Satellite pictures of your area can now be obtained over the Internet thanks to a new service called Spacepix from satellite image company, SSC Satellitbild in Sweden. Anyone with a home computer and access to the Internet can take advantage of the new service for a small fee.

"Space images can be used as road maps or as illustrative way of showing for your friends where you live. The images can also be used in the communication with authorities and business associates, for example for describing building locations and real estate locations," says Christer Andersson, Sales Manager of the company.
SSC Satellitbild is believed to be the first company in its field to offer an Internet-based service to the general public. Initially the company is offering this service to people interested of images from the Chicago and Hong Kong area.

Easy accessible
To obtain an image, the user first calls up the Spacepix homepage -www.spacepix.com- with any browser program. Any area of the city map can be selected. Click the desired area, fill in the credit card information and the image can be downloaded immediately. "You have the possibility to include the image in an ordinary word processing program to illustrate your points of view," says Christer Andersson.
As added security, those who buy the image are issued with a password valid for up to 24 hours that will allow the image to be downloaded again in case of technical difficulties.
For an introductory price of US$9.99, Internet users can download a 1000 by 800 pixel image in either the JPEG or TIFF formats commonly used on home computers. The roughly 2.3 megabyte file can be printed out on a high quality printer. Currently the highest resolution of the image is about 10 m. It is hoped that future technology will be able to focus even closer.
An additional feature is the ability to send a free electronic postcard to be delivered to your friends' e-mail addresses.

International ambitions
Within the next year, people living in up to 20 major cities throughout the world will be able to download quality natural colour images of their city.
SSC Satellitbild is a leading supplier of geographical and environmental information and services using remote sensing satellite data. Its customers include international organisations such as the World Bank, governmental map agencies as well as large private companies. It is part of the Earth Observation Division of the Swedish Space Corporation, SSC and has been operating for more than a decade.

Caption 1: Send a free electronic postcard to one of your friends' e-mail addresses.

Caption 2: For an introductory price Internet users can download a 1000 by 800 pixel satellite image.

For further information contact:
SSC Satellitbild AB, Christer Andersson,Sales Manager
Box 4207, 171 04 Solna, Sweden
Tel:+46 8 627 64 50, fax:+46 8 98 49 75
E-mail:ca@ssc.se, website: www.ssc.se/sb or www.spacepix.com

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