A COMMERCIAL satellite capable of distinguishing objects the size of a
tea tray will be launched from America next month. The Ikonos-1 is the
most powerful commercial imaging satellite yet built. Its parabolic lens
will be able to resolve objects 80cm (32in) in length anywhere on Earth.

Ikonos-1, owned by Denver-based Space Imaging, will be the first of a
new generation of high-resolution satellites using technology formerly
restricted to government security agencies. Another 10 companies have
received licences to launch equally powerful satellites, four of them
this year.



Closing in:  Ikonos-1 will be able to resolve
objects 32in across


Space Imaging's corporate communications director, Mark Brender, told a
London meeting of the "Freedom Forum" think-tank last week that the
technology would pioneer a "new age of transparency - "we intend
bringing death to distance"."

Satellite resolution has constantly improved over the past decade.
Since the end of the cold war, companies such as EarthWatch, Motorola
and Boeing have invested billions of dollars to create satellites
capable of mapping the most minute detail on the face of the earth.

The technology is already being used for a vast range of purposes, from
media reporting of war and natural disasters, to detecting unlicensed
building work and even illegal swimming pools. Brender says "we won't
ask clients who they are or for what purpose they want the images".

But the companies have a distance to go before they catch up with
governments. The new generation of secret spy satellites can recognise
objects 20cm (8in) across.

While Ikonos-1 falls short of the sort of technology featured in the
film Enemy of the State, " the privacy implications are vast. The "open
skies" policy accepted worldwide means that there are few restrictions
on the use of satellites.

Dave Banisar, a Washington DC privacy lawyer and author of The
Electronic Privacy Papers, says the next generation of satellites will
cause a privacy crisis. "The technology may reach the point where people
will be forced to retreat to their basements to find privacy.

     
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