JUST IN: Defense, Intel Agencies Lack ComSat Imagery Strategy, GAO Finds
9/8/2022
By Josh Luckenbaugh
The Government Accountability Office has called on the Defense Department and the intelligence community to vastly improve its practices in the acquisition of commercial satellite imagery.
The GAO’s Sept. 7 report, “National Security Space: Actions Needed to Better Use Commercial Satellite Imagery and Analytics,” was conducted to assess the Defense Department and intelligence community’s capability to utilize commercial satellite imagery for national security issues.
Space has seen a major proliferation of commercial satellites over the last few decades. The GAO report cited an Aerospace Corp. study which found “the total number of satellites in space increased from 801 in 2005 to 2,990 in 2020,” and in the United States alone “the commercial sector owned approximately 200 satellites in 2005 and nearly 1,200 by 2020.”
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2022/9/8/defense-department-must-improve-commercial-satellite-image-acquisition
