3 ms·

What's the fear with more accuracy? From my (completely layman) perspective once you've got a meter or so of accuracy, you've got what you need for weapons. W

What's the fear with more accuracy? From my (completely layman) perspective once you've got a meter or so of accuracy, you've got what you need for weapons. What's further accuracy get you that some nations are against everyone having?

nathancahill 10y ago
A similar thing happens with commercial imagery satellites. Companies are forced to downsample their high resolution govt-only images to 30cm for the general public.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- blackaspen 10y ago
  My understanding is that it's not exactly "by force" but rather a condition of funding. The U.S. Government is probably Digital Globe's largest customer.
  - blackguardx 10y ago
    No, it is by force. It is similar to ITAR regulations. If you break that rule, your management team is probably going to jail. It would be akin to spying for a foreign power. Source: I used to do some consulting for a satellite imagery company.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  That's slightly different though, better imagery makes it possible to resolve more features. With the improved positional accuracy it's a 2 meter circle vs a 1 meter circle. What tactics does a 1 meter circle enable that the 2 meter circle does not enable? Also, DigitalGlobe only has 30 cm capability: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldView-4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldView-4 Who is downsampling (DigitalGlobe/GeoEye was downsampling earlier 40 cm imagery for Google, to 50cm)?
michaelt 10y ago
There's no fear about accuracy - the plan is that Galileo will charge for high precision services. Indeed, you can buy centimeter-precision GPS services right now for applications like surveying and precision farming [1] - those are small markets, of course; self-driving cars are the real prize. The objection from the US amounted to the fact an early Galileo design would have reduced their ability to degrade satellite navigation in war zones. Later the design was changed, so the US can jam Galileo - which avoids the US objection, but makes Galileo less useful as a backup. [1] http://www.trimble.com/Positioning-Services/Trimble-RTX.aspx http://www.trimble.com/Positioning-Services/Trimble-RTX.aspx

nathancahill 10y ago

A similar thing happens with commercial imagery satellites. Companies are forced to downsample their high resolution govt-only images to 30cm for the general public.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
blackaspen 10y ago
My understanding is that it's not exactly "by force" but rather a condition of funding. The U.S. Government is probably Digital Globe's largest customer.
- blackguardx 10y ago
  No, it is by force. It is similar to ITAR regulations. If you break that rule, your management team is probably going to jail. It would be akin to spying for a foreign power. Source: I used to do some consulting for a satellite imagery company.
maxerickson 10y ago
That's slightly different though, better imagery makes it possible to resolve more features. With the improved positional accuracy it's a 2 meter circle vs a 1 meter circle. What tactics does a 1 meter circle enable that the 2 meter circle does not enable? Also, DigitalGlobe only has 30 cm capability: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldView-4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldView-4 Who is downsampling (DigitalGlobe/GeoEye was downsampling earlier 40 cm imagery for Google, to 50cm)?

michaelt 10y ago

There's no fear about accuracy - the plan is that Galileo will charge for high precision services. Indeed, you can buy centimeter-precision GPS services right now for applications like surveying and precision farming [1] - those are small markets, of course; self-driving cars are the real prize. The objection from the US amounted to the fact an early Galileo design would have reduced their ability to degrade satellite navigation in war zones. Later the design was changed, so the US can jam Galileo - which avoids the US objection, but makes Galileo less useful as a backup. [1] http://www.trimble.com/Positioning-Services/Trimble-RTX.aspx http://www.trimble.com/Positioning-Services/Trimble-RTX.aspx