EW Goes Commercial...From Space

摘要

Not too long ago, some very enterprising people asked themselves a question: If almost anyone can access spacecraft-delivered, high-quality images, and accurate geolocation of most places on Earth for a fee, why not add RF signals to the mix? The answer, as it turns out, is that this is not just an interesting idea but a potentially lucrative market. As readers of JED would quickly conclude, such a service would seem to infringe on defense and intelligence agencies throughout the world who would take a dim view of commercializing space-based electromagnetic warfare (i.e., ESM) and signals intelligence (SlGINT) services. However, these same agencies are already expressing interest in the business as an adjunct to their existing resources. And they're not alone, as potential commercial uses range from tracking poachers and illegal fishing vessels to vessels used for human trafficking.