An assessment of the U.S. policy of shutter control and its impact on U.S. commercial remote sensing firms

摘要

This assessemnt will concentrate on an analysis of the U.S. policy of shutter control and its potential impact on U.S. commerical remote sensing firms. The legal elements of this analysis focus an overview of the legality of recent regulations issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to regulate the collection and/or distribution of high-resolution satellite imagery. The policy elements of this analysis concentrate on the goals of this policy, namely to preserve the national security, foreign policy and international obligations of the U.S. government. Conclusions include an assessment that future launches nad operations of commercial high-resolution satellites by other countries will undermine the ability of the U.S. government to control the flow of data and therefore make the policy of shutter control obsolete.