The latest assessment of the world’s best commercial space-based remote sensing systems shows China pulling slightly ahead of the US.

China now leads the world in five out of 11 satellite remote sensing performance categories, with the US leading in four.

These conclusions are found in a new report entitled Gold Rush: The 2024 Commercial Remote Sensing Global Rankings, published by the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

The study is a follow-up to research published in 2021 by the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which became known as the ‘Commercial Imaging Olympics’.

In that research, the NGA revealed that the US and China each won ‘gold’ in three of nine performance categories.

In the new CSIS study, based on the 11 performance categories, Chinese systems won gold in five fields while the US took out the top spot in just four.

Finland and South Korea each secured a single gold medal.

The research shows that almost half of the top spots went to satellite systems launched between 2021 and 2024, which, the authors say, demonstrates the pace of introduction of advanced capabilities on commercial satellites.

The report, which is written from a US perspective, outlines “actions the U.S. government should take as ‘a regulator, investor, and customer’ to keep U.S. companies at the cutting edge of technology and globally competitive”.

“With a nascent commercial market, the government is the primary customer and market driver. It will need to take a more strategic and active role in advancing commercial capabilities that must endure and be competitive against Chinese commercial offerings, among others,” the report says.

Some of the findings include:

• There is a need for “building multiyear budget profiles for commercial remote sensing to create a stable demand signal, harmonising government investment and private capital, aligning executive and legislative branch support, improving access to financial tools common in other economic sectors, and continuing to reform US export policies and regulations”.
• US national interests would be advanced through greater collaboration with allies and partners in commercial remote sensing.
• The benefits of foreign companies establishing a greater presence in the US and sharing their technologies and business innovations, should be explored.

“The stakes are high,” the report says. “Should any one country dominate the commercial remote sensing market, not only could it gain economic advantages, but it would also control the information narrative about the entire planet, from the environment to natural resources to human conflict.”

The study was a collaboration between CSIS, the Taylor Geospatial Institute, the Taylor Geospatial Engine and United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.