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German Radar Satellite Lifts Off Tonight
2Y9D57 writes "Germany's new TanDEM-X radar satellite is scheduled to lift off from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 04:15 Berlin time on 21 June — that's 10:14 pm Eastern today (20 June). Flying in close formation with its twin satellite, TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X will generate the most consistent and highest-resolution digital elevation map ever of the Earth — 12m = 40ft. pixel pitch. It will take three years to image all 150 million square kilometers (58 million square miles), in the process generating more than 350 TB of raw data. Here's where to go as the time approaches for live streaming."
The elevation above sea level of the land one lives on is hardly personal or private information... A photograph of one's house, car, children playing on the lawn etc could be considered to be somewhat different.
sudo mount --milk --sugar
This isn't a high resolution photo form the street through your living room window. It has a 12m (40ft) resolution. If you have something on your property that is more than 40ft long, I suspect people may already be aware of it.
You're insane if you're comparing this to Google Street View.
The kind of insane objections people make to Street View also can be made here: "it's my personal property, nobody has a right to image it", "people are making money with this data, I want my cut", and "people may be using the data to plan crimes against my property".
Why do you think those objections should apply to a "PHOTO" but not an "ELEVATION MAP"?
Relax, nobody wants to steal the little hill on your ground. It will still be there in 10 years.
A substantial part of the project cost is shouldered by private companies, not taxpayers.