Israeli Reconnaissance Satellite C&C - Video

Catchy demo of a C&C center in Israel, via Cryptome. A violation of OPSEC? Not necessarily given that some of the synchonized displays are blurred, but the main purpose behind the clip is to communicate that - "yes our IMINT is powerful enough". Some of the most recent satellite reconnaissance developments are a great example of the utopian tracking of non-existing terrorists' physical assets, such as boats in this case, even white horses in Afghanistan.

"The ocean-surveillance satellites, part of the National Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS), will track possible terrorist activities at sea. The two satellites will fly in a regimented formation within their elliptical orbits above the Earth so that they will be able to precisely determine the positions of ocean-going vessels at different times. This data will be combined with data from 18 other NRO satellites orbiting the Earth, which are spaced apart at six or seven different sections above the Earth’s surface."

And while the U.S is investing in a satellite reconnaissance without any "fog of war", an effort that's enviable, but highly innefective when it comes to fighting terrorism, Japan which is still heavily relying on U.S sharing of reconnaisance satellites' data is facing criticism for not registering some of its spy satellites, a common practice among many other nations :

"Tokyo has been operating spy satellites for four years that have not been registered with the United Nations, despite having signed an international treaty that requires it to report them. The Convention on Registration of Objects launched into Outer Space, adopted in 1974 and proclaimed in 1976, required signatories to identify the artificial satellites and other objects they put in space. Japan signed that treaty in 1983. Treaty violations are not subject to punishment."

precisely the type of possible pre-launch information leakage I pointed out in a previous post on stealth satellites :

"You can't hijack, intercept or hide from what you don't see or don't know it's there, and stealthy satellites are going to get even more attention in the ongoing weaponization of space and the emerging space warfare arms race. Here's a huge compilation of articles and news items related to the development of stealthy satellites."

A pre-launch leak in today's OSINT world is the worst enemy of the concept of stealth satellites. Here's an in-depth assessment of China's anti-satellite programs worth going through as well.

Related posts:
Satellite Imagery of Secret or Sensitive Locations
U.K's Latest Military Satellite System
The History and Future of U.S. Military Satellite Communication Systems
China Targeting U.S Satellite - Laser Ranging or Demonstration of Power?
Open Source North Korean IMINT Reloaded
Iran Bans Purchase of Foreign Satellite Data