At the end of last year, SkyBox Imaging shared the first images from its SkySat-1 satellite – the first in a planned constellation of 24. Now, they have shared the world’s first commercial, high-resolution, HD video of Earth from space.

The released video showcases several of the first videos captured by SkySat-1 since early December and these videos are un-tuned and not yet calibrated. The video contains a selection of views including Tokyo, Bangkok, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Aleppo, Syria, and showcases some potential uses of the data that sets it apart from traditional satellite imagery. The resolution is high enough to observe objects like shipping containers, but not close enough to view or identify human activity.

In addition to video, SkySat-1 also captures some of the highest quality colour imagery of any commercial satellite, and is capable of sub-metre native colour and near-infrared imagery.

Interestingly, the satellite was built and launched for less than a tenth of the cost of traditional sub-meter imaging satellites.

SkyBox imaging believe that this is an “important inflection point” that demonstrates that high-quality, high-resolution imagery data can and will be more timely, accessible, and affordable in the future.

“By merging the Silicon Valley approach with aerospace engineering, we are pioneering a game-changing platform and a new generation of applications for the remote sensing industry and for new markets yet to be realised,” SkyBox said in a release.

“With our ability to capture up to 90 second video clips at 30 frames per second, we are now able to gather dynamic information about the world around us at an unprecedented scale. There’s an immense amount of knowledge that we can glean from analysing movement – supply chain monitoring, maritime awareness, industrial plant activity, environmental monitoring, and humanitarian relief monitoring – and we are excited to explore the breadth of possibilities with this unique data source.”