Remember those mini satellites we told you about? They’re about the size of a shoebox and whizz around space with fairly standard (compared to other satellites) technology inside. The company responsible for them is called SkyBox and Google were sniffing around them last time we covered the tech.
The satellites are launched fairly easily and cost a great deal less than conventional satellites. They can produce live streaming images from space and can snap images quickly and easily for applications like Google Maps.
Google have obviously seen the potential, and have purchased the company for $500m (£300m).
The Google statement is fairly brief and reads..
Skybox’s satellites will help keep Google Maps accurate with up-to-date imagery. Over time, we also hope that Skybox’s team and technology will be able to help improve Internet access and disaster relief — areas Google has long been interested in.
There’s plans to launch 24 of these camera satellites and many are already in orbit as we speak.
Full details below, plus you can get a tad more on the Skybox website.