The direct broadcast satellite service provider - Dish Network Corporation has launched Dish Earth, a new channel that is exclusively available on satellite platform Dish Network. The Meridian, Colorado based Dish Network's new channel Dish Earth offers 24-hour live views of Earth, and the passing views of the moon, Venus and even unidentified flying objects, with the help of the camera installed on the EchoStar 11 satellite of the company.

The Dish Earth channel broadcasts the content received from of the camera installed on the company's high powered satellite EchoStar 11, which was launched to geo-synchronous orbit at 110 degrees west longitude, in 2008, to provide video service for DISH Network customers. The Dish Earth camera, developed by the EchoStar Spacecraft Operations Team, Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation and Space Systems/Loral was the world's first Earth-directed camera mounted on a commercial communications satellite.

Operated under a license granted by the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Dish Earth camera fetches a 30 degree x 22.4 degree field-of-view, including wonderful live full-disk views of the planet from a distance of approximately 22,300 miles above Earth. The camera is capable of capturing regular night/day cycle, weather patterns and seasonal changes in the western hemisphere.

Commenting on the launch of Dish Earth, the senior VP of programming at DISH Network, Dave Shull said "We are pleased to be able to offer, exclusively to our customers, footage from the world's only Earth-viewing live video camera on a commercial communications satellite. What's more, from time to time, the DISH Earth camera is able to capture some unique images, including an unidentified flying object last August."

Additionally, the Dish Network is having partnership with Space Services, Inc. (SSI), a Houston-based aerospace company to provide the lovely images of the planet for the Give the World(TM) service, which offers photos in a nicely-packaged photo frames, priced from $29.95 to $99.95, to be used as gifts for a birthday, a wedding, or an anniversary. The photos offered by the camera include the photos of cloud formations, storms, and the green and blue beauty of planet Earth.