GeoEye-1

GeoEye-1 captures panchromatic (black-and-white) imagery at 0.41-meter resolution and multispectral (color) imagery at 1.65-meter resolution from its sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 684 kilometers altitude. Under U.S. government licensing restrictions at the time, commercial customers initially received the panchromatic imagery resampled to 0.5-meter resolution.

Yes, Google was a significant commercial partner—its logo appeared on the Delta II rocket that launched GeoEye-1 in September 2008, and Google secured rights to use GeoEye-1 imagery for Google Earth and Google Maps. The satellite was also co-funded under the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's NextView program, which supported the development of commercial imaging satellites.

GeoEye-1 was originally operated by GeoEye Inc., which merged with DigitalGlobe in 2013 under the DigitalGlobe name. DigitalGlobe was subsequently acquired by Maxar Technologies in 2017, and Maxar continues to operate GeoEye-1 as part of its Earth observation satellite constellation.

GeoEye-1's 0.41-meter panchromatic resolution was state of the art at its 2008 launch, but Maxar's WorldView-3, launched in 2014, achieves 0.31-meter panchromatic resolution and adds shortwave infrared and 16-band multispectral imaging capabilities. WorldView-3's additional spectral bands make it significantly more capable for advanced analytics and material identification.