The first commercial satellite launched 25 years ago—and totally changed the world
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From tracking the changing face of our planet to monitoring deforestation, satellites have become an increasingly important part of our lives.
A quarter century ago today, the first commercial Earth observation satellite, Ikonos, was launched into space. The satellite was developed by the Lockheed Corp., and operated by a company called Space Imaging—which has since rebranded to DigitalGlobe.