I rarely post about work, but this is so exciting I just had to share!
Skybox Imaging, the startup I work for, launched its first satellite November 21, and the satellite is now sending down imagery! To our knowledge, our satellite is the smallest ever to produce sub-1 meter resolution images. Most high-resolution imaging satellites are billion-dollar behemoths the size of an SUV; ours is a bit smaller than a dorm fridge, and is built from off-the-shelf parts.
We’re launching another satellite in March and a third one is scheduled for the end of next year – followed by a constellation of 24 satellites in 2015. There is HUGE excitement in the satellite industry around what we are doing.
Here’s a small version of one of our images (this is of Beaton Park in Perth, Australia):
You can see some of the awesome images we’ve been collecting here: http://firstimagery.skybox.
(Note that the satellite has not been fully calibrated yet – so the images will get even better over the next few weeks!)
The company blog post announcing the imagery is here: http://skybox.com/news/
And, of course, we’re hiring for a ton of positions. If you’re interested in working for us, check out http://www.skybox.com/jobs (scroll down for a complete list) and drop me a line. We’re located in Mountain View, CA.