New commercial satellite surveillance technology

[bilby]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

 

[Shadowy Man]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

One meter resolution is not unprecedented for private companies as some can do higher resolution now, but it appears to be the combination of the high resolution with daily global coverage (rather than tasked targets) where satellogic is claiming their niche.

 

[bilby]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

One meter resolution is not unprecedented for private companies as some can do higher resolution now, but it appears to be the combination of the high resolution with daily global coverage (rather than tasked targets) where satellogic is claiming their niche.

Indeed, and that's a huge difference. It's one thing if people are already interested in spying on a particular location; Quite another to go on a global fishing expedition.

 

[Jarhyn]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

10 years ago, the US military had half-meter and occasionally quarter-meter telemetry of Iraq.

I'm pretty sure the US was quarter-meter for most of it, because those maps were made using airplane collection.

Daily one-meter telemetry is the basis for generating much more high-resolution aggregate, however, as multiple images at bad resolution give enough information for one image at extreme resolution.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

1 meter is nothing special in the world of satellite imagery, there already are private companies that offer better.

1/day over the whole world is revolutionary.

 

[Jarhyn]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

1 meter is nothing special in the world of satellite imagery, there already are private companies that offer better.

1/day over the whole world is revolutionary.

Also, probably going to make a number of countries very nervous, as 1 meter daily makes change detection an option, and that's a hard military capability.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

1 meter is nothing special in the world of satellite imagery, there already are private companies that offer better.

1/day over the whole world is revolutionary.

Also, probably going to make a number of countries very nervous, as 1 meter daily makes change detection an option, and that's a hard military capability.

Yeah, countries like Iran are going to be worried. They rely on sneaking rather than strength and this will make it much harder for them to sneak.

 

[Shadowy Man]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

1 meter is nothing special in the world of satellite imagery, there already are private companies that offer better.

1/day over the whole world is revolutionary.

Also, probably going to make a number of countries very nervous, as 1 meter daily makes change detection an option, and that's a hard military capability.

Sub-meter with multiple visits a day is already possible got targeted areas. Most of what this new system will observe will be uninteresting to most viewers.

What i am saying is that if those countries aren’t already nervous this capability isn’t likely going to change that.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

1 meter is nothing special in the world of satellite imagery, there already are private companies that offer better.

1/day over the whole world is revolutionary.

Also, probably going to make a number of countries very nervous, as 1 meter daily makes change detection an option, and that's a hard military capability.

Sub-meter with multiple visits a day is already possible got targeted areas. Most of what this new system will observe will be uninteresting to most viewers.

What i am saying is that if those countries aren’t already nervous this capability isn’t likely going to change that.

What this permits is detecting small scale stuff in otherwise uninteresting places. The big guys can't hide stuff from the other big guys anyway, it's not going to change them.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

1 meter is nothing special in the world of satellite imagery, there already are private companies that offer better.

1/day over the whole world is revolutionary.

Also, probably going to make a number of countries very nervous, as 1 meter daily makes change detection an option, and that's a hard military capability.

Yeah, countries like Iran are going to be worried.

What the US doesn't have Sats capable of better than this for years? This doesn't change anything for Iran.

This benefits much smaller interests than big interests. A terror group can get better and better visual intel: Hamas, Hezbollah, NY Jet fans. Utilities, transit, soft but not as obvious targets become more accessible to people who would like to do bad things. While military targets can be a thing, got to imagine flags going up with requests for them.

The good news is Sat imagery is good, but never as good as boots on the ground.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

https://satellogic.com/news/press-r...ly-global-monitoring-at-one-meter-resolution/

Satellogic is a private company and has just announced daily one-metre resolution global satellite imagery from its 'Merlin' constellation.

That's pretty scary stuff, and was previously only available to military intelligence (whose actual capabilities are, of course, classified).

If you want to do anything in secret, do it under a roof.

1 meter is nothing special in the world of satellite imagery, there already are private companies that offer better.

1/day over the whole world is revolutionary.

Also, probably going to make a number of countries very nervous, as 1 meter daily makes change detection an option, and that's a hard military capability.

Yeah, countries like Iran are going to be worried.

What the US doesn't have Sats capable of better than this for years? This doesn't change anything for Iran.

This benefits much smaller interests than big interests. A terror group can get better and better visual intel: Hamas, Hezbollah, NY Jet fans. Utilities, transit, soft but not as obvious targets become more accessible to people who would like to do bad things. While military targets can be a thing, got to imagine flags going up with requests for them.

The good news is Sat imagery is good, but never as good as boots on the ground.

The issue is coverage. 1m is nothing by modern spy satellite standards, the ability to monitor the whole world for changes means even small facilities will be found.

 

[bilby]

The issue is coverage. 1m is nothing by modern spy satellite standards, the ability to monitor the whole world for changes means even small facilities will be found.

Unless they are underground. Or indoors. Or in a tent. Or under a camouflage net.

 

[Elixir]

If only we had something that could keep track of EVERYTHING. Every atom, every quark, chemical or atomic interaction, every quantum fluctuation, every virtual particle or photon …
Oh wait! We do!
We call it “reality”.
It never misses, never forgets.

 

[bilby]

If only we had something that could keep track of EVERYTHING. Every atom, every quark, chemical or atomic interaction, every quantum fluctuation, every virtual particle or photon …
Oh wait! We do!
We call it “reality”.
It never misses, never forgets.

Sure, but you have to go look at it, and some of it is a long way away, and guarded by assholes with big guns and shit, who don't want you peeking.

 

[Elixir]

Sure, but you have to go look at it

That’s true of everything, but only if you want to know it. Enhancing our ability to “look at” stuff has always been an integral component of increasing our ability to manipulate reality to conform to our desires.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The issue is coverage. 1m is nothing by modern spy satellite standards, the ability to monitor the whole world for changes means even small facilities will be found.

Unless they are underground. Or indoors. Or in a tent. Or under a camouflage net.

Those can hide what. They can't hide existence.

 

[bilby]

The issue is coverage. 1m is nothing by modern spy satellite standards, the ability to monitor the whole world for changes means even small facilities will be found.

Unless they are underground. Or indoors. Or in a tent. Or under a camouflage net.

Those can hide what. They can't hide existence.

The existence of a tent where there wasn't one yesterday is not particularly valuable intelligence. There are hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of tents worldwide. There are a similar number of sheds.