This weekend, in a partnership with the GeoEye Corporation, Google Inc. launched its very own imaging satellite, using a Boeing Defense Systems Delta II booster rocket.

The new satellite has a resolution of half a meter, and while it may not be able to read license plates like 0.10 meter resolution military-grade satellites, it will render the best quality of satellite imaging available so far to the public through Google Earth.

Google has so far used a number of sources as mapping material, such as aerial photos and commercial satellites such as the IKONOS, which offers a 1-4 meter imaging resolution. Aside from the poorer quality, the mapping method used so far also meant that some of the images were literally years out of date.

With Google having their own satellite up in the sky, images will be constantly refreshed, and the satellite can be positioned to be anywhere over the surface of the earth within hours, quickly tracking significant geographical events such as floods, earthquakes, troop movements and other such.

The satellite, built by the GeoEye Corporation in partnership with General Dynamics has cost $209 million. The GeoEye-1, formerly dubbed OrbView-5, has a resolution of 41cm for panchromatic (visible light) and 165cm for multispectral imagery. It will remain 425 miles above sea-level in a sun-synchronous orbit. As an aside, although the satellite itself is capable of less-than-50cm resolutions, it may not use details below that mark due to legislation restrictions.

Some have expressed concern that the recent satellite launch is just one more step towards Google becoming Big Brother, it should be noted that commercial satellites with comparable image quality, and owned by private companies have been operational for years. This is merely the first one which offers widely-available public access.