At the start of the 21 centery a new generation a new generation of remote sensing satellites are be launched.

These satellites offer many new capabilities that including:

• spatial resolution
• ground location accuracy
• more frequent revisit times
• extensive global coverage
• band options
• stereo
• improved signal-to-noise ratios and dynamic range.

In addition, several ongoing trends have been noted that support the exploitation of these new satellite systems. These factors suggest that these new systems will soon support an increasing number of tasks.