A Google-sponsored satellite has beamed its first picture back to Earth in a successful test of a camera that will supply images for the internet giant’s free online map and navigation services. <\/p>\n
The high-resolution colour image from GeoEye-1, which was launched on September 6 from a US air force base in California, was of a university campus in Pennsylvania, satellite operator GeoEye Inc. said in a statement. <\/p>\n
The Dulles, Virginia-based company provided a link to the image at its website. (To see image, click here.) <\/p>\n
The picture of the Kutztown University campus was taken on Tuesday while the satellite was in a 681km orbit over the East Coast of the United States, GeoEye said. <\/p>\n
"We expect the quality of the imagery to be even better as we continue the calibration activity," said Brad Peterson, GeoEye’s vice president of operations. <\/p>\n
GeoEye-1’s main client is the US government’s mapping arm, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, but Google is a major sponsor of the $500m satellite and has exclusive commercial rights to its images. <\/p>\n
"We are pleased to release the first GeoEye-1 image, bringing us even closer to the start of the satellite’s commercial operations and sales to our customers," said GeoEye chief executive Matthew O’Connell. <\/p>\n
Because of national security concerns, GeoEye-1’s government clients will receive higher resolution photos than commercial clients such as Google, which plans to use the images on its popular Google Maps and Google Earth programs. <\/p>\n
The satellite imagery from GeoEye-1 will be of a higher resolution and better quality than what is currently available on Google Maps and Google Earth. <\/p>\n
The GeoEye-1 venture is not Google’s only trip into space. <\/p>\n
Google co-founder Sergey Brin is a space buff and has booked a seat on a flight to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventures, which plans to take space tourists to the orbiting space station beginning in 2011.<\/p>\n
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