SEATTLE — Airbus, Bill Gates and Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son have joined to back a spinoff from Bellevue, Wash.-based Intellectual Ventures that aims to launch a constellation of imaging satellites “that will deliver real-time, continuous video of almost anywhere on Earth.”

Russell Hannigan, founder and chief executive of the new venture – called EarthNow – said real-time video will provide a leap beyond existing Earth observation satellites that provide still photos and video clips sometime after a user requests the images.

“With EarthNow’s constellation of satellites, you will see events unfold as they happen,” he said. “We are excited by the prospect of giving everyone a stunningly beautiful, real-time window on your world from space.”

No satellites have yet been built.