FAS

GeoEye Releases First Half-Meter Satellite Image

10.10.08 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

Kutztown University, midway between Reading and Allentown, Pennsylvania, has never looked so good. Or at least not like this. The University campus was featured in the first publicly released half-meter, color satellite image produced by the GeoEye-1 satellite, launched on September 6.

“We do find the initial target selection amusing,” the author of the intelligence blog Kent’s Imperative wrote today, “and we are sure that there is a backstory there somewhere waiting to be told. There is something about small, out of the way Pennsylvania colleges and the intelligence community, isn’t there?”

There may be, but “This image captures what is in fact the very first location the satellite saw when we opened the camera door and started imaging,” said Brad Peterson, GeoEye vice president of operations.

The GeoEye-1 satellite will provide imagery for national intelligence agencies and, beginning later this fall, for commercial sale.

“Though the satellite collects imagery at 0.41-meter ground resolution, due to U.S. licensing restrictions, commercial customers will only get access to imagery that has been processed to half-meter ground resolution,” according to an October 8 GeoEye news release.

publications
See all publications
Government Capacity
Blog
What the Metascience Community Should Learn From the Federal Evidence Movement Before Making Our Mistakes

The emerging federal metascience community is asking fascinating questions that are equally vital for democratic legitimacy: beyond “did this program work” to “how does the federal R&D enterprise itself work, and how could it work better?” 

06.03.26 | 12 min read
read more
Environment
Blog
I Want to Talk About Solar Geoengineering and You Should Too!

If you’re new to the climate intervention space, welcome! The TL;DR: if we can’t stop the most catastrophic impacts of climate change with current tools quickly enough, then we need a bigger toolbox.

06.02.26 | 6 min read
read more
Environment
Blog
Disaster Policy Nerds Explain the Good, Bad, and Ugly in FEMA Review Council Report

After months of delay, the council tasked by President Trump to review the FEMA released its final report. Our disaster policy nerds have thoughts.

05.21.26 | 8 min read
read more
Global Risk
Press release
Federation of American Scientists, Future of Life Institute Present Converging Risks Report, AI Impact Awards at Gala

FAS and FLI partnered to build a series of convenings and reports across the intersections of artificial intelligence (AI) with biosecurity, cybersecurity, nuclear command and control, military integration, and frontier AI governance. This project brought together leaders across these areas and created a space that was rigorous, transpartisan, and solutions-oriented to approach how we should think about how AI is rapidly changing global risks.

05.20.26 | 9 min read
read more