Abu Ghraib prison, Iraq, as seen by the Ikonos satellite. The prison was built by Saddam Hussein to punish political enemies, dissenters and criminals. It was reputed to be the place of prisoner torture, and execution. After the collapse of the Iraq regime in 2003, the building became a military prison for the US-led coalition forces. Launched in 1999, Ikonos was the first commercial satellite to collect data at one-metre resolution. The satellite, which orbits at an altitude of 681 kilometres, is owned by Space Imaging, Colorado, USA. Image taken 23 April 2002.