The surprise decision by China to lift travel restrictions in late 2022 marked a major reversal from the stringent policies in place since 2020 designed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

With many more people expected to move around China, as well as enter and leave, the economic implications are significant.

A spy balloon’s recent trip across the United States raised lots of questions for ordinary Americans, most of whom don’t pay much attention to China’s military intentions or surveillance operations.

For the US national security establishment, however, the spy balloon was the latest incident involving increased tension between Washington and Beijing.

How do you monitor key areas of the world to stay ahead of the events and topics shaping the planet?

What if your area of interest spans hundreds of miles, and requires detections on key indicators of change?

The starting point is satellite imagery, but imagery alone isn’t the answer. The size of the task is too large. A proper solution utilizes an automated approach to collect & analyze imagery, and deliver insights to a customer in a cost-effective method.

If you're like many people we talk to, you might not be very familiar yet with how SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) works and the unique capabilities SAR brings to the table as a geospatial and alternative data source.

This infographic distills this complex technology down to the basics to help summarize why we've chosen SAR as our go-to data source.

This week saw a major storm over the Persian Gulf. Literally. Heavy rains caused flooding in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.

It seems those dark clouds could also serve as a metaphor. The unusual weather for the region coincided with Washington restoring sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The sanctions cover Iran’s energy, banking, shipping, and shipbuilding industries.

How fast can US pipelines get built? That question has been asked this autumn at conferences around the world.

It’s no wonder. The Permian Basin has arguably become the global swing supplier. Production has soared, helping offset supply declines from OPEC.

Monitoring the global oil supply chain involves more than just analyzing weekly SAR images.

Our team also keeps tabs on important events that could impact the oil market, then we match that with our SAR data to deliver more impactful information to our users.

Video of US energy secretary Rick Perry, Saudi Arabia oil minister Khalid al Falih and ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods attending a college football game on September 8 quickly made the rounds on social media.