The U.S. commercial remote sensing industry should receive a big boost from a new national policy that calls for the U.S. government to buy satellite imagery from the private sector whenever practical.

The new policy is encouraging for U.S. remote sensing companies that have struggled financially. The U.S. government’s aim is to allow all remote sensing companies a chance to bid for the opportunity to meet the imagery needs of the government, a senior administration official said.

Until now, the U.S. remote sensing industry has been plagued by financial problems. One U.S. remote sensing company, Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Imaging (Orbimage), is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A second company, Denver, Colo.-based Space Imaging, recently laid off workers as part of a major cost-cutting effort.

For more on this story, check out the May 19 issue of SATELLITE NEWS. For more information about subscribing to PBI Media’s satellite newsletters, check out our Web site at http://www.telecomweb.com/catalog.