100-satellite remote sensing fleet

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Planet Labs to launch 100-satellite remote sensing fleet

Fueled by venture capital financing, Planet Labs Inc. announced Monday it plans to launch 100 satellites in the next year from the United States and Russia, joining a growing fleet of miniature Earth imaging spacecraft to observe the entire planet every 24 hours.

The 100-satellite fleet, which Planet Labs claims is the largest ever manifested, will launch on rockets from the United States and Russia over the next 12 months.

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[perceptivedoor]

NSA!

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NSA!

Did you actually read any of the article, because I'm mighty impressed that you can get so much wrong with just three letters and an exclamation mark.

US spy satellites are operated by the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) not the NSA.

Spy satellites are far larger (about the size of the Hubble Space Telescope) and have far higher resolution (allegedly capable of seeing individual footprints or reading a newspaper headline). These satellites are tiny and would be close to useless for reconnaissance.

The intelligence agencies generally don't fund their satellites through venture capital, they have a seemingly endless supply of government money for their activities.

And finally, if these really were intelligence gathering satellites do you really think the US would send them to Russia to be launched?

Edited March 19, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf