"Some Space Force officials told GAO about challenges they have faced related to purchasing and using commercial space data such as licensing costs, perceived use restrictions, and concerns over long-term access to the data," the Government Accountability Office reported.
GAO documents commercial imagery used to track Chinese carriers and Ecuadorian airstrips
The GAO report lays out concrete examples of how unclassified, commercial satellite imagery has been used by U.S. agencies. In 2024 the National Reconnaissance Office purchased electro-optical imagery that showed "changes in Chinese aircraft carriers and other ships’ locations over time, and identify the types of ships" at Sanya Naval Base in Hainan province. That same year, imagery bought by the Space Force’s Joint Commercial Operations Cell (JCO) helped U.S. Southern Command identify possible clandestine airstrips in Ecuador; the U.S. government shared the locations and Ecuador subsequently "further investigate[d] and disable[d] the airstrips that were likely used by narcotraffickers," GAO reported.
Joint Commercial Operations Cell spending, marketplace use, and a procurement gap
The GAO found the JCO — the Space Force component that purchases most commercial space services — spent nearly $77 million between 2023 and 2025 on commercial space services through the Global Data Marketplace, an e-commerce platform used by the U.S. government for unclassified images. The watchdog also documented a procedural gap: a working group convened to coordinate purchases by the U.S. government meets monthly, but Space Force officials are not included and information about the working group "is not widely available." GAO concluded that many of the Space Force’s reported challenges could have been addressed through the working group’s discussions.
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See what we buildBarriers named by Space Force officials: licensing, usage limits, and access worries
According to GAO, Space Force personnel cited licensing costs, perceived restrictions on how imagery may be used, and concerns about long-term access to commercial data as significant barriers. Those concerns have produced "hesitation to purchase and use commercial data among these potential users," the report said. GAO framed the issue in operational terms: as adversary counterspace capabilities grow, DoD needs commercial imagery to "fill in blind spots and decrease risk to its own space assets."
NRO contracts and vendors: the electro-optical commercial layer
The report notes the National Reconnaissance Office procured commercial electro-optical imagery through its Electro-Optical Commercial Layer contract awarded in 2022, a contract valued at $4 billion. GAO identified companies from which the NRO purchased imagery under that contract in 2024, naming Vantor, Planet Labs, and BlackSky. The NRO purchases illustrate how commercial collections can augment classified systems by providing persistent, unclassified observation that can be shared more broadly.
What Ecuador, the Space Force, and the NRO will watch for
- Ecuador: the country already acted after imagery shared by the U.S.; continued responsiveness to commercial imagery means such collections can trigger partner investigations and on-the-ground interdiction, as happened with the airstrips GAO described.
- The Space Force: GAO recommended that Air Force Secretary Troy Meink increase communication and awareness of the existing working group, and the Defense Department concurred with that recommendation in a June 18 response. GAO said "Increased communication about the working group could lead to additional Space Force and other officials engaging in discussions that could address perceived issues."
- The NRO: the agency’s $4 billion Electro-Optical Commercial Layer contract and its 2024 purchases show the NRO will continue to integrate commercial suppliers as a complement to classified systems to observe naval movements and other events of interest.
Jon Ludwigson, GAO’s contracting and national security acquisitions director, emphasized the operational trade-offs in a GAO interview: using commercial imagery "reduces the pressure on the exquisite systems to do things" and "gives us the opportunity to cue others that we're watching in ways that don't require us to disclose that we're using exquisite systems." Ludwigson also noted the practical benefit of sharing commercial images with partners — "if we can use commercial imagery for those conversations ... then we haven't given up anything about our exquisite assets."
The record GAO assembled shows both immediate utility and friction: commercial imagery has produced actionable outcomes — from tracking carrier movements at Sanya Naval Base to prompting Ecuador to disable suspected narco airstrips — while procurement practices, licensing concerns, and access worries are limiting broader use. GAO’s recommended remedy centers on communication: getting Space Force officials into the coordination loop could ease misunderstandings and increase use of commercial space data that DoD says it will need for future contests in space.
