How Can I Watch My House Live On Satellite? All You Need To Know About This Exciting Technology

Last Updated on August 3, 2023 By Emma W. Thomas

To watch your house live on satellite, use satellite imagery services like Google Earth or similar platforms. Input your address to view real-time or recent images of your property captured by satellites orbiting the Earth, offering an exciting perspective of your home.

How Can I Watch My House Live On Satellite?

Satellite Surveillance optionAdvantagesLimitations
Google Earth LiveAccessible and user-friendlyDoes not provide live video feeds
Subscription-based Satellite ServicesProvides real-time satellite imagesRequires a subscription and specific software
IP CamerasFulfills immediate surveillance needsNeeds an internet connection to function
Satellite Dish and DecoderAdvanced surveillanceCan be costly and technical

What Are Satellites?

A satellite is a moon, sphere, or machine orbiting a planet or stars. In this case, satellites are artificial machines purposely launched to space to carry out a specific task. There are different satellites depending on their purposes, such as earth satellites and weather satellites. Satellites have made it easy to see vast tracts of the earth simultaneously. They relay interpreted data more quickly compared to telescopes that were previously used. 

Data had to undergo a lot of processing before coming up with complete information. Satellites have also made it easy to make long-distance phone calls without losing signals. Satellites take their photographs from above the sky, making it easy to produce clear images because no dust and molecules are blocking their view of the earth.

How Can One See A Satellite View Of Their House?

It is incredible to see one’s house live from a satellite. One can achieve this by using commercial earth satellites and internet tools that provide photos through the internet. It is not limited to just Earth satellites. Other satellites, such as weather satellites, also release images of planet Earth after every three hours. 

The amazing thing is that these views are live. For weather satellites, one cannot see any specific spot on Earth, as is the case with Earth satellites. One requires tools such as google maps services, a web browser, and an internet connection to view a specific spot.

Google Map 

From here, one can zoom in or pan the Google map camera to their desired location. Another option is typing one’s specific physical address, and free satellite views of the house are displayed.

Google Earth

Another tool that you can use to view live images of your house from satellites is google earth. This tool is downloaded and installed on local computers. Once downloaded and installed, a 3-dimensional view of the planet is displayed from which one can either spin or zoom in to have a clear picture. Similar to Google Maps, you can also type your physical address to view the house. The advantage of google earth over Google Maps is that it is easier to print images using personal printers without going through the web browser.

There are also other options other than the two.  For instance;

 Microsoft mapping services were initially referred to as MSN maps. There are also Yahoo services similar to google maps, known as Yahoo Maps. They all differ depending on their source of images. Some have better and high-resolution photos, whereas others have low resolutions hence poor-quality images.

How to Get a Satellite View of Your House Using Google Earth

1. Download and Install Google Earth:

First and foremost, the user needs to download Google Earth. It is a free application that can be downloaded from the Google Earth website for both Windows and Mac. Once the download is complete, install the application by following the prompts.

2. Open Google Earth App:

After the installation, open the Google Earth application. The user will see a 3D representation of Earth. At this stage, the navigation tools allow the user to pan and zoom across the globe.

3. Search Address:

Locate the search bar at the top left corner of the screen. The user should type in their home address and hit the Enter key. Google Earth will automatically navigate and zoom in to the typed location.

4. Adjust the View:

After reaching the location, the user can adjust the view according to their preference. They can rotate the view, tilt the 3D view, or zoom in and out for a detailed or wider perspective.

Navigation ToolUse
MoveTo pan the view
ZoomSlide to zoom in or out
RotateTo rotate the view
TiltTo tilt the 3D view

5. Satellite Imagery:

In the bottom-left corner, the user can see the Satellite imagery date. It shows when the satellite images were taken. This ensures users are aware of the date and if any significant changes have occurred since then, they may not be visible.

6. Saving the Satellite View:

After reaching satisfaction with the satellite view of their house, the users can save this image. To do this, they click on “File” in the menu bar, then select “Save” > “Save Image”. It will open up a dialog box to specify the save location, file name, and size of the image.

7. Printing the Satellite Image:

If the user wants to print the satellite image of their house, they can do it directly from Google Earth. By clicking on the “File” tab on the top menu, and selecting “Print”, they can decide on the print setup and print the view straightaway.

What Are The Sources Of These Live Images?

Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, Google Earth MSN maps, and other mapping service providers are clients of commercial satellite companies. Commercial satellite companies send their satellites to space specifically to take photographs. They then use mapping services to distribute these images commercially to others. Some major commercial satellite companies include GeoEye and its competitors DigiGlobe and SpotImage. Each of these companies has a fleet of earth-observing satellites to resolve very tiny features of the earth. 

