By Nick Farrell
10 October 2008, 9:20 AM

GOOGLE'S NEW satellite has sent its first picture back to Earth in a successful test of its camera. The high-resolution color image from GeoEye-1, which was launched on September 6, was of Kutztown University campus in Pennsylvania. We have no idea what was so special about the University but you can see the snap here.

It was taken while the satellite was in a 423-mile-high orbit over the East Coast of the United States. Apparently it is not as good as it gets as the satellite has yet to be calibrated. While the fact that the satellite is being used by Google is getting all the attention, GeoEye-1's main client is the US government's mapping arm, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.

GeoEye-1's government client will receive higher resolution photos than commercial clients such as Google. Still, it will be of a higher resolution and better quality than what is currently available on Google Maps and Google Earth.