SpatialNews Press Release
Advent of Commercial High-Resolution Satellites Poses Challenging Questions -
New ASPRS/RAND Book Analyzes the Issues
ASPRS: The Imaging and Geospatial Information Society and RAND announce the availability of their jointly
published book Commercial Observation Satellites: At the Leading Edge of Global Transparency, John C.
Baker, Kevin M. O’Connell, and Ray A. Williamson, editors. Available April 2001, list price $90.00,
Commercial Observation Satellites brings together an international group of experts to analyze the diverse
issues presented by the new, higher resolution commercial and civilian observation satellites.
With more than two dozen chapters and numerous satellite images, the book’s authors examine emerging policy
issues, provide a survey of the U.S. and many non-U.S. satellite remote sensing programs, and offer case studies
on international security applications of satellite imagery. The authors discuss remote sensing programs and
policies from the following countries: Russia, France, Japan, Israel/Middle East, India, and Canada. Written to
reach nonspecialists, as well as policymakers and commercial practitioners, the 644-page book is divided into
four parts:
Policymaking Context
National Remote Sensing Programs and Policies
Remote Sensing Applications to International Problems
Emerging International Policy Issues
The book also contains a Foreword by Marta Macias Brown, wife of former Congressman George E. Brown,
Jr., in which she commemorates his unequaled role in advancing both public and private-sector remote sensing
programs. Also, it contains a detailed bibliography and index, 32 pages of color images, and a description of
the past, present, and future of the medium- and high-resolution satellite world. The charts in this section are
also available on the ASPRS website at http://www.asprs.org/asprs/news/satellites/ and will be updated
regularly.
Commercial Observation Satellites illustrates how higher resolution images from satellites can enhance global
transparency, encourage economic development, and contribute to international security. However, as the book
points out, this technology does not come without risks, and not all users may have benign intentions. The book
editors observe that, “The primary challenge is to find ways of hedging against the potential risks that
unprecedented global access to overhead imagery poses without diminishing the many positive contributions
that commercial observation satellites can offer for civil, commercial, and international uses.”
ASPRS Executive Director James Plasker said, “ASPRS agreed to co-publish this book with RAND because of
its clear relevance to professionals in the field of remote sensing and the outstanding credentials of its editors
and authors.” John C. Baker is a technology policy analyst at RAND specializing in commercial observation
satellite issues. Kevin M. O’Connell is a senior international policy analyst and manager of Intelligence
Community Programs at RAND. Ray A. Williamson, a longstanding member of ASPRS, is a research
professor of Space Policy and International Affairs at the George Washington University’s Space Policy
Institute, which is part of the Elliott School of International Affairs.
Books may be purchased from ASPRS on line at http://www.asprs.org . Click on Publications, then on The
ASPRS On-line Store, or email orders to: asprspubs@pmds.com.
RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.
RAND(TM) is a registered trademark.
Founded in 1934, ASPRS is an international professional organization of 7,000 geospatial data professionals.
ASPRS is devoted to advancing knowledge and improving understanding of the mapping sciences to promote
responsible application of photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information systems and supporting
technologies.
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