Mapping services allow direct purchase of their live images. However, their prices are incredibly high. Some optional mapping services are cheap, but their pictures are of low resolution and inferior quality. Most people prefer buying from international partners of commercial satellite companies which are a bit cheaper. Or better yet, stick to accessible internet sources. 

Are All Satellite Views Live?

Some people wonder if they walk outside their houses and watch the satellite views and whether they will see themselves. The answer to this is maybe. It all depends on the source of one’s ideas and images.  Most of these free satellite views and pictures were captured various years ago. There are some services that give live views of the Earth from space. For example, one can access a live broadcast from NASA’s International Space Station. 

Another mapping service that mainly provides live views is Urthercast which broadcasts live pictures of Earth from space.  Their services are costly, making them difficult to access.

Types Of Satellites

There are different types of satellites, depending on the kind of data they transmit. They include: 

Astronomical Satellites

These satellites are used to transmit information on distant planets. They observe galaxies and other objects outside space. An example of an astronomical satellite is the Hubble space telescope which provides information about other worlds.

Biosatellites

These objects are involved in finding and carrying live organisms. They are mainly used for scientific experiments on living organisms outside the Earth. 

Communication Satellite

These satellites are positioned in space to enhance communication on Earth. They also strengthen communication with other satellites and on other planets by transmitting voices and sounds. They do this by sharing varying kinds of signals.

Earth Observation Satellites

Earth observation satellites are non-military satellites whose main objective is to observe the Earth. They mainly focus on the following environmental and meteorological features. They also help in map-making.

Navigational Satellites

These are satellites that use transmitted radio signals to mobile users on Earth to determine their exact location. They track the signals of mobile users by using them to measure navigation signals accurately. These satellites use improved electronics that allow satellite navigation systems to locate objects a few meters away.

Killer Satellites

These satellites are used to destroy other satellites and enemy warheads. They are designed to detect and destroy other space objects and satellites on command if they pose any threat to the solar system.

Crewed Spacecraft

They are also known as spaceships. They are larger than regular satellites and can go beyond the earth’s orbit and return to land. They have other features, such as spaceplanes from reusable systems with unique propulsion and landing abilities. The only exception spaceship was the Lunar Module of The US Apollo Program, which failed to return its human occupants to Earth.

Reconnaissance Satellites

They are mainly used by the militaries for observing the earth and communications for military and intelligence use. There is very little information about reconnaissance satellites as governments operating them keep most of their information classified.

Other types, such as space stations, space-based solar power satellites, and recovery satellites, serve their unique purposes.

Other Uses Of Satellites

Other than creating views and images of the earth, satellites play a significant role in our modern-day lives. Some of these roles include;

Provision Of Television Signals

Satellites send television signals to our homes and serve as a backbone to cable and network televisions. They send signals from a central signal station. They then generate a program for smaller stations that then send local signals through lines and airwaves. Live broadcasts from a scene are also transmitted from the field to the studio via satellites.

Telephone Signals

Satellites enhance phone communications in flights and they are the leading conductors of contact in rural areas.  They are also the primary timing source for pagers. An incident that occurred in 1998 proved that 80% of the United States depended on these satellites. All this was after a satellite failure which led to temporary difficulties in radio broadcasting and phone communications.

Weather

Weather satellites provide meteorologists with climatic patterns and effects of physical phenomena such as mountain eruptions and hurricanes. It enables them to make predictions based on weather patterns. Weather predictions help people plan. For example, if a storm is predicted, one can take necessary precautions like avoiding long-distance travel.

Safety

Satellites can monitor wind and ocean currents, forest fires, and pollution. This information is enough for emergency responders to act. In cases of detected pollution, environmental cleanup organizations can carry out the cleaning of the affected areas. In forest fires or oil spills, search and rescue people can be sent to the affected areas to rescue people in distress. They also enable people to be warned before emergencies, such as rising ocean currents.

Conclusion

It is effortless to view one’s house live from a satellite, especially during these modern days that we are living with internet access. One can view their home for free by using google maps which provides detailed photographs of the earth by satellites. Other than just pictures, satellites have proven to be very important as they have other uses such as providing weather information, and telephone and television signals, among other services. There are also different types of satellites, with reconnaissance satellites having the least known information. The reason is that the military uses them, and governments ensure their details are classified as much as possible.

References:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/globe-in-your-pc/
https://phys.org/news/2012-08-satellite-view-house.html