New Land Imaging Program Planned

A new plan to improve the nation's satellite-imaging capabilities was released last week by the White House. Called the National Land Imaging Program, the plan???developed by the National Science & Technology Council???designates the Department of Interior as the lead agency of the program. The plan emphasizes the need to achieve a stable and sustainable space-based land-imaging capability "to ensure continued U.S. scientific, technological, and policy leadership in civil land imaging and the scientific disciplines it supports." Among other recommendations, the plan calls for new imaging satellites to replace the aging Landsat satellite series, which has been in orbit since 1972.