This DSLR mod you speak of ... is it just removing/replacing the internal IR-filter, or is it something more involved?
I've removed plenty of those IR-blocking plastics, it's a good way to turn half-obsolete digital cameras into surprisingly effective nightvision gear. It's also a trivial piece of camera surgery for a modder, hope you didn't pay a lot to have it done.
Infrared lasers might not be attenuated as much by atmosphere, plus a modified camera is very sensitive of IR light. I agree it's not an optimal solution, but it is a helluva lot less costly and apparently works pretty well. A few years ago it was cheaper to mod a green laser (lol, again, by removing an IR-filtering part) than it was to buy an official IR laser, but that may have changed.
I imagine CCD is preferred over CMOS because it has greater Lux sensitivity?
Damn that hobby's expensive! Probably cheaper to launch a satellite.