'Businesses Will Not Be Able to Hide': Spy Satellites May Give Edge From Above

You don't need satellite photos to know that Sears is failing. Companies like Orbital Insight are typically tight-lipped when it comes to more important data -- as are their customers -- mainly because they see this information as a competitive advantage. But the line graph showed how Mr. Crawford and his start-up can target the performance of individual businesses. Orbital Insight tracks activity in more than 260,000 retail parking lots across the country, and it monitors the levels of more than 25,000 oil tanks around the world. Not surprisingly, Orbital Insight and SpaceKnow said, some of their customers use this satellite data to track the progress of their direct competitors, though those customers and their competitors are very reluctant to talk about it.