A Moral Case for a Humanitarian Satellite: At what point does inaction become unconscionable?
- Bill Greer
- Oct 9
- 3 min read
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?
We take pictures of suffering every day and let them sit behind paywalls or in government archives. Gaza has already been imaged 1,053 times this year by commercial satellites. Khartoum: 936 times. Port-au-Prince: 880 times. Sanaa: 648 times. The refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar: 133 times. How much of that data ever reached the communities in those images? How many images were shared with those who could make a difference?
We hope for “data philanthropy,” but hope is not a plan. The truth is simple: humanitarians need their own satellite, their own tasking priorities, and open, high-resolution data where it matters most.
The current system will never meet humanitarian needs. Governments will always prioritize defense. Commercial providers will follow markets, not emergencies. Meanwhile, in an era of disinformation, contested truth, and escalating climate and conflict crises, we cannot afford to do nothing.
A Market Gap and a Public Goods Gap
An independent, high-resolution satellite for humanitarian use is not just about efficiency; it is about accountability and human rights. This data would be an open, unbiased source to counter increasing misinformation and fake news. It would be a lens to forgotten, invisible crises.
As AI and machine learning accelerate, defense and commercial clients with deep pockets will monopolize satellite tasking even more. Humanitarians will remain stuck with data exhaust, leftovers from priorities set elsewhere. That is both a market failure and a moral failure.
We Know It’s Possible
Satellite build and launch costs have plummeted. More than 15,000 satellites will orbit Earth in the next decade. Competition among builders like Maxar, Planet, Muon Space, and others means a high-resolution humanitarian mission is now financially feasible. For an optical mission to support humanitarian needs, we’re talking tens of millions of dollars to build and operate a satellite within a few years.
We’ve already spent that much on partial, temporary access to commercial imagery. Norway’s NICFI program spent $43 million for four years of limited forest monitoring data. In parallel, NGOs are taking the bold leap forward and building their own satellites. The Environmental Defense Fund raised $88 million for MethaneSat (and it remains a worthwhile investment despite the recent satellite loss). Earth Fire Alliance is building a constellation to monitor wildfires every 20 minutes, and the first three satellites are estimated at $60 million.
And the public understands the stakes: Ukrainians crowdfunded $55 million to buy high-resolution SAR access for their government - funds that “paid off” within two days. Imagine the worldwide support for a mission dedicated to humanitarian crises.
This Is About Power
Remote sensing has been shaped by a colonial logic: powerful actors collect and control images of vulnerable communities, deciding if and when those communities may see their own truth. An independent humanitarian satellite, for the people, flips that script by democratizing access, shifting control, and ensuring the people most affected by crises have the information they need to protect themselves.
Civil society must reclaim this power. We have the resources, technology, and expertise to do it now. We can also build governance models that ensure transparent tasking, equitable access, and safeguards against misuse.
The Cost of Doing Nothing
There are 362 million people experiencing humanitarian emergencies today. How often do you think they’re imaged? How often do they, or the organizations helping them, see those images?
Consider the shots we never took because the priority was somewhere else. The moments when a timely image could have reunited families, guided evacuations, or prevented suffering altogether. Without a dedicated humanitarian mission, those opportunities will keep slipping away.
One satellite out of 15,000. That’s all we’re asking. One mission to stand for truth, protection, and human dignity. The time to build it is now, before the skies are entirely owned by those who see the Earth only as a battlefield or a marketplace.
Join us at Common Space as we build the first independent humanitarian satellite.
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