From 2008: the Google logo on the Delta II Launch vehicle putting the GeoEye-1 earth observation satellite into orbit. Google has exclusive rights to use the satellite’s imagery in online mapping projects.
Even though the GeoEye-1 satellite sports a colorful Google sticker, its key customer is actually not Google but rather the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a U.S. government agency that analyzes imagery in support of national security. The NGA is paying for half of the development of the $502 million satellite and has committed to purchasing imagery from it. Google is GeoEye’s second major partner.
“This is the opposite of a spy satellite,” Brender [Geo-Eye CEO] said in a phone interview. “Spies don’t put info on the internet and sell imagery. We’re an Earth-imaging satellite, and we can sell our imagery to customers around the world who have a need to map and measure and monitor things on the ground.”
The Committee to Nuke Elysium 