VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CA — A Delta 2 rocket carrying a GeoEye satellite lifted off at 11:50 a.m.  PDT today.  The imaging satellite will provide mapping exclusively to Google.  The Google logo is seen on the logo of the rocket in the photo taken this morning.  (See below.)

Reuters reports that Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were on hand for the launch.

The video we have posted is an unedited animation from the GeoEye corporate Web site. It shows the blastoff of the rocket and the operation of the satellite.

For a report on the satellite and its mission, check out this story by Steven Shankland over at CNET News.com published last week.

Here is the company’s press release on the launch.

Delta_ii_geoeye1_on_pad_in_fog_06_3

Photo taken this morning of the rocket by Carleton Bailie, The Boeing Company/GeoEye

— Andy Plesser, Executive Producer

Disclaimer:  GeoEye is a public relations client of Plesser Holland