Abstract: The present invention concerns a system and method for controlling which regions of the earth are image sensed by a satellite imaging system having location determination processing and command and control for pointing a satellite to a specific location about the earth for imaging. The invention utilizes exclusion zones, which define the regions of the earth restricted from image sensing. The exclusion zones are either defined by hard wired logic circuitry, or stored onto read only memory in association with a processor, or stored onto random access memory in association with a processor. The stored exclusion zones are tied to the satellite imaging systems location determination processing system and command and control system. The random access memory is set with the exclusion zone regions of the earth by encrypted signals transmitted from a ground station.