DigitalGlobe, provider of the world’s highest-resolution commercial satellite imagery and geospatial information products, revealed the first images from WorldView-1, the highest resolution, most agile commercial satellite ever flown. WorldView-1 was successfully launched on September 18 from Vandenberg Air Force Base and has been undergoing a routine calibration and check-out period. DigitalGlobe expects WorldView-1 to be fully operational and delivering imagery products by the end of the year if not sooner. DigitalGlobe is the only company operating a constellation of sub-meter commercial imaging satellites and in late 2008, will complete WorldView-2 which will provide eight bands of multi-spectral data for life-like true color imagery.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071015/LAM034-a)
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"The quality and resolution of WorldView-1’s first images is demonstrative of the superior level of imagery and geospatial information we expect to deliver to our customers," said Jill Smith, chief executive officer of DigitalGlobe. "Knowing that the satellite continues to undergo final calibration in the coming weeks, we expect the quality of WorldView-1’s imagery to improve even more."
WorldView-1’s first images include half-meter snapshots from:
– Houston, Texas, USA acquired October 2, 2007
– Yokohama, Japan acquired October 5, 2007
– Addis Ababa, Ethiopia acquired October 5, 2007
WorldView-1, built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation with the imaging sensor provided by ITT Corporation, is a high-capacity, panchromatic imaging system featuring half-meter resolution imagery. With an average revisit time of 1.7 days, WorldView-1 is capable of collecting up to 750,000 square kilometers (290,000 square miles) per day of half-meter imagery. Frequent revisits increase image collection opportunities, enhance change detection applications and enable accurate map updates. The satellite is capable of collecting, storing and downlinking more frequently updated global imagery products than any other commercial imaging satellite in orbit, allowing for expedited image capture, processing and delivery to customers where speed is a driving factor. WorldView-1 is equipped with state-of-the-art geo-location accuracy capability and exhibits unprecedented agility with rapid targeting and efficient in-track stereo collection.