#Earth Observation

Remote sensing is the collective term for high-tech peeping devices designed to flaunt the Earth’s secrets to the highest bidder. Satellites, drones, and planes conspire to gaze upon farmland fertilizer patterns and secret rooftop gardens with equal enthusiasm. Celebrated as an emblem of the big data era, it ruthlessly tramples on the concept of privacy in its quest for every last detail. Purported to aid weather forecasting and disaster management, in practice it devours budgets and overwhelms users with a storm of technical jargon. In short, it promises to illuminate what we don’t know, only to expose what we never wanted anyone to see.

Satellite imagery is the practice of pretending to survey the Earth from above while actually satisfying the voyeuristic desires of governments and corporations. It strips secrets from beneath the clouds, ruthlessly monitoring urban sprawl and military exercises alike. Scientists thrill at new discoveries, militaries seek targets, and marketers read population shifts. What rains down from space is no longer a beacon of curiosity but an obsession with invading privacy.