With little fanfare, the Colorado firm, Space Imaging Incorporated, launched the Ikonos satellite from California in late September. The satellite's camera can see things as small as one meter across. Space Imaging is taking orders for highly detailed pictures of other sites around the world. There have been only a few applications that we've gotten from satellites.
Reconnaissance is one of the most important.
Previously, you had to be a superpower to have a spy satellite. Now all you need is a credit card. Ikonos represents the start of a new commercial field made possible when the Clinton Administration removed a ban on U-S launches of private cameras in space five years ago. Space Imaging has a license, which we received in 1994. That license says that the federal government can restrict our coverage or could order us to shut down whenever there is a threat to foreign policy or a national security concern.