Public Private Partnerships in Space-Based Remote Sensing

Public private partnerships in space-based remote sensing came to the fore a few years ago, when there was a consensus that the U.S. Government should migrate a number of space-based remote sensing programs to the private sector. Commercialization would kick-start private sector remote sensing efforts while providing the US Government increased data supplies, lower acquisitions costs, and innovations in technology.

LightSAR, SeaWiFs, Landsat (LDCM) and NextView are the programs that reflect these ideas. The meeting's purpose was to explore differences in these programs, discuss why some worked well, and to identify best practices.