The U.S. Air Force and Space Force are working with the National Intelligence Agency to develop a specialized constellation of sensor satellites specifically designed for moving target indicator (GMTI). The technology will replace large radar surveillance aircraft, such as JSTARS, previously used by the Air Force to monitor the movements of troops and vehicles on the ground.

At the same time, hundreds of commercial remote sensing satellites are orbiting the Earth, providing unprecedented imaging capabilities, and major industry leaders are beginning to question whether the military should use these commercial systems for GMTI.

During a panel discussion at the Satellite 2024 conference on March 20, executives said the military’s interest in GMTI from space creates an opportunity to benefit from private investments in the Pentagon’s remote sensing constellations.

They noted that military systems optimized for continuous surveillance of specific targets would still be needed, but regularly updated commercial imagery could potentially enable general monitoring of areas of interest and tracking of slower moving targets and forms of life.

They argued that a hybrid approach using commercial and specialized military systems could provide a “best of both worlds” solution at lower cost to taxpayers.

Observing is not the same as watching.

Jason Mallare, vice president of U.S. government programs and strategy at Umbra, said the company is working with the Defense Advanced Projects Agency on satellite imaging techniques to track moving targets.

Umbra produces and operates small satellites equipped with synthetic aperture radar, a type of sensor that can produce high-resolution images by processing radar signals.

Mallare said the private sector is using advanced imaging technology in space “even without a clear demand signal, without a clear budget, or without a clear addressable market in the world’s largest space economy.” “Can you imagine what we could do if the government said, here are the conditions, this is the delay we need, this is the type of product we need?”

Scott Herman, Maxar Intelligence’s director of satellite imaging products, noted that commercial systems are not designed for the continuous “image” needed on the battlefield by JSTARS, formerly an acronym for Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System. _.

The Air Force stopped flying JSTARS aircraft because they were deemed too vulnerable in today’s combat environment, where advanced air defense systems pose a serious threat to larger, slower aircraft.

Herman noted that commercial groups are great for frequently repeated sweeps of large areas, but identifying fast-moving targets like pickup trucks or tanks requires a different approach, called “holding” the target. This requires the satellite to focus on a specific area for an extended period of time; this is a capability currently lacking in most commercial offerings.

David Gauthier, a former employee of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and now chief strategy officer at GXO Inc., suggested the government consider a hybrid approach. The military can use commercially available systems for greater situational awareness and tracking of slower moving targets. But dedicated military GMTI satellites will be needed to constantly monitor rapidly changing threats.

Commercial SATs for battlefield intelligence

Herman noted that commercial low-Earth orbit constellations are optimized for periodic regional monitoring rather than true combat tracking, but niches exist for commercial imaging to augment national systems.

According to him, it’s possible to “extract motion vectors” from commercial images to determine whether an object is moving in a particular direction, which could be valuable intelligence. “It’s different than constantly watching a convoy moving down the highway.”

According to Eric Jensen, CEO of Iceye US, an operator of SAR satellites, it is easier to report on a maritime area with commercial satellites because they move quite slowly and can be monitored from space.

Iceye offers maritime surveillance services aimed at tracking ships at sea. “But if you have a high-speed boat going from Cuba to Florida, that’s a whole different problem,” Jensen said. “So it’s important for all of us to realize that these are not linear use cases, and that within each domain there is a subset in terms of the types of objects you want to track, which is very much in line with the capabilities that are in orbit today.”