

Silicon Valley's New Spy Satellites - uptown
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/silicon-valleys-new-spy-satellites/282580/

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pilom
None of these satellites will improve on the maximum resolution of Google
Maps. Physics prevents it. They would need to be MUCH larger to get better
resolution. Like: [http://spaceref.com/onorbit/kh-9-hexagon-spy-satellite-
makes...](http://spaceref.com/onorbit/kh-9-hexagon-spy-satellite-makes-a-rare-
public-outing-%28photos-and-video%29.html)

What they may be able to do is get more up to date information. I think this
makes Planet Labs really interesting. With 28 satellites (even if only 20 make
it operational) you still end up with being able to image every point on earth
every hour or so contingent on cloud cover (granted we're talking really low
resolution because those cameras are little more than a hand-held Canon lens
you see at sports events).

The problem I'd be curious about for PlanetLabs is how they plan to downlink
their information back down to earth. They wont be able to afford access to
something like TDRSS
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_and_Data_Relay_Satelli...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_and_Data_Relay_Satellite_System))
but they may be able to do some really cool mesh networks to always get access
to a single ground station. That would be a really cool and unique solution.
Otherwise they need to wait for each satellite to fly over a single ground
station which would only happen every 9 hours or so if they are lucky.

