Soar celebrated a massive milestone recently as the maps and imagery on the platform reached 61,154,671,182 km² of area - enough to cover the earth 120 times. All of the content was uploaded by users around the globe.
 
This milestone brings us closer to our goal of becoming the world’s largest digital atlas by 2025. Our users play an important part in that journey by contributing their maps and imagery to the platform. We’re hoping to continue this trajectory, mapping the world hundreds of times over, because every piece of content brings us closer to global data accessibility.

Data accessibility is an ongoing issue within the geospatial community, with vast volumes of data hidden on hard drives or in complex platforms behind confusing interfaces and expensive subscriptions. Data accessibility plays a huge part in the production of maps and imagery. Soar wants to ensure maps and imagery are made available to all and make the process as simple as possible.

Maps and imagery are an integral part of many industries, including urban planning, agriculture, and environmental conservation. Some of the vital information we rely on maps and imagery for includes: volcanic hazards, species distribution, and vegetation/crop condition. All of this information helps humanity better understand our planet and our place in it. 

While we’re thrilled with this achievement, 120 times is not enough. The amount of data out there is increasing exponentially, enough to cover the Earth many more times over. When essential data is made accessible, we are able to understand our Earth a little better. We encourage all of our users, and anyone in the world with maps or map imagery to help us build to our next major milestone.