Today, requesting satellite imagery of anywhere in the world often requires a fax machine. The process is more like a game of telephone in order to gain access to some of the most high-tech tools in outer space.
Typically, someone wanting to buy imagery navigates a field of imagery resellers and provide an "Area of Interest" and timeframe when they'd like the imagery. The reseller faxes this information to a satellite imagery provider, who in turn responds with a quote. That quote is delivered by the reseller to the customer that wanted the imagery, who then decides whether or not to make the purchase.
MapBox Satellite Live is going to change this. With on-demand processes that remove the layers of communication, customers will gain direct access to the satellite imagery - kind of think of this like Twilio for satellites.
Above is an early look at the satellite tasking interface we are designing which will transmit directly to the satellite companies, no fax machine needed.
Sign up to be a beta tester– we're launching soon.