SpyMeSat Spy Satellite Tracking App Lets You Watch The Watchers

A new consumer app tells you when spy satellites are overhead and potentially taking pictures of your area. SpyMeSat collates publicly available information about low-orbit spy satellites, issues alerts when one is overhead, and delivers technical information about the specific models of satellite that might be checking you out. It also tells you which nation owns a given satellite and who made it.

SpyMeSat was created by Orbit Logic, Inc., which specializes in supplying software to the aerospace and intelligence communities. The app, which was released last week, gets its data from organizations like NORAD, but it doesn't use any classified information. In other words, any terrorists or human rights abusers looking to hide from satellites already can access the info through other data sources. The app's chief purpose is to gather all that data into one cheap app.

"We were careful to only include satellites that are unclassified and whose orbits are published by NORAD," Orbit Logic president Alex Herz said. "Even the sensor data — resolution, etc. — was taken only from the websites published by the satellite operators. So everything SpyMeSat is using is open and public."

The app is accurate to 16 meters. You can set SpyMeSat to give you alerts for any location, track satellites even when they're not overhead, call up resolution specs for each model, and learn about their various on-board sensors. Satellite models in the database are owned and operated by either public or private bodies, including the GeoEye, France's SPOT-5, India's CartoSat-2A, DigitalGlobe WorldView, and RADARSAT-2 of Canada.

Right now SpyMeSat is only available for iOS devices, with no word yet about Android availability in the near future. The ability to watch the watchers will run you a $1.99 at the App Store.

SOURCE: Space.com