Geo-Eye 1 Satellite Launched

The Geo-Eye 1 satellite, which successfully launched yesterday, is engineered to transmit high-resolution satellite imagery back to Earth for use by Google and the U.S. government. Google’s founder’s attended the launch event, which coincides with Google’s 10th birthday celebration. Information analyzed by the satellite will be reviewed for national security by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Google’s arrangement also allows them sole access to the images, which will be used to improve the Google Maps and Google Earth services. The first high-quality images will be available to Google in 1-2 months.