Berlin
has launched a new satellite program for its intelligence service
(BND) in an attempt to escape US influence in spying matters, Die
Zeit daily reports. The project has already proven to be costlier
than planned.
Germany
plans to spend €400 million ($465 million) on two of the
“latest-generation satellites” for its foreign intelligence
service. The budget committee of the German parliament (Bundestag)
already approved the financing of the costly project back in early
November 2017.
The two
reconnaissance satellites, which are now being constructed by the
Bremen-based aerospace company OHB, are expected to be able to
identify and capture images of objects as small as an A4 paper sheet.
They are scheduled to be launched into orbit in 2022, where they will
be able to keep an eye on “any place on Earth” within 24 hours,
according to a “top secret” intelligence document obtained by Die
Zeit.
The
ambitious project is apparently aimed at making Berlin less dependent
on Washington, as the German security services are said to rely
heavily on satellite data provided by their US partners.
Full
report:
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