spacetoday.net: Government to allow sale of higher resolution commercial imagery

Posted: Fri, Jun 13, 2014, 7:54 AM ET (1154 GMT)
WorldView 2 spacecraft illus. (DigitalGlobe)

The US government will now allow a leading commercial remote sensing company to sell images at higher resolutions than previously permitted. DigitalGlobe announced this week that the Commerce Department will allow the company to sell imagery of the Earth at resolutions as sharp as 25 centimeters per pixel. The previous limit had been 50 centimeters per pixel. DigitalGlobe's current satellite can take imagery as sharp as 41 centimeters per pixel, and the company will be allowed to sell images that sharp immediately. The company's WorldView-3 satellite, slated for launch in August, will be able to take images at up to 31 centimeters per pixel; sales of those images will be allowed by the government six months after the satellite is declared operational. DigitalGlobe and other companies have lobbied the government to change the older resolution limits, citing the growing capabilities of commercial imagery from remote sensing satellites in other countries.