I think that for surveillance and defense applications, have some more sophisticated algorithms running on board can be very advantageous by reducing the bandwi

I think that for surveillance and defense applications, have some more sophisticated algorithms running on board can be very advantageous by reducing the bandwidth needs in the downlink. In the event of an European generalized war with russia, having smaller, nimble data payloads being sent in the downlink is definitely a tactical advantage, as we can certainly expect that one of the first targets of the Russians would be giant, fixed tracking stations. A surveillance satellite that could interpret images and just send something like "300 tank movement detected in the last hours starting from coordinates X,Y, direction Z, average speed W" in a slow link, able to be received by mobile stations would be great for European defense.