NOAC WORKING GROUP/REMOTE SENSING COMMERCIAL SATELLITES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 7, 1987
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89BO1356R000300480001-4
_ vvLYi .a.LLLYI IL]L
3 1 RiAF 1987
OS REGISTRY
7 APR 1981
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Physical and
Technical Security
NOAC Working Group/Remote Sensing Commercial
Satellites
1. In the past, CIA representation to the National
Operations Security Advisory Committee (NOAC) was provided by
Policy Branch, PPS. With the formation of the NOAC working
group, and with an expected growth in NOAC and OPSEC activity,
the selection of an OS officer with the appropriate technical
expertise to serve on the working group and as a permanent
member to the NOAC is strongly recommended.
2. The attached memorandum from the C/NOAC concerns the
future licensing of private remote-sensing space systems. The
DUSD(P) has asked the Chairman to undertake an inter-agency
working group to review the subject. The standards recommended
by the working group will provide guidance to the Secretary of
Commerce in meeting the national security concerns in the
licensing process.
3. In addition, the attached draft Terms of Reference
(TOR) was prepared to assist the working group in meeting these
requirements. The TOR should be reviewed by the NOAC working
group member and recommended changes be provided to John Hoover
on 697-7641.
candidate to this newl formed working v r~
Y group at the next
xt
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89BO1356R000300480001-4
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4
scheduled meeting on 7 April. If you agree that a PTS
officer(s) should be our N and working group representative,
25X1
please advise me or of your selection nrinr to
OS/EO/PPS
(31 Mar. 87): 25X1
Distribution::
Orig - Adse:
1 - OS/Registry:
1 - PPS Chrono:
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89BO1356R000300480001-4
Qcn ti c-~/PT
e1. G77 of
Interagency Group/Countermeasures
Washington, D.C. 20505
10 MAR 1987
MEMORANDUM FOR THE INTERAGENCY GROUP/COUNTERMEASURES (POLICY)
SUBJECT: Remote Sensing Commercial Satellites
Sometime in the future the Secretary of Commerce may
call upon the Secretary of Defense to determine those conditions
necessary to meet national security concerns of the US for the
purpose of licensing a private remote-sensing space system,
under the Land Remote-Sensing Commercialization Act of 1984.
The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, has asked
the Chairman, National Operations Security Advisory Committee
(NOAC), to undertake an interagency review of the subject and
recommend to the Secretary of Defense standards for the.guidance .
of the Secretary of Commerce in meeting the national security
concerns in the licensing process.
There is attached hereto a draft Terms of Reference (TOR)
to guide a NOAC working group. I ask the IG/CM(P) members
first, to review the draft TOR'and suggest any desired changes;
and second, to provide representation on the NOAC working group.
as needed.
Changes to the TOR and related questions may be provided
informally to John Hoover, 697-7641, who will chair the working
group.
John Fonnelly
Chairm&n, National Operations
Security Advisory Committee
Attachment
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89BO1356R000300480001-4
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4
TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR NATIONAL OPERATIONS
SECURITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Review of Security Implications of Civil
Satellite Remote Sensing Programs
I. TASK The Department of Defense has asked the NOAC to
review the US Civil Satellite Remote Sensing Program
and recommend to the Secretary of Defense standards for
the guidance of the Secretary of Commerce in meeting the
necessary national security concerns in the licensing
process.
II. BACKGROUND
- Under section 101 of the Land Remote-Sensing Commerciali-
zation Act of 1984, the Congress declared that, among other
things, the national interest of the US lies in maintaining
1o1(3) international leadership in civil remote sensing and in
broadly promoting the beneficial use of remote-sensing data.
The Congress declared, also, that land remote sensing by...
private parties of the US affects... national security
concerns of the US.
- Section 402 of the Act prohibits any US person from
operating any private remote-sensing system without a
license (issued by the Secretary of Commerce).
- Section 607 of the Act requires the Secretary of Commerce
to consult with the Secretary of Defense on all
matters
under the Act affecting national security (including the
issuance of the requisite license); and, the Secretary of
Defense shall determine the conditions necessary to meet
national security concerns.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), under the Department of Commerce, issued a Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (51 Fed. Reg. 9971, March 24, 1986)
which, according to the Radio-Television News Directors
Association (RTNDA), would violate the First Amendment.
The thrust of RTNDA objections to the Notice is that the
rules are unconstitutionally vague and would authorize
NOAA to impose impermissible prior restraint. According to
RTNDA, the question is not whether NOAA can take action to
protect national security, but what standards must it use
when doing so.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4
- Given that commercial multispectral imaging resolution
of other countries, such as France and Japan, is at least
as good now as the US, and over the years along with US,
commercial satellites will achieve even better resolution,
the question becomes, "How does the US accommodate necessary
and inevitable commercial growth in space and still protect
US sensitive information?"
III. SUGGESTED SCOPE OF REVIEW
------- - ------
What are the national security implications of the
Landsat program?
- What are the pros and cons for relaxing the current
resolution criterion for the Landsat program? Is there
likely to be a commercial market for data collected at
better resolutions?
- Are there national security implications of an
extensive media use of better-resolution satellite
imaging capabilities, perhaps to include development
of their own imaging capabilities? The review should
specifically address implications relative to the
military forces of the US, its friends and allies,
and potential adversaries. Could a "Mediasat"
compromise the security of future Grenada- or
Libyan-type operations? Or can the media obtain
the same sort of information by flying aircraft in
international air space at a fraction of the cost of a
satellite?
- What measures are available to protect national security
concerns relative to media use of civil satellite imaging
systems, both US and foreign?
IV. POSTULATED STANDARD
Is the following standard consistent with the the NOAC
findings and conclusions? If not, how should it be
amended?
" The Department of Defense does not impose a technical
limit as a standard precedent to the issuance of a license
by the Secretary of Commerce so long as the applicant
complies strictly with PL 98-365, section 402(b)(5), with
respect to providing data collection characteristics and
orbital data. However, notwithstanding the grant of a
license, the licensee must agree as a condition of the
license to the following:
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4
'When the Secretar
of, or with the concurrence of, the Chairman, the advice
i
of Staff, declares that the disclosure of dataJcollectedfs
from particular orbits during a particular timeframe
would pose a serious and immediate threat to distinct and
compelling national security, that data shall be withheld
from public distribution or disclosure for so long as the
threat exists or until the same data can no longer be held
undisclosed because of actual public disclosure by other
means.'"
V. REPORT
After coordination with the IG/CM(p) the results of the
review and the NOAC recommendations should be reported NOAC
direct to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy,
Washington, D.C. 20301.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP89B01356R000300480001-4