Leading satellite firm to hold back Gulf state images

Planet Labs PBC, a leading provider of high resolution images taken from space, said Friday it would hold back for 96 hours images of Gulf states targeted by Iranian drone attacks.

The satellite images produced by the California-based company are normally available almost immediately to its clients, who include AFP, as well as other media, companies, researchers -- and potential enemies of the United States.

Planet said in a message to clients the "temporary" move was part of its "commitment to responsible data practices and the safety of personnel on the ground" since the eruption of the Middle East war.

It did not say if it had acted at the request of US authorities. Images of Iran were not included in the order.

"All new imagery collected over the Gulf States and adjacent conflict zones (not including Iran) will be subject to a mandatory 96-hour delay before it is made available in our archive," Planet said.

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"This measure is intended to prevent adversarial actors endangering the safety of allied and NATO-partner personnel and civilians there," it added.

"As the conflict evolves, the area impacted may change."

Planet had earlier imposed a 30-day delay on images taken of the war-stricken Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Vantor, another US supplier that was previously known as Maxar, never released images of the military bases of US forces or their allies.

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