With the GeoEye-1 successful launch, GeoEye was ready to start full commercial operations for GeoEye-1 imaging products a few months after launch. Immediately after launch there was a 45- to 60-day engineering and calibration period.

The 4,300-pound satellite collected the first image at noon EDT on Oct. 7 while moving from the north pole to the south pole in a 423-mile-high orbit at 17,000 miles per hour, or 4.5 miles per second. The spacecraft can take photos at a resolution of up to 41 cm — close enough to zoom in on the home plate of a baseball diamond, according to Mark Brender, GeoEye’s vice president of communications and marketing.

A second satellite, GeoEye-2, slated to launch in 2011 or 2012, will have a resolution of 25cm, company representatives promised.

Untill then to have a look on the featured images send by it visit http://www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/gallery/Default.aspx