Spy in the Sky

No-one who remembers the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in 1957, or who recalls the sheer excitement of the first transatlantic TV pictures beamed via Telstar to the Goonhilly Downs tracking station five years later, could possibly have envisaged that the same technology would eventually be turned on them.

Incredible as it may seem, a new type of satellite-assisted speed camera is currently being tested over Britain and the technology is being evaluated at sites in both London and Cornwall.

The system, ominously entitled 'SpeedSpike', is capable of recording the average speeds of a vehicle over any distance and has been developed by the American-owned PIPS Technology Ltd., which has its UK base in Hampshire.

Naturally, the civil liberties lobby are voicing serious concerns over such state surveillance. But, whilst the Automobile Association say they will monitor developments carefully, they do not hold the view that there is anything sinister about the project. A spokesman dismissed concerns as nothing more than "a natural evolution of the technology that is out there."

According to a government report, the cameras are able to perform "number plate capture in all weather conditions, 24 hours a day". The document also refers to the system's "low cost and ease of installation" and goes on to suggest that it may be introduced for "main road enforcement, congestion reduction and speed enforcement". We are also assured that it could "eliminate rat-runs and cut speeds outside schools".

Exactly how the plan combines terrestrial cameras with a global positioning system (GPS) remains unclear. Indeed, the Home Office are coy enough about the details to hide them under a veil of supposed "commercial confidentiality".

One thing is certain, though. Contrary to the urban myth, the resolution offered by current satellite-mounted cameras is insufficient to read registration numbers, even they were angled upwards. However, can it be too long before you are required to display your car's registration in large characters on its roof?

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