DigitalGlobe of Longmont, Colo., released Oct. 20 the first images from the newly launched WorldView-2 commercial remote sensing satellite. The satellite was built by Boulder, Colo.-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies.
The initial images, captured after 11 days on orbit, depict Love Field Airport near Dallas, and the AT&T Center and the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.
Launched Oct. 8 aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., WorldView-2 is equipped to collect multispectral imagery at 1.8-meter ground resolution and panchromatic imagery at 0.46 meters. DigitalGlobe said in an Oct. 20 press release that WorldView-2 is the first commercial satellite offering eight-band, multispectral imagery.
The company expects to begin delivery of commercially available imagery in January, after completing an approximately 90-day calibration and checkout period.
WorldView-2 is the third satellite in DigitalGlobe’s constellation, joining Quickbird and WorldView-1, launched in 2001 and 2007, respectively.
Imagery from WorldView-2, which DigitalGlobe financed on its own, will be sold to U.S. government and commercial customers.
