Caught off guard by recent Iraqi military operations, the United States is using spy satellites that ordinarily are trained on adversaries to monitor the movements of the American-backed Iraqi army, current and former U.S. officials say.
The Bush administration is planning to give domestic law enforcement agencies increased access to powerful spy satellite technology. But some lawmakers and civil liberties groups say that the program may invade the privacy of Americans.
A new plan to allow emergency response, border control and, eventually, law enforcement agencies greater access to sophisticated satellites and other sensors that monitor American territory has drawn sharp criticism from civil liberties advocates who say the government is overstepping the use of military technology for domestic surveillance.
The Bush administration has approved a plan to expand domestic access to some of the most powerful tools of 21st-century spycraft, giving law enforcement officials and others the ability to view data obtained from satellite and aircraft sensors that can see through cloud cover and even penetrate buildings and underground bunkers.
The Bush administration has decided to expand the government's use of information from U.S. spy satellites for homeland security and domestic law-enforcement purposes. Officials say the change is intended primarily to help them monitor the borders and coastal areas. But it is also raising some serious privacy concerns.
The Japanese space agency used an H-IIA rocket Saturday to successfully place a radar satellite in orbit to complete Japan's spy system for full global coverage.
By coordinating their efforts, amateur satellite spotters in Europe, North America, and South Africa can track everything government spymasters blast into orbit with the exception of the supersecret stealth satellite, codenamed Misty.
The Japanese Government is reviewing its space policy to consider lifting its self-imposed ban on deploying spy satellites. This editorial from the Daily Yomiuri advocates lifting this ban.
The European Union is building its own network of spy satellites allowing Brussels to ensure nations and private individuals are obeying its policies.
Loren Thompson argues that the real threat to U.S. spy satellites is not from enemy anti-satellite weapons or jamming devices but from irrelevance due to the increasing reconnaissance capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles.