Public Now Has Spy Eye In Sky

A commercial high-resolution Earth imaging satellite was lofted over the Pacific Friday, five months after an identical satellite was lost during launch.

The Ikonos satellite lifted off at 11:21 a.m. PDT aboard an Athena II rocket bound for a near-polar orbit 400 miles high.

The satellite separated from the top of a four-stage rocket 60 minutes after launch., said Linda Lidov, a spokeswoman for Denver-based Space Imaging Inc., which will market the images.

The new Ikonos was built as a backup for Ikonos 1, which failed to reach orbit after launch from Vandenberg on an Athena II in April. Lockheed Martin said the aerodynamic covering over the payload failed to come off properly because of an electrical problem.

Space Imaging said that after reaching orbit, the new Ikonos would begin producing imagery for sale to customers in 60 to 90 days.

Ikonos' images are expected to be useful in urban planning, environmental monitoring, mapping, assessing the scope of natural disasters, oil and gas exploration, monitoring farmland and planning communication networks, among other things.

The Ikonos is the world's highest resolution commercial imaging satellite, according to Space Imaging. The company said it was built to distinguish objects on the ground as small as one meter square, or about 3 feet by 3 feet, in size. Such detail would include individual trees, boats, ships and roads but not individual people, Space Imaging said.