GeoEye-1

Google Launches Super-Spycam Into Space; Logo Goes Along for a Ride

Google is getting a new eye in the sky -- and as a bonus, its rainbow-colored logo will be getting a ride on a rocket.



Satellite company GeoEye will launch a new orbiting imager on Thursday, and Google has signed a contract making it the exclusive online mapping site to use the satellite's photos, which will appear in both Google Maps and Google Earth. The search company also got to slap its nearly-ubiquitous logo on the side of the rocket, currently being prepped for launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (The logo will not actually go into space, but instead will fall to Earth with the rocket's first stage.)

The satellite will be able to take photos at a resolution of up to 41 centimeters -- enough to get a pretty decent photo of your Mustang convertible, but not enough identify the redhead in the passenger's seat.

Because of a deal GeoEye has already signed with the U.S. government, Google will only get data with a resolution of 50 centimeters, News.com reports.

A second satellite, GeoEye-2, slated to launch in 2011 or 2012, will have a resolution of 25cm, company representatives promised.

A Google spokeswoman offered the following clarification after an earlier version of this post was published by Wired.com:

Google is interested in collecting the highest quality commercial satellite imagery available and as a symbol of this commitment has agreed to put the company logo on the first stage of the GeoEye, Inc. launch vehicle. Google Maps and Google Earth already include imagery from GeoEye. Google does not have any direct or indirect financial interest in the satellite or in GeoEye, and did not pay any fee to place its logo on the launch vehicle.