U.S. Government to Allow Sale of High-Resolution Commercial Satellite Images of Israel
takyon writes:
U.S. government to allow sale of high-resolution commercial satellite images of Israel
The federal government will soon allow U.S. commercial remote sensing companies to sell high-resolution satellite images of Israel, changing resolution limits that have been in place for more than two decades.
In a draft of a Federal Register notice obtained by SpaceNews, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which hosts the office that licenses U.S. commercial remote sensing satellite systems, says it will reduce the resolution limit on satellite imagery of Israel from 2 meters to 0.4 meters. It is also available as an "unpublished notice" available for public inspection on the Federal Register website, with a note that it is scheduled for formal publication July 21.
A provision of the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act known as the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment limits commercial satellite imaging systems licensed by the federal government to providing imagery of Israel that is "no more detailed or precise than satellite imagery of Israel that is available from commercial sources." Since 1998, NOAA has interpreted that to mean images with a resolution no sharper than 2 meters, a limit reviewed and upheld by NOAA in 2018.
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