11-30-95. W$Jiver, Page One lead: "New Satellite Imaging Could Soon Transform The Face of the Earth. Big Worries About Security." Next time you gaze into the heavens, practice your smile. The ventures being backed by companies such as Lockheed Martin Corp., the E-Systems Corp. and Orbital Sciences Corp. will offer days-old digital images of unprecedented clarity. These corporate systems worry some scientists and federal policy makers concerned about privacy invasion and a free-for-all expansion of espionage. One notes that Lockheed Martin and E-Systems already have such systems in space. "They do this for the intelligence agencies. The very system that they're putting up there is a classified system now." A Senate staffer says that as budgets are chopped for the NRO and military satellite operators, the commercial systems will offer lower-cost images for government needs, preserve jobs and know-how in a vital area of technology and ensure U.S. leadership in the imaging industry. Nations such as France, Russia, South Africa, India and Israel are contemplating expanded use of their high-resolution systems. RED_sky (16 kb)