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The
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Stories from Orbit: Research, Data, and Reflections.

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The View Has Never Been Better. You're Just Not Allowed to See It.
Planet recently announced an indefinite holdback on imagery over Iran and the broader Middle East conflict area. It started as a 96-hour delay. Then 14 days. Now it's indefinite, with no stated endpoint or conditions for restoration. Planet isn't Alone, with Vantor (formerly Maxar) and Blacksky likely restricting access in the same way. This isn't a policy adjustment, It's an accelerating enclosure of data access, happening at exactly the moment when the world most needs to u
Bill Greer
Apr 138 min read


Common Values Guiding a Humanitarian Satellite Mission
The most powerful shift in space technology today is not the sensors, the rockets, or the constellations. It is a shift in values. For decades, satellite imagery has been shaped by a simple assumption: those with the greatest resources control the view from space. Governments and a small number of commercial actors have determined what is seen, who sees it, and how that information is used.
Bill Greer
Mar 194 min read


AI Can't Save the World If It Can't See Our Problems Clearly
AI and the humans using AI are only as powerful as the data they learn from. Yet when it comes to understanding the real world, the disasters, conflicts, and daily conditions that shape people’s lives, today’s models are flying blind.
Bill Greer
Oct 23, 20256 min read


So Many Satellites, So Little Access. Why Business-as-Usual Is Failing Communities in Crisis.
Imagine a world where a humanitarian satellite is fully operational - where every responder, researcher, and community advocate can access sub-meter, near-real-time imagery as easily as checking the weather.
Rhiannan Price
Oct 9, 20255 min read


A Moral Case for a Humanitarian Satellite: At what point does inaction become unconscionable?
What does it say about our world when we spend over $54 billion a year on defense and intelligence satellites to spy on each other - yet cannot dedicate even one satellite to saving lives?
Rhiannan Price
Oct 9, 20253 min read


Fighting Fire with Data: A Case Study on Earth Fire Alliance and FireSat setting a trend towards non-profit Remote Sensing
FireSat is the first global satellite constellation purpose-built for wildfire detection and monitoring. Developed in close collaboration with the wildfire community, its design prioritizes fast, actionable, and openly licensed data. With a planned constellation of 50+ multispectral satellites capable of revisiting every point on Earth every 20 minutes or less, FireSat aims to deliver data in near real-time to end users such as first responders, incident commanders, and fire
Bill Greer
May 22, 20256 min read
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