Space.com is reporting that the United States Department of Defense (DOD) is rethinking a decision that cut off astronomers from access to data on incoming meteors.

The DOD has collected the data with a network of satellites and sensors designed to detect atmospheric nuclear detonations. The same sensors can spot a meteor streaking across the sky, and for over a decade, the military has provided astronomers with some of that data on an ad-hoc basis.

As we reported, that relationship came to a screeching halt earlier this year, when in March, a memo from Air Force Space Command, which operates the satellites, cautioned against sharing data with scientists. The decision was apparently made because DOD officials were worried that the data could reveal details of the US monitoring system.

But now, Brigadier General Robert Rego, the space command’s mobilization assistant to the director of air, space and nuclear operations, says that the organization is considering once again sharing data with scientists, albeit in a more carefully vetted way. The new process will be faster, more systematic, and it in compliance with classification procedures, he says. It could begin within the next few months.

Image: USAF