NATO Considers Buying Commercial Imagery, Irking US Spy Sat Agencies

NATO is mulling a new, and somewhat surprising, effort to directly buy imagery from commercial providers in a move that industry sources say appears to have irked the US spy satellite agencies that have traditionally filled that role. Interested companies have until the close of business today to respond to NATO’s request for information (RFI).

Alliance member nations, too, have been asked to identify “emerging and/or existing” remote sensing capabilities that could help NATO’s military command produce “imagery intelligence,” or IMINT. IMINT is provided primarily by satellites, as well as by aerial photography.

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