Effects on Users of Commercializing Landsat and the Weather Satellites

The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates two remote sensing satellite systems, the weather satellites and Landsat, which produce data for worldwide use. In March 1983, NOAA announced its decision to transfer these satellites to private enterprise because it believes that commercialization will lead to better market development for these systems. Pursuant to congressional requests, GAO examined how these satellites are used worldwide and how their commercial operation might affect users.