Google Earth’s a pretty stunning piece of software, what with us being able to zoom in up close on any part of the globe at resolutions high enough to make out individual cars and even people. But it’s also pretty static, with most of the images we see being several years out of date.

Just imagine how cool it would be if we could see things as they are now? And by now, I mean live, as it happens, with commuters rushing off to work, cars whizzing by, plus all the disasters and wars and other epic goings on in the world today.

Well soon, the ability to view real-time streaming of planet Earth from space will be a reality, thanks to some new partnerships and a massive influx of cash. As early as next spring, anyone who’s connected to the internet will be able to view the planet from an altogether different vantage point – the International Space Station.

UrtheCast, a Canadian startup that’s pretty much stayed off the radar up until now, has been quietly working away on the project for the last 12 months, developing a pair of high definition cameras it plans to mount on the ISS. Meanwhile, astronauts and cosmonauts have secretly been trained how to set them up and operate them. According to the BBC, the cameras will finally be ready to go in the next couple of months.

Ian Tosh, an engineer RAL Space, a UK firm that specializes in building massive, high-definition cameras, told the BBC that one of the UrtheCast cameras will be fixed in position, whilst the other will be able to swivel around. He added that the cameras would have a resolution equal to about one meter per pixel, which is roughly the same as the images we see on Google Earth now and more than enough to make out distinct features such as  landmarks, our homes and our cars parked up on our driveways.

“You won’t quite be able to see the tiles on your roof, but you’ll be able to see the details in your garden,” explained Tosh.

The only real difference between Google Earth and UrtheCast’s images is that the ones coming from the ISS will be live, as they happen.

When the project is launched early next year, users will be able to login to a free website from anywhere in the world. According to UrtheCast, there’ll be a tool on the website which allows you to work out when the ISS will fly over your area (so you can see your home in real time), which means that people could even plan events around ISS coverage. Wedding pictures from space anyone?

Unlike the cameras already installed on the ISS, which are used for scientific purposes, UrtheCast will be exclusively for the curious. It could lead to many exciting new apps too, as the company is planning to release an API so that developers can sink their teeth into it and integrate live Earth streaming into whatever they can come up with. Already, the UN has said that the UrtheCast cameras could be used to monitor natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies, whilst other possibilities include apps that monitor everything from pollution in cities, to crop growth, and more.

Watch this cool video by UrtheCast for a little taster of what’s to come: