GeoEye-1 is a satellite launched on September 6th which has the main purpose to provide Google Maps with high resolution pictures and to help cartographers create better, more precise maps. The first snaps released with the help of the new satellite are of Kutztown University, Pennsylvania while the satellite was moving in a north to south direction. The pictures, portraying the University along with its parking lot and football stadium, are pretty amazing, in the sense that the details they provide are almost breathtaking.

GeoEye-1 has an exclusive partnership with Google, making the Internet giant the only company to use the satellite for commercial, online purposes. The technical specifications of the satellite’s camera are also very impressive. GeoEye’s camera collects imagery that can be detailed to 41 centimeter objects, but because of U.S law regulation Google users will only have access to 50 centimeter resolution. This is mainly because of the fear of the government that users can violate the intimacy of others using these high resolution pictures.

Another satellite, called the GeoEye-2, is due for launch in 2011 or 2012 and it’s expected to be able to capture pictures in even more detail than GeoEye-1. GeoEye-2 will be able to reveal 25 centimeter resolutions, meaning that it will literally be able to see everything. The fact that our planet is constantly being watched by eyes in the sky, well space to be more precise, gives people obsessed with conspiracy even more things to talk about. Regulations and laws are there to keep Big Brother in the sphere of the imaginary, not vice versa.