotely sensed imagery. Should imagery of reservoirs, nuclear plants, or other critical infrastructure fall into the wrong hands, the U.S. might be more susceptible to an effective terrorist attack at home. ... As the war on terror is fought on both domestic and foreign soil, the issue becomes whether certain remotely sensed images so compromise U.S. security interests that they should be kept off the market, and if so, given the global proliferation of remote sensing technology, how this can best be accomplished. ( More ... ) Prober, Raphael. "Shutter Control: Confronting Tomorrow's Technology with Yesterday's Regulations." Journal of Law and Politics. Vol. 19 (Spring 2003): 203-251. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 217-8 ]
The clarity of the imagery, and the speed with which it can be disseminated, puts U.S. servicemen and women in danger. The buildup of U.S. forces in Qatar that occurred at the time of this writing, prior to the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom, provides a lucid example of the security threat that the dissemination of sensitive satellite imagery can pose. Beyond depriving the U.S. military of the element of surprise, the widespread availability of satellite imagery enabled friend and foe alike to log onto www.globalsecurity.org and view detailed pictures of the base at Qatar. This precise imagery, sensed at one-meter resolution, provided potential Iraqi adversaries with a blueprint containing location and type of aircraft, airstrips, training facilities, troop tents, and munitions storage areas. This presented such adversaries with the opportunity to launch preemptive attacks, including the horrific possibility of a preemptive biological or chemical attack. ( More ... ) Prober, Raphael. "Shutter Control: Confronting Tomorrow's Technology with Yesterday's Regulations." Journal of Law and Politics. Vol. 19 (Spring 2003): 203-251. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 216-7 ]
Even industry leaders recognize the possibility that terrorists or rogue regimes could acquire sensitive imagery. John Copple, CEO of Space Imaging, posited that even though Space Imaging is prohibited from selling imagery to various countries and terrorist groups, and even though it implements software that checks e-commerce orders against the State Department's prohibited purchaser list every hour, such precautions are "never going to prevent somebody from creating some fictitious organization" or from going through a third party to purchase imagery. Shutter control addresses this contingency by never allowing such imagery to get to market. Even those in the commercial satellite market have "supported the reasonable U.S. policy on "shutter control,'" as these industry leaders are, in the words of the CEO of Orbital Imaging Corporation, "good Americans too" and "don't want [their] imagery in the hands of the "bad guys' ... to be used against U.S. troops." ( More ... ) Prober, Raphael. "Shutter Control: Confronting Tomorrow's Technology with Yesterday's Regulations." Journal of Law and Politics. Vol. 19 (Spring 2003): 203-251. [ 5 quotes ] [ page 215 ]
Remote sensing technology, and the prospect of almost immediate and widespread dissemination of the imagery, creates grave vulnerabilities for U.S. national security. Increased transparency could seriously compromise U.S. military efforts. CIA Director George Tenet, explaining how adversaries are taking advantage of remote sensing technology, noted that "foreign military, intelligence, and terrorist organizations are exploiting this, along with commercially available navigation and communication services, to enhance the planning and conduct of their operations." Remote sensing technology provides an adversary with near real-time visibility of U.S. military posture "at both the strategic and theater levels," and allows an adversary to "preemptively deny forward basing by destroying air bases or sea ports, [and] use his long range precision strike weapons against pre-selected U.S. targets." ( More ... ) Prober, Raphael. "Shutter Control: Confronting Tomorrow's Technology with Yesterday's Regulations." Journal of Law and Politics. Vol. 19 (Spring 2003): 203-251. [ 5 quotes ]
The proliferation of this imagery also opens U.S. forces up to attack from less coordinated adversaries, such as the al Qaeda terror network. In Mombasa, Kenya, al Qaeda terrorists narrowly missed taking down an Israeli passenger jet with a shoulder-launched, surface-to-air SA-7 missile (Stinger). Al Qaeda also recently staged an attack on U.S. servicemen based in Kuwait, killing one U.S. Marine and wounding another. Al Qaeda's demonstrated commitment to attack U.S. military assets, coupled with the group's possession of Stinger missiles and the ability to track U.S. forces through satellite imagery posted on the Internet, illustrates the very real threats facing U.S. forces abroad. ( More ... ) Prober, Raphael. "Shutter Control: Confronting Tomorrow's Technology with Yesterday's Regulations." Journal of Law and Politics. Vol. 19 (Spring 2003): 203-251. [ 5 quotes ]