GeoEye-1, the highest resolution commercial remote sensing satellite, launched successfully today an Vandenberg Air Force Base. I look forward to seeing the imagery from this satellite later this fall.

I recall the early day of Earthwatch and Space Imaging, when many launches failed. I was a the GITA trade show in 1999 when Ikonos-1 launched. The atmosphere was festive until it became apparent that the satellite wouldn’t reach a safe and stable orbit. This came after the failure of Earlybird-1 from Earthwatch (now DigitalGlobe). Ikonos-2 and Quickbird-2 established the commercial remote sensing industry here in the United States, and both companies appear to be going strong after some years of struggle.

Space launches are still a bit of a gamble, but seem to be getting more reliable lately. It’s good to have another high-resolution commercial satellite in orbit to compliment DigitalGlobe’s Worldview-1 that launched roughly a little less than a year ago. Next up is DigitalGlobe’s Worldview-2 that’s slated to launch mid-2009.

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