Posted: Tue, Oct 16, 2001, 10:43 AM ET (1443 GMT)
The US Defense Department has purchased exclusive rights to all images of Afghanistan taken by the Ikonos commercial remote sensing spacecraft, company and military officials confirmed Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the military's National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) has apparently purchased both exclusive rights to all images taken by Ikonos while over Afghanistan and surrounding regions, while also preventing others from buying satellite time while over the country. While the Ikonos images, with a maximum resolution of 1 meter per pixel, are the best commercially available, military satellites can provide images with up to 10 times better resolution. However, by purchasing the Ikonos images and satellite time, the military can prevent those images from being obtained by the media or others.

Related Links:

•  AP article
•  SPACE.com article