A high-resolution imaging satellite that launched in September from Vandenberg Air Force Base has delivered extremely detailed first pictures, according to DigitalGlobe, the spacecraft's owner-operator. The firm released images from the WorldView-1 satellite, showing skyscrapers in Houston, Texas; the port of Yokohama, Japan; and an area around a traffic circle in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while announcing that WorldView-1 has reached full operating capability for all customers. DigitalGlobe's images are used by assorted customers in various consumer and professional markets, including oil and gas, telecommunications, utilities, mining and other natural resource development industries; personal navigation, mobile devices, automotive and online mapping, and Web portals.
The general availability of WorldView-1 imagery marks the final milestone for the satellite, which launched Sept. 18 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg.
The craft delivered its first sample set of high-resolution images Oct. 15, and began supplying imagery to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Nov. 26, officials said.
“General availability of World View-1 imagery allows us to more aggressively serve the growing global demand for accurate, high-resolution satellite imagery and geospatial information,” said Jill Smith, chief executive officer of DigitalGlobe.
WorldView-1, with its increase in capability and capacity, and QuickBird, DigitalGlobe's other high-resolution satellite that also launched from Vandenberg, operate together as the world's highest-resolution commercial satellite constellation.
The two satellites are collecting up to 900,000 square kilometers, or 558,000 square miles, of new imagery per day, an unprecedented level that will enable faster turn-around on collection and rapid updating of DigitalGlobe's ImageLibrary.
The Longmont, Colo.-based DigitalGlobe plans to complete construction of its next-generation satellite,
WorldView-2, in late 2008.
January 14, 2008
