I’m yet to work out if Bill Gates is a good guy or not. I’m sure he believes he only does good (these days), but self-judgement isn’t something everyone has. He has invested in a global live satellite video project that could be just two years away. They do not disclose the resolution of the video, so I’m guessing there will be consumer level, commercial level, and governments-we-like level.
The proposed purposes for EarthNow sound great…
Catching illegal fishing in the act, watching hurricanes and typhoons as they evolve, detecting forest fires the moment they start, watching volcanoes the instant they start to erupt, assisting the media in telling stories from around the world, tracking large whales as they migrate, helping “smart cities” become more efficient, providing on-demand data about crop health, and observing conflict zones around the world.
…but the negative aspects are extraordinary. War comes to mind. Tracking individuals. Spotting when groups of people meet somewhere. Tracking planes, including stealth craft and Air Force One. And war. And war.
EarthNow is a new company looking to provide satellite imagery and live video in virtually real-time. Its unsettling pitch describes a network of satellites that can see any corner of the globe and provide live video with a latency of about a second. And a look at the startup’s top investors gives a lot of confidence that this thing is happening.
On Wednesday, EarthNow announced that it will emerge from the Intellectual Ventures ISF Incubator to become a full-scale commercial business. Its first round of investors is comprised of a small group of complimentary powerhouses: AirBus, the SoftBank Group, Bill Gates, and satellite-industry vet Greg Wyler. Gizmodo
If there is a war that includes Russia, and these satellites are used, expect them to be shot down. And then EarthNow can try and sue Russia. It isn’t an act of war if you take out private property in space.
