Space-Based Remote Sensing Enters a New Era of Competition and Expansion

In early 2015, IEEE-USA issued a position statement urging U.S. policymakers to strengthen support for the domestic space-based remote sensing sector. The organization warned that without targeted investment and policy incentives, the United States risks falling behind Europe and Asia in a field it originally pioneered during the 1970s.

The statement emphasized that strategic investments in earth observation and geospatial imaging technologies are critical for scientific advancement, economic growth, public safety, and national security. As global competition intensifies, maintaining operational effectiveness in both public and private earth observation programs has become increasingly urgent.

Remote Sensing’s Expanding Commercial Footprint

The industry’s importance extends well beyond government operations. Remote sensing now underpins a broad spectrum of commercial applications. Energy firms rely on it to identify subsurface oil and gas deposits. Agricultural operations use multispectral imagery to assess soil moisture and crop health. Environmental agencies monitor air quality, water contamination, and land degradation. Defense, intelligence, and crisis management applications continue to expand.

Industry observers suggest that a convergence of technological and economic factors is propelling remote sensing into a new growth phase. According to Wade Larson, President and CEO of UrtheCast, the earth observation sector is increasingly merging with the broader big data economy. As geoanalytics integrates with predictive modeling and large-scale data platforms, the economic footprint of the industry could expand from several billion dollars to tens of billions.

Research projections support this optimism. Market analyses anticipate global remote sensing revenues approaching $8.9 billion in the near term and growing to approximately $13.8 billion by 2021. Conventional space-based platforms alone are expected to rise from $3.3 billion to $4.3 billion over the same period.

At the same time, industry structure is shifting. What was once dominated by government space agencies is evolving into a competitive ecosystem of entrepreneurial companies driving innovation.

UrtheCast and the Democratization of Earth Observation

Based in Vancouver, UrtheCast exemplifies this transformation. The company operates Iris, described as the world’s only Ultra HD 1-meter full-color video camera in space, along with a multispectral sensor known as Theia, both mounted on the Russian segment of the International Space Station. Through its subsidiary Deimos Imaging, UrtheCast also manages the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites.

Imagery and video captured from orbit are transmitted to ground stations and made accessible to customers via APIs and web-based platforms, often with near real-time delivery. Users—including government agencies, corporations, and developers—can request targeted data over specific coordinates and integrate the imagery into custom applications.

Since its first data transmissions in 2014, UrtheCast’s imagery has supported diverse initiatives. In collaboration with the United Nations, the company provided imagery confirming the destruction of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria. Its data feeds are also integrated into Global Forest Watch, supporting global forest monitoring. Commercial campaigns have even leveraged its imagery for brand-driven storytelling, demonstrating the versatility of space-based video.

Drivers of Industry Acceleration

Larson attributes the sector’s growth to several converging trends:

• Lower satellite manufacturing costs due to advanced microelectronics
• Reduced launch expenses driven by commercial competition
• The rise of scalable cloud computing infrastructure
• Mature global data distribution via the Internet
• Advancements in predictive analytics and geoanalytics
• Widespread adoption of mobile devices enabling field-based decision support
• xpanding demand for spatially informed “big data” solutions across agriculture, forestry, infrastructure, mining, transportation, and insurance

Together, these forces are lowering barriers to entry while increasing demand for timely, high-resolution geospatial intelligence.

Next-Generation Constellations

To maintain competitive advantage, UrtheCast is developing several ambitious satellite constellations. The OptiSAR™ Constellation, comprising 16 satellites, aims to integrate multispectral optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) capabilities within a unified commercial system. Such integration would enable consistent imaging regardless of weather or daylight conditions.

Interest extends beyond commercial markets. UrtheCast recently entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, underscoring the national security implications of enhanced imaging systems.

Additionally, the planned UrtheDaily™ Constellation, consisting of eight satellites, is designed to capture the entire landmass of Earth each day at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time, delivering multispectral imagery at 5-meter ground sample distance. This capability promises unprecedented global monitoring consistency.

Strategic Implications

The IEEE-USA warning reflects a broader reality: space-based remote sensing has become integral to economic competitiveness and geopolitical stability. As entrepreneurial firms expand capabilities and integrate geospatial analytics into mainstream big data systems, earth observation is transitioning from a specialized industry into foundational digital infrastructure.

For GIS professionals and geospatial analysts, the next decade will likely bring expanded data access, integrated optical and radar platforms, and near-daily global imaging coverage. The challenge will be harnessing this volume and velocity of spatial information to generate actionable insight.

The evolution of remote sensing is no longer incremental. It is structural—reshaping how societies observe, understand, and manage the planet.