Harvesting satellite images for commercial use

MIT Technology Review : Orbital Insight, a startup company founded by James Crawford, uses the vast amount of satellite imagery being collected to provide its clients with business and socioeconomic intelligence. The huge trove of data allows the company to monitor a number of activities, such as how many cars frequent a business’s parking lot each day, how much new construction is going on, and how quickly forests are being depleted. With the use of computer software and a new technique called deep learning, Orbital Insight looks for patterns in the satellite data and makes predictions about a range of industries. Its clients include real estate developers, insurance companies, and environmental nonprofits. The startup is one of a growing number of image-processing companies that are taking advantage of the ubiquitousness of modern satellite surveillance.