Most systems reliant on advanced technology present a familiar dilemma: the system designer does not know what the customer wants, while the customer does not understand the technology well enough to know what is possible. Although Earth observation satellite systems ought ideally to be designed for all customer needs, this is impossible for several reasons. Not least of these is the difficulty of identifying at the outset all, or even most, of the possible customers. This circumstance makes the creation of Earth observation systems somewhat speculative and imposes particular constraints on the subsystems for processing and use of the data. This paper discusses the technical and institutional aspects of processing and dissemination of data from remote-sensing satellites for the benefit of the user.
