Remote sensing from space and its economic impact

As the remote sensing field matures and ever increasing numbers of spacecraft are planned for launch in the coming years, an important question arises as to what has been the magnitude, if any, of the economic impact of observing the Earth from space over the past quarter century. Of perhaps greater importance, given the substantial sums being spent on this activity, are the prospects for and magnitude of future economic and social impacts on society as a whole and how might we improve the economic and social impacts of remote sensing in the future over what they have traditionally been. This paper discusses these topics in terms of a few simple models which highlight some of the key aspects of these important issues